Children and Parents Struggle while eating heathy foods

General
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Parents nowadays struggle to feed their children due to lot of availability junk food. And working parents also don’t have enough time to make lunch for children due to their busy schedule .

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This image shows that how parents are asking children to eat a healthy diet consume fruits and vegetables but the children refuse to eat it . Many parents struggle to feed healthy food due to picky eating , emotional stress and mealtime battles are also responsible.

Common Struggle parent face :

  • Picky Eating and Refusal : Children frequently reject vegetables or new food which lead to parents frustration and worries about their nutrition fulfillment .

  • Time convenience : preparing fresh meals is time-intensive . making large procedure take a lot of time so parents also sometime prefer a convenient option .

  • Cost of Healthy food : High nutrition food is costly as compared local one. Ex. buying organic fruits and vegetables is costly as compared to local market vegetables.

  • Emotional stress: mealtime can become a battlefield with parents using bribery or force which often backfires.

Many parents force children to eat lots of vegetables at a time and end up getting frustrated because their child is not eating properly and also the nutrition is not properly going in body.

Instead they can invest some time in making some special dishes or attractive dishes from which their child get attracted and easily eat and will also safe their further time of parents.

Strategies to overcome feeding challenges.

  • Consistent exposure : children may need to offer new food 5-10 time before the accept it .
  • Role modeling : Parents must eat healthy themselves. as children mimic behaviors .
  • No pressure approach : allow children to decide how much they want to eat . which help them to decide their own hunger cues.
  • Involve Children : involving children in grocery shopping and meal preparing so they more likely to eat the final product .
  • Make food fun : make food fun and present it in interesting way . (like : unique name , finger foods etc.)

also, the most important thing is to avoid preparing separate meals instead make same meal for whole family and eat with peace and happiness. Keep nutritious snacks accessible for everyone to have it . Also start with small portion not the overwhelming the new food .

what are your opinion on this topic ? do you think its day-to-day problem ? do share your thoughts

MBH/PS

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Picky eating habits as a child could continue into adulthood. This could affect their growth if they keep rejecting healthy food. Desensitizing children at an early stage could help prevent this. A modelling approach, where parents act as a model/guide by eating healthy foods themselves, could encourage children to eat well.

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Parents want the best for their children, but convincing them to choose fruits and vegetables over processed snacks is a constant challenge. Healthy eating is not just about availability, but also about habits and acceptance.

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Sometimes it’s more about texture than taste for children. Switching up cooking methods can also make it easier for children to like their food.

Also, the perception of children is shaped by parents, so when eating together, if parents describe how flavorful the dish is, children will follow the same.

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Very relatable and important! Encouraging healthy eating habits in children is often challenging for both kids and parents, but small steps, consistency, and making nutritious foods fun can really help build lifelong healthy habits.

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