- Tips for your child to eat better
- 1. Set the day's menu with the child
- 2. Go shopping with your child and involve him in preparing meals
- 3. Eat on time
- 4. Do not overfill the dish
- 5. Make fun dishes
- 6. Prepare food in different ways
- 7. Avoid 'temptations'
- 8. Out of the routine
- 9. Taking care of the vegetable garden
- 10. Eating together
To open your child's appetite you can use some strategies such as taking the child to the supermarket and letting him help you in the kitchen. In addition, making dishes more attractive and fun can help. However, you need to be calm and patient, as all tips will take effect after being repeated more than once.
Resorting to appetite stimulant remedies is only indicated in exceptional cases, when the child has a high risk of malnutrition and should only be used as directed by a doctor or nutritionist.
Tips for your child to eat better
The lack of appetite in children is normal between 2 and 6 years and therefore, at this stage, children can have a tantrum at mealtime. However, there are some tips that can be useful to whet your child's appetite that include:
1. Set the day's menu with the child
One way to help the child eat better and whet his appetite is to make the week's menu with the child, trying to make healthy and creative recipes and following the child's ideas and suggestions, so that he feels involved and interested.
2. Go shopping with your child and involve him in preparing meals
It is important to go to the supermarket with your child and ask for his help to push the shopping cart or pick up small foods, such as fruit or bread, for example.
After shopping, you should involve him in storing food in the cupboard and, when preparing meals, the child should go to the kitchen with the parents and do small tasks, such as setting a table, for example.
3. Eat on time
The child should eat at least 5 meals a day, having breakfast, breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner, always at the same times because this educates the body to always feel hungry at the same time.
Another important precaution is not to eat or drink anything 1 hour before meal times.
4. Do not overfill the dish
Children do not need to have a plate full of food, because small amounts of each food are enough to stay nourished and healthy.
In addition, not all children have the same appetite, and it is normal for children between 2 and 6 years of age to have less appetite, as this is a slower growth phase.
5. Make fun dishes
To open the child's appetite a good strategy is to make fun and colorful dishes, mixing foods that the child likes best, with those he likes least. Here's how: How to make your child eat fruits and vegetables
6. Prepare food in different ways
It is important that the child has the opportunity to try foods prepared in different ways: raw, cooked or roasted, because that way it has different colors, flavors, textures and nutrients.
For example, a child may not like raw carrots, but they may like grated or cooked carrots with chicken, for example.
7. Avoid 'temptations'
At home, you should preferably have fresh foods, such as vegetables and fruits, in addition to pasta, rice and bread, and you should avoid industrialized and prepared foods, as these foods, although they have more flavor, are harmful to health when consumed daily. and, they lead the child to dislike the taste of healthy foods, because they are less intense.
8. Out of the routine
To increase the child's appetite and, for him to see the meal time with a fun moment, parents can set a day of the month to change the routine and eat outside in the garden, have a picnic or a barbecue, for example example.
9. Taking care of the vegetable garden
Taking care of the garden makes the child feel responsible for the vegetables and fruits and, in this way, your child will want to eat what he has grown. If you don't have a yard, you can try planting food in plant pots.
10. Eating together
Mealtimes, such as breakfast or dinner, should be a time when the family is together and where everyone eats the same food, leading the child to realize that they have to eat what their parents and siblings eat.
Thus, for the child to acquire healthy habits, it is very important for adults to set an example for the child, showing a taste for what they eat, as they repeat what adults do. Read more at: How to feed the child.
Watch the video to hear more tips that will help your child eat better.
