Contents:
- Medical Video: Table Manners | Tips On Table Manners For Kids | Good Habits And Manners
- Teach early
- Food presentation
- Make meals fun
- Teach your child to be responsible
- Positive support
- Meal time routine
- Food variations
- Create a meal time as a time to socialize
- Snacks
Medical Video: Table Manners | Tips On Table Manners For Kids | Good Habits And Manners
As parents who love food, we believe the enjoyment of food is something that must be experienced by all children. But what if the child is always fussy every time he eats? Here are some things you can do.
Teach early
From a two-year-old child, you can introduce the idea that food is important for growth, energy, and learning. Whether this is technically correct or not, if the child understands that what he eats has an influence on his body's work, it is the basis of the behavior he will bring to adulthood and is expected to be taught to his children later.
Food presentation
Food appearance can make the difference between whether your child will like a food or not — especially for foods that are less attractive. Serving food in a unique menu can encourage appetite because it makes eating enjoyable. The use of unique drinking bottles also supports the habit of drinking water, and a cute lunch box will make a healthy lunch more enjoyable.
You can also try cutting the food into funny shapes - using cookie cutters or using a knife to cut into squares, rounds and triangles. Make a fruit satay using a straw or fill the lunch box with vegetables and soft cheese as dye, then let your child choose what he wants and how he eats it.
Make meals fun
Food should not only be fun but also must be more than just eating. Think about food play, food preparation, growing vegetables in the garden, cooking together, social aspects of food, food stories, colors on food, texture, and learning potential that includes food. It's about teaching and strengthening your child with the knowledge about food and the healthy behavior that he will bring to later.
Teach your child to be responsible
Your child can be included in all aspects of food from growing crops / food, preparing food, cooking, setting tables and cleaning. By getting your child to take part in the preparation and cooking process, you can stimulate interest in food and increase the likelihood that your child will eat his food.
Positive support
Praise good behavior and ignore bad behavior — avoid forcing children to eat. Try to stay calm, firm, and consistent. Your child pays attention to what you eat and learn from your relationship with food. As he gets older, he will tend to want the food that his friends eat (or advertised on TV). That's why, to be role model aka role models are one of the best ways to support your child to eat well. Teaching it to make healthy food choices will be beneficial until later.
Meal time routine
Determine the routine around the meal time so that everyone knows what to expect. Eat at the same time and commit to mealtime. Not getting used to hurrying to eat quickly because there are other things that must be done, also should be avoided. Meal routines can be flexible and fun. Try to think more creatively: picnic on the beach or park or outside when the weather is good. The aim is to create a calm and pleasant atmosphere. A stressful atmosphere at mealtime teaches your child to consider eating time as a trial, not a pleasant positive experience as it should be
Consider that your hunger is determined by your child's 'hour of stomach', aka how much he ate yesterday at the same time. Eating at regular times will support a healthy appetite for the next meal. You can use this to support underfed children to eat more by limiting snacking. On the other hand, giving light meals at regular times can be a good way to reduce overeating at mealtime.
Food variations
Introduce your child to a variety of flavors, textures and colors. For growth and to stay healthy, it is important for your child to eat a variety of foods. Try to choose foods from four food groups. These foods must be nutritious, low in fat, salt and sugar
Create a meal time as a time to socialize
Eat together as a family, and involve your child in arranging tables, using good cutlery. With a friendly and pleasant atmosphere, small children will benefit a lot by being included in family meals, absorbing many things from eating ethics to family dynamics, social skills, to an open attitude to new foods. If your child cares for his brother and adults eat a variety of foods at mealtime, he will be more open to trying it too.
Snacks
Young children have small stomachs and they need to eat smaller portions more often. Your child's metabolism that quickly burns food faster, so snacks are important to maintain energy availability. Your child usually needs one serving of snacks in the morning some time after breakfast, and another in the afternoon. To make sure you optimize your child's appetite, give light meals at least half an hour to one hour before mealtime.
Healthy snacks are important but the taste will also affect whether your child will eat it or not. When thinking about snacking, it's important to consider your child's teeth as well. Finding snacks that are ideal, nutritious, not too sticky, and helps produce saliva (to prevent tartar in a child's teeth) can be difficult.
Look for foods that are low in fat, salt and sugar. Some ideas you can do: stem vegetables, fresh or frozen fruits, sandwiches or rolls, biscuits, muffins, fruit bread, cereals, popcorn, pikelet (pancakes), fruit smoothies, yogurt or cheese.
