🧒🏼 Making Every Mouthful Count 🧒🏼

🥪 Boosting Nutrition in our Fussy Little Eaters 🥪

Some children just aren’t fussed about food. Some may have a genuine reason for it – such as reflux or other medical issues, however some children, just don’t care too much for eating!

This can be a huge stress for us parents, especially when your child is on the lean side or is continually getting sick. Here are some tips for making every mouthful count.

1.     Allow them to get hungry – constantly chasing them around the house with food and drink means that they never get a chance to learn what hunger feels like. Children need 2-3 hours in between main meals and snacks to enable them to develop hunger.

2.     Ensure they eat 6 times per day. Feeding them 3 main meals and 3 snacks will ensure you make the most of opportunities to get in some nutrition.

3.     Make the most of their “hungry times”. Some children may be hungrier in the morning and not eat well at the end of the day when they are tired. Others however may eat better in the second half of the day.

Children are not robots and they won’t necessarily eat well at each meal or snack time. If they have 6 opportunities to eat every day, they may eat well at 3-4  of those meals and we need to be OK with this. We just need to work smarter to maximise the nutrient and caloric density of their food.

4.     Maximising calories and nutrients can be done a number of ways.  

a.     Adding quality fats to meals and snacks:

1.     Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Australian) is a highly nutritious addition to meals – meats can be fried in it, it can be drizzled over vegetables and hot meals such as pasta/rice dishes

2.     Mix in some butter or cream

3.     Use oily fish such as salmon/tuna

4.     Add in high fat plant foods such as avocado and olives

b.     Add extra protein into their meals:

1.     Sprinkle in some cheese

2.     Add a Tablespoon of nut butter, ground nuts or seeds

3.     Throw in some legumes

4.     Add an extra egg

5.     Mix in some cream

Adding small extras throughout the day can add up to a big difference over the days and weeks, so don’t lose heart…. all your efforts are worth it in the end!

Karina xx