From: tigger@satyr.Sylvan.COM (Grace Sylvan)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: Kid not eating good food - only JUNK!!
Date: 14 Dec 92 00:00:53 GMT
Organization: Sylvan Associates

First of all, I'd get all 'junk' food and drinks (soda) out of the
house. No one *needs* to eat them - the whole family will probably be
better off without them. Then the temptation to snack on sugar will
fade for him, as he doesn't get fed anymore.

Next, substitute a lot of healthier snack foods - rice crackers (you
can get them with stuff on them that makes them a bit sweet), fruit,
fruit juices, bake some whole grain muffins (mix whole wheat and white
flour about 50/50) and throw in some extra wheat germ, cheese,
crackers (can be eaten with peanut butter or cheese), yogurt, etc. You
can also make pudding and fortify it by adding extra powdered skim
milk, or put textured vegetable protein into spaghetti sauces. Buy all
fruit preserves, canned fruit in light fruit juice instead of heavy
syrup, whole wheat bread, etc. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich made
with fruit-only jelly (no refined sugar added) on whole grain bread is
not a bad lunch. IMHO, don't *ever* reintroduce lots of junky food
snacks into your household, you aren't doing *anyone* a favor.

I don't have a 6 year old yet, but perhaps some of the things that can
help interest toddlers would help with him: Try serving veggies with a
sauce (in a small cup/bowl) to be dipped into. It can be salad dressing,
melted cheese sauce (like for macaroni and cheese), or yogurt. You can
even put out an assortment sauces for him with a meal.

You should try and get him more involved with the meals - in food
preparation (maybe he'd like to stir that muffin mix, mash some
potatoes, arrange fishsticks or fries on the pan before you put them
into the oven, etc). You can also have him help with the shopping
(avoid the junk food sections! Tell him that's not healthy food!) and
see if picking out some new foods will help.

And/or you can involve him with planning the menu for meals. Maybe you
can sit down with him and have HIM make up a list of possible lunch
items - with you writing them down, without passing judgement. Maybe
you can suggest an item or two, but keep him the most active party.
Then you can both go over the list and both veto what items you don't
like (you won't accept cookies for lunch, he won't accept egg salad
sandwiches). Faber and Mazlish has a good section on problem solving
with kids in _How to Talk So Your Kids Will Listen and Listen So Your
Kids Will Talk_. This situation is *both* of your problems, it's your
responsiblity to offer him good foods, and his responsibility to eat
enough foods to keep himself healthy.

Make dinner times enjoyable - if you don't have some family talking
going on and it's turned into a boring situation for him to sit at the
table and the focus in on how much he eats - then he's not going to
have a good time. Ideas include taking turns talking, and on a topic -
like what good thing happened today, what new thing did you learn,
etc. Everyone takes a turn talking, others mostly LISTEN. Save advice
and fights for another time.

Right now he craves junk food (and you've even tried to use it as a
reward) and doesn't eat much else. Don't give him access to junk food,
don't lecture him about how much/little he's eaten for meals, and give
it some time. He's filling up on junk food, if he has tasty snacks
that have some nutritional value, he'll start eating *something*.
Another reader suggested freezing portions of spaghetti for him to eat
as an alternative to some dinners, so it can be thrown into the
microwave (assuming you have one) for a quick reheat - I also think
that's a good idea for part of the time.

I hope this gives you a few ideas you haven't tried yet.

Good luck!





-- 

Tigger (Grace Sylvan)                Mom of Katherine Yelena, 8/8/89,
tigger@satyr.sylvan.com              Corey 1/31/91; we loved him so,
                                     Robin Gregory born 2/28/92

 "It seems to me that our large goal is to find the ways to help our
 children become humane and strong."
 
              - Dr Haim Ginott quoted by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish
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