Fussy Children: here is the cure

So you have a fussy kid at home. Someone who will only eat one green vegetable and otherwise prefer potatoes.

Try as much as you like, you cannot get your child to eat the things you like.

So what can you do?

First, stop blaming your child. Young children in particular, and even those short of their teens, are yet to develop enzymes to digest various foods.

A lack of enzymes makes food unpalatable, and therefore your child may be fussy.

More importantly, it takes up to twelve times for a child to learn to like something.

This is really important.

Often, what seems on the surface to be a fussy child, is simply someone who is not used to a type of food. Go back to your own childhood.

Perhaps, you ate Korean for the first time. Maybe you did or maybe you didnt like it the first time. But once you persisted, you developed a palatte for the food.

It is the same with children.

Ask anyone in the restaurant business. They wait to introduce a new cuisine until enough people have eaten it so that they develop a taste for it. So what is the best strategy for your child?

In one word exposure.

Make the joy of discovering new food as much fun as you can. Travel if you can. Explore local culture and cuisines. Remember travel is not always Greece.

It can be in the neighbourhood, just something new or different. You have to try for them to try. Not just once. More than once.

Twelve times, if the scientists are to be believed.

The wider the palatte, the more the joy for food. The more the joy for food, the more they will invest their time and effort in getting it right.

Over time, there is no better hack to good health, than healthy food cooked at home.

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