Your child is remarkably adept at knowing what he needs and when he is hungry. Provided with healthy choices in food, he likely won t go too far astray. Never force feed, bribe, or plead with your child to eat. Guilt doesn t work either. Saying, There are thousands of starving children in the world, and you should be grateful to have something to eat, is just not going to register with a young child.
Force feeding is really a form of abuse.
Stop and think of someone doing that to you. Bribing only teaches a child how to be manipulative. For example, If you eat all your supper, I ll take you to the movie. Pleading is just downright humiliating for the parent, and for the child, quite amusing as she sees how much control she has over her parents. All of these behaviours teach a child that there are always conditions attached to food, and eating becomes a very negative experience for her.