How to encourage your child to eat - Healthy food, solids, vegetables and more
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Just as you start to feel like you have got the hang of looking after another human being, six months appears, and you enter the world of weaning and solid food. This time can feel very daunting and a bit stressful, but it doesn’t have to be. Sometimes the best thing is to take a deep breath and remember that they are just tiny humans and like you, they may not feel hungry when you are trying to feed them, or they might not fancy what is being put in front of them – just like us sometimes.
What causes a child not to eat?
The most stressful thing when it comes to any mealtime is when your child refuses to eat. This is both frustrating, as you have no doubt lovingly prepared something delicious, and worrying because you know they need to eat.
Lack of appetite
When they are very young, so 6 months to one year, it might be that they are just not hungry. If they are still having milk, then this will fill them up. At this point, they are just getting used to food.
As they get older it might be that they are snacking more around mealtimes which is reducing their hunger. Try and stick to set snack and mealtimes to help with appetite and meltdowns.
Another way to tackle a smaller appetite is to create a plate to encourage children to eat. So, this could be a picnic style with lots of little bits, sandwiches cut into shapes with a biscuit cutter, veggies arranged in a smiley face or a mix of healthy things you know they love and some new bits for them to try. Eating together is also really important.
We are all born with natural hunger and fullness queues so if your child says they are full then respecting this is important. If they ask for a snack after not eating what is offered and saying they are full, offer their meal back to them or offer a healthy snack like vegetable sticks and hummus.
It is easy to forget that even we have different levels of appetite throughout the day and week, children are no different. Don’t focus on each meal individually but look at how they eat over the entire day.
Sensory issues
We take for granted how to chew and swallow food. So how it looks, tastes, smells and feels can all be an overwhelming experience for a child. Try not to worry if they don’t eat much just keep introducing them to all these new experiences and remember to always offer food even if they reject it. Just because they didn’t fancy it one day doesn’t mean they don’t like it, just keep offering.
If your child is refusing to eat, they may be experiencing sensory issues. Some children will start to refuse food because of the way food and drink affects their sensory system. Eating is the only thing we do as humans that uses all eight senses at the same time, which is incredible and overwhelming at times. The Children’s nutritionist, Sarah Almond Bushell, goes into detail about Sensory processing in her article: How to help a child when you suspect sensory food aversions.
How to encourage your child to eat
Encouraging your child to eat can feel like hard work and sometimes a bit of a thankless task. However, modelling good behaviour around eating is the best place to start. Eating with your children is a great way for them to learn and experiment in a safe way. If a parent is eating the same thing as them, they will feel safe and confident mirroring that behaviour.
How to encourage a baby to eat
Once your baby is confident in eating solids it is important to encourage a healthy diet by offering foods from the four major food groups:
Fruit and veg.
Carbohydrates such as pasta, bread, potatoes, and rice
Dairy
Pulses, meat, and other proteins such as fish.
Pouches and jars do have their place, they are convenient and easily portable. Just remember that a pouch is not a portion as they are huge and a lot have the same smooth texture, so make sure you mix it up with other healthy snacks to encourage chewing.
Baby-led weaning
Baby-led weaning is a great way to introduce babies to food. They can explore it with their hands and their mouth safely. They can experience new flavours and textures and they can control how much they want to eat. It isn’t always the cleanest method, but they seem to enjoy it.
Our baby-led weaning checklist will help you prepare, and our first foods checklist should help with ideas to get started.
How to encourage a 1 - 2 year old to eat healthily
By one your child will be eating three meals a day, along with snacks. To promote healthy eating make sure they are having a healthy balanced breakfast. This can be a high-fibre cereal such as Weetabix (make sure you rinse this off anything quickly as it sets like concrete), protein such as scrambled or boiled eggs or dairy such as natural yoghurt and a portion of fruit.
At this age, it’s easier as you can serve them what you are having. You can add the salt to your portion. They will see you eating the same thing and it will enforce a message of healthy eating.
The NHS website recommends:
a minimum of 4 servings a day of starchy food, such as potatoes, bread, and rice
a minimum of 4 servings a day of fruit and vegetables
a minimum of 350ml milk or 2 servings of dairy products (or alternatives)
a minimum of 1 serving a day of protein from animal sources (meat, fish, and eggs) or 2 from vegetable sources (dhal, beans, chickpeas, and lentils)
When it comes to snacks, it is so important to keep sugar to a minimum. Try and offer fresh fruit, or vegetable sticks and hummus as a first choice. Plain yoghurt and cheese are really popular with children of this age.
Wholewheat toast, chapatti or pitta fingers are always received well as are rice cakes.
Remember that some days they will eat less than others. Try not to focus on each meal, or each day, too much. Think about what they eat over the week.
How to help a 3-5 year old eat well
By age three your child may be in a childcare setting where they will receive food prepared by them. Childcare settings in the UK have to provide a healthy and balanced diet for children. Here you might find that your children are exposed to different meals that you perhaps can’t get them to eat at home (vegan curry for example). At nursery or at school you will find that children are encouraged to sit at a table with their peers and eat their food. Where possible, meals at home should be eaten as a family to encourage healthy eating.
When your child starts school, you may find they become fussy. This could be influenced by other children, or just because they are overwhelmed by change. Remember to be supportive and consistent. Keep offering and try not to offer alternatives. If you are worried your child isn’t eating enough, make sure the alternatives you offer are healthy. If all else places have a picky tea. You can use everything from your baby-led weaning days to put together a healthy snack plate that is colourful and delicious.
Continuing healthy eating in children age 6 years or above
By six you will have hopefully instilled a lot of healthy eating practices into your child. By being a role model and by explaining healthy choices. From 5 onwards you can encourage your children to take part in the cooking process. Supervise them using knives and peelers but letting them feel in control of the process.
Continue with eating as a family when you can. Set a good example by eating well, this includes eating treats such as chocolate and biscuits. It is important that they see balance.
Avoid battles over food by remaining consistent and supportive and always having an offering of fruit available.
Activities to encourage children to eat healthily
Allowing children an element of control and autonomy is a great way to encourage healthy eating. However, we know it’s not always easy or possible. Some quick ways to do this is:
Go supermarket shopping together. Let them choose the items on the list.
Ask them what they would like to eat for lunch/dinner, and what fruit snack they would like out of a choice of two.
Ask them to help you pack a healthy lunch.
Play shopping list bingo.
With smaller children role play shops and café with them
Go to the fridge or fruit bowl and get them to name the items/ ask them to show you the items.
For older children find easy recipes for them to cook and assist with the dangerous bits only.
What to do if your child refuses to eat anything
If your child is refusing to eat, then you need to make sure that firstly they are active and gaining weight. Try not to focus on each mealtime but look at what they eat in a week. As long as they are getting something from each food group you don’t need to worry.
It is very frustrating when you prepare something and they don’t eat it, even more so if they asked for it. Stay calm and remove the food from them without saying anything. Do not throw it away immediately but place it in a safe place in case they wish to return to it later.
Even if your child is only eating the smallest amount remember to praise them. They might prefer to eat little and often.
Try to keep snacks to just 2 a day. They don’t need lots of snacks and this might be filling them up before their meals.
Changing how you serve food might make it more interesting and appealing to your child – picky tea to the rescue again.
If your child seems unwell, is not gaining weight, and is refusing to eat anything at all then you should seek advice from your GP.
Strategies to encourage healthy eating in early years
Snack time is the easiest way to introduce new foods in early years. This is why you will find that if your little one is in nursery, they will have a different morning and afternoon snack every day. This is great inspiration for the days they aren’t in childcare. It is so easy to fall into the sweet snack trap. Snacks that are worth a try include:
Natural yoghurt and melon slices
Veg sticks, pitta fingers and hummus
A small bun
Apple slices and peanut butter
Cheese cubes and cut up cherry tomatoes.
Early years is a great time to start introducing where food comes from to children. You can talk about how different things grow or where milk and yoghurt come from. You could visit a farm or even try and grow some vegetables yourself.
Check out our Growing veg with your kids’ checklist.
Encouraging your child to eat at school
School children in the UK are entitled free school meals in reception, year 1 and year 2. After this period, you can apply for free school meals if you meet the government criteria.
Starting school is a big change for many children. The school will encourage independence around mealtimes. Children will get to choose from a menu of four options every day. Eating in a cafeteria is a new experience for many children and can be quite distracting. You may find your little one is very hangry when you pick them up from school. Make sure you take a healthy snack with you and try and discuss what they have eaten when they are less hungry.
If you find that your child is always hungry when you collect them, you may wish to consider a packed lunch. This way can create something you know your child will eat, and you will be able to see what they have eaten in the day. Eating lunch is important to the success of their learning, so try and support your child in finding something they will enjoy eating and that will fuel them for an afternoon of learning.
The best thing you can do is be the cheerleader of healthy eating for your children. Be consistent in your approach to food and try and enjoy the journey of exposing them to new tastes and experiences.
Written and researched by Victoria Cobley
Victoria is a Freelance journalist and content creator with two children aged 5 and 2.
References:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/weaning-and-feeding/babys-first-solid-foods/
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/weaning-and-feeding/what-to-feed-young-children/
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/easy-crops-kids-grow
https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals