Eating habits

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Updated on Feb 05, 2014
Hi all, My child is 3 years. He takes a lot of time to eat. Also he will eat only if we allow him to watch his favorite cartoon on television. Please help because i am worried as he is missing on good eating habits as well as nutrition.

| Feb 06, 2014
Hi Neha, Thanks for sharing. We would request you to have a look at the below link that you may find relevant: https://www.parentune.com/parent-talk/eating-problems/500

| Feb 06, 2014
Dear Neha, is your son a fussy eater or does he finish his meal and is only slow? My daughter was a very fussy eater and the only way to get her to eat is by distracting her and TV was the only solution! But I used to feel guilty like you have mentioned here, so I explained to her that children should not watch tv while eating and she can get 30 mins extra tv time if she ate without the tv on. She understood my point, but would not swallow her food. So I moved to story telling. I used to feed her one spoon, build up her curiosity about the story and ask her to swallow the bit in her mouth to hear the what happens next. This was successful and I got some important messages across to her in the form of stories. She was between 2 and 3 years of age. So, I would also suggest you try the same-be gentle and explain calmly, sit by him when he eats, let him take his time; please do not scold or upset him as he may associate mealtimes as an unpleasant activity. This phase should pass soon. I have been there, so hang in there Neha :)

| Feb 08, 2014
Hi dear Neha, it's an universal problem. U have to change it slowly. U can make dinner time compulsory in dining table with all family members. Then slowly u can make him see t. v only during lunch time. Even at that time instead of the same cartoons, u can make him watch rhymes cd one day, discovery channel one day, some kids movies like finding Nemo, baby's day out, home alone etc. so that it will be informative as well, and he would slowly lose interest in cartoons also. But the healthy way is to chew the food well, relish and eat even little instead of parents feeding and kids swallowing.