Picky Eaters, Fostering Healthy Eating Habits and More
This Principle is not complete without reading API's Eight Principles of Parenting Introduction -- important information for understanding the context API's Principles of Parenting.
Nurturing a Taste for Nutritious Food
- Model healthy eating habits
- Try to make at least one meal a day a time for connection and community
- Encourage a child to follow his bodily cues for hunger and thirst, to eat when he is hungry and stop when he is full
- Forcing a child to eat, or to eat a certain food, is counterproductive and can lead to unhealthy eating habits and potentially eating disorders
- Avoid the use of food as a reward or punishment, or of making food (or dessert) contingent on behavior
- Rather than restricting access to certain foods, consider having only healthy options available in the home and allowing the child to choose
Read more about Kids and Food via the Links Below
- Feed With Love and Respect - One of API's Eight Principles of Parenting
- Read more about Feeding with Love and Respect on APtly Said (blog)
- Do you have an extremely picky eater? Weigh in on the issue on the API Forums
- What are your thoughts on bedtime snacks? Discuss this on the API Forums
The Attached Family
API's The Attached Family online magazine, updated weekly with articles on a variety of topics, is an extension of the quarterly The Attached Family print magazine. The following articles on Kids and Food are accessible at no cost on The Attached Family online magazine. Please consider joining API to help support API's ability to continue providing this information.
- Beyond Babies...Promoting Attachment Through Feeding of Older Children
- Gently Persuading the Picky Toddler to Eat
- Discouraging School-Age Children and Teens from Junk Food
- Solution to Childhood Obesity is in the Parents’ Behavior
Members also receive a quarterly magazine, The Attached Family. This summer’s issue focuses on the API Principle of Feeding with Love and Respect, particularly overcoming feeding challenges.
