When it comes to diet and food preferences, school-aged children's performance can be varied.
Some children may always be willing to try any new food, while others may be more hesitant, and still others are somewhere in between.
No matter what your child's preferences and Xi are, it's always a good time to develop a positive attitude towards food and eating experiences.
Children also need support to listen to their bodies and make them feel good.
Go shopping with your kids
Letting the kids walk into the store can make them more excited about the upcoming meals and snacks as they get some input.
Involve your child in meal planning and preparation as much as possible.
You can make a game of picking fruits and vegetables of different colors (green broccoli, yellow and red peppers, orange carrots).
Then, talk about dishes you can make with your rainbow produce in the coming week, such as stir-fries.
Letting kids choose a recipe or dish they want to help buy and prepare is a great way to get kids more excited about cooking (and eating).
Let your kids cook for you
Kids of all ages can help in the kitchen.
Your kindergartner may not be able to chop vegetables, but they can certainly shred lettuce to make a salad or put bread in a basket.
A 9- or 10-year-old can stir the sauce or measure out the ingredients.
When your elementary school student grows into a teenager who can skillfully prepare a delicious dinner for the whole family, you'll be glad that you encouraged cooking Xi early on.
These skills are valuable at every stage of life.
Don't pay attention to the amount of food they eat
Your child may have eaten everything on the plate one day, then eaten two peas, and then announced that they were all the next day.
It's completely normal behavior for any of us, from growing elementary school students to adults.
Our appetites change every day, and this is especially true when children go through periods of more intense or slower growth.
Never comment on the amount of food your child eats, whether it's more or less than you expected.
As a parent, it's your job to provide food.
Your child's task is to choose what to eat and how much to eat.
If you find that there is a lot of food waste, encourage your child to start with small portions and then eat them for a few seconds (or a third, etc.) to reduce waste.
Make a snack plan
Snacks are a great way to replenish foods that your child can't eat at mealtime.
Snacks are also very handy when you have a busy schedule or need a while to eat.
Just like eating, when children have a say in the snack, they often react more positively to the snack.
It can be helpful to provide your child with two snack options or have them plan a week's worth of snacks.
The timing of snacking is also something to consider, and the ideal time to snack varies depending on the child and family.
Ideally, children will have enough time to snack before meals so that they feel hungry at mealtime, but not too hungry.
Avoid bribery
Of course, you may be tempted to tell your child not to watch TV, eat desserts, or anything else they want unless they have dinner, but this practice can cause problems in your child's relationship with food.
We want to encourage children to listen to their own bodies.
Bribing them to eat will send the message that it doesn't matter how they feel: they should listen to what you say, not what their bodies tell them.
If your child doesn't want to eat because they don't like the food provided, let them know that it's dinner and that a snack will be served in about an hour.
It can be helpful to include at least one food in each meal that you know your child enjoys so they can eat safe food.
It can also make them more willing to expand and try other foods.
Don't demonize certain foods
Not allowing too many lollipops in the home makes it more likely for the child to gobble up "forbidden" foods when given the opportunity elsewhere, such as at school or at a friend's house.
It also conveys the message that these forbidden foods are different or special in some way.
Avoid talking about good or bad food, healthy or unhealthy, clean or garbage, etc.
This is a good Xi for both children and **.
A better way to deal with foods high in sugar is to include them in your meals.
For dinner, you might put pasta, salad, and dessert on your child's plate at the same time.
This sends the message that these foods are all important, and sweets are not scarce.
Let the children eat the food on the plate in the order they like.
Children who are limited in their ability to candy may have a stronger reaction to this system until they believe that candy will always be there.
Remember that the kids are ** and listening
If you're on a diet, try to talk about dieting as little as possible.
The same goes for commenting on your own (or someone else's) body.
Again, don't comment on the amount of food you or others at the table are eating.
When it comes to a wide variety of foods, it can be helpful to show them what these foods look like if you want your child to be adventurous eaters.
If there's a food that's new to you, explore it with your child.
While it does take longer to involve children in shopping and meal preparation, doing so whenever possible can enhance the dining experience for everyone involved.