Interesting tips to make your toddler eat healthy

Fussy or picky eating in a child starts when they are weaned off milk and other foods are slowly introduced to them. Though it is quite imperative to understand that a child's appetite will be less than an adult's appetite, if he eats half chappati with either vegetable or dal, his / her stomach gets full. But personally, I have never been able to understand how children form picky eating habits. I have tried to feed my boy vegetables, fruits and especially milk since he was two. Most mothers face an everyday task of getting their child to eat a healthy balanced diet. The last decade has witnessed increasing health concerns in Indian children.

As a mother, you are highly concerned with your child's health; you want to ensure that what goes down your child's system is a complete and nutritious meal. The question is how to do that without becoming a food cop? Here are few tips to ensure that your child eats healthy and balanced diet every day.

1. Easy availability of junk food: There are different reasons why children grow up to be picky eaters. The easy availability of junk food is a major reason. Pediatricians say that junk food including fast food, ready to eat packed meals, processed foods, soft drinks and so on, are high in carbohydrates and fats. It is important that a child be kept away from these as long as possible and is only introduced to fresh, healthy food. Many a time, parents use a child's demand for 'burgers and pizzas' as rewards for acceptable behavior and conduct. This has a long lasting impact on child's eating habits as they starts weighing everything in terms of junk food.

2. Fear of trying anything new: Most children face 'neophobia' which is fear of trying out something new. Force feeding is not recommended way to counter this fear. Children can get anxious when fed forcibly. Your child's relationship with food can get sour if you are constantly controlling it. It is important that you control your child's eating habits when they are very young. Around the age of four allow them to make their own choices. If they make the wrong choices, structure their choices by explaining the impact of junk.

3. Understand and appreciate your child's appetite: It is high time when we parents need to understand that appetites of children suit their needs and not expectations. Children don't need a whole lot of food they need quality food even if it is consumed in small quantities.

4. Meal times are bonding times: One of the most effective ways to ensure your child eats proper meal is to make the child eat with the rest of the family. Meal time should be a family bonding time. Hence, it is important that TV time and meal time should be separate. As it is during meal times, parents can be role models for their children and inculcate sound eating habits in them.

5. Color therapy: Color therapy on your child's plate can hold their interest. Children like to see a colorful variety on their plates from which they can choose. Give them orange and red carrots, green cucumbers, red tomatoes, white cottage cheese, along with tri-colored sandwiches.

6. Shape therapy: Along with color therapy, toddlers relate to shapes as well. So give them a chappati in a triangular shape, or make a smiley out of an apple slice, cut bread slices in to variety of shapes to tempt your young one and see how they take to food.

Nurturing healthy eating habits and choices of children at a younger age influences their choices as and when they grow up. It becomes important to constantly supervise what your child is eating and to make healthy food tasty. After all, there is no job that demands commitment as high as parenting.