30/10/2023
One of the common concerns are regarding eating habits - "my child does not eat enough" " He/she doesn't like any fruits or apples/oranges/dates", He/she eats only rice and coconut.. 🍛
Both my sons love food. Especially good food. The definition of good food varies, but if you consider that the main reason for eating is nourishment, we can widely accept that fruits, veggies, and home cooked means with less oil, zero sugar and additives are the best. 🥗🥕🥦🫛
There are various approaches to food.
Here I am sharing what worked for both my kids in our family context. It's important not to set your standards based on how your friend's kid likes food or what worked for someone else's family.
Relationship with food
As parents we are building their relationship with food. Make them fall in love with food. What do you do when you love someone. You care for them, you slow down, you get to know them, you respect them. 🥰
Understand why they eat food.
It's for nourishment. It's building their body. What we eat has a direct impact on who we are and our behaviour.
Let them experiment and come to their path
We all have preferences likes and dislikes. Seasons of eating something, seasons of avoiding. Let them choose what they want to eat while outside, let them eat it in gratitude and satisfy their needs. As adults we do model, what is best. But children need to learn this on their own. 💖
When they eat food?
This is only when they are hungry. Not according to the clock. 🕑
How do they eat food?
Spoon, hands, sitting, standing, running, playing. But no distraction. They wait and eat, they come to the plate every time...no force feeding. 🍴
How much do they eat?
It is possible that a bit is left over or a lot is left over. As parents we might see it from the eyes of discipline or wastage. But respect their body and their choices if they feel full or don't like what they eat. That way they are confident that we are not taking their decisions. 😚
