So my wife, being a dietitian, told me that the expert on picky eaters is Ellyn Satter. I was interested because, as I've said in one of my earlier posts, there is a plethora of tips and tricks about picky eaters on the internet, so it's interesting to read from someone who is fairly widely acknowledged to be the expert.
I've been clicking around her website, http://ellynsatterinstitute.org/, and from what I've read so far, there are a lot of good tips. Possibly my favorite is the article about avoiding pressure, found at this link: http://ellynsatterinstitute.org/htf/avoidpressure.php.
I think most parents believe that in order to be a good parent, they need to push their kids into eating the healthy food. This is not the case. Your best bet is to set up an environment where they feel they can safely try foods. As Satter says in her article "Pressure on children's eating always backfires."
It's very true, and I think that sometimes it's hard for mature adults to understand. As human beings we oftentimes have a tendency to resist being told what to do, so by telling your child that they need to eat all their carrots, you're actually accomplishing the opposite.
You may be thinking "That's silly, why would someone, even a child, refuse food just because they were pressured?" Well, I am here to tell you that not only have I done it, I still do it. It was less than a year ago, so I was a mature (somewhat, mostly, sort of...) 23 year old who should have been past most, if not all, of these childish behaviors. I was at church dinner, and one of my lifelong friends told me I should try the salad with a certain type of ranch. I declined, since I don't like salad, nor the ranch or other sauce that tends to accompany them. He pushed a little, telling me it was great and that I just had to try it. At that point, I immediately the idea of trying it. He, and a few of my other friends, continued trying to convince me that I should try it, but it wasn't happening. There was no way in the world at that point that I would try the salad or the sauce.
A much better plan would have been to tell me that it was good and maybe I should try it, and if I declined, then to drop it. I might have thought about it a little more, and then decided to try just a little bit, had I been left to my own devices. But by pushing me into doing something I didn't want to do, I shut down.
So, hear me parents everywhere: if you want your children to eat their carrots, do not push them into it! Just give them an open environment where they aren't pressured.
