If children eat only at the table you are less likely to give food handouts to ease their hurt feelings and general crankiness. It's up to you to make meals friendly. Studies show children eat best if someone they trust eats with them. That grownup should be friendly and not nag them about their eating. Keep thrilling distractions and riotous laughter down.
Children can forget to eat or can choke.
When your child sees you eating an unfamiliar food, he assumes that some day he will eat it, too. One day he might taste the food, then remove the bite from his mouth. He is not rejecting it. He is just getting used to it. Research tells us children taste and remove unfamiliar food for 10 or 15 meals before they swallow it.