Picky Eaters, Fostering Healthy Eating Habits and More
API's Eight Principles of Parenting are recommended companion readings as the foundation and context for all of our research-based resources.
Tips on Nurturing a Taste for Nutritious Food
- Model healthy eating habits
- Try to make at least one meal a day a time for connection and community
- Encourage a child to follow his bodily cues for hunger and thirst, to eat when he is hungry and stop when he is full
- Forcing a child to eat, or to eat a certain food, is counterproductive and can lead to unhealthy eating habits and potentially eating disorders
- Avoid the use of food as a reward or punishment, or of making food (or dessert) contingent on behavior
- Rather than restricting access to certain foods, consider having only healthy options available in the home and allowing the child to choose
Free Resources from API's Library and Publications
- Feed With Love and Respect - one of API's Eight Principles of Parenting
- Beyond Babies...Promoting Attachment Through Feeding of Older Children
- Gently Persuading the Picky Toddler to Eat
- Discouraging School-Age Children and Teens from Junk Food
- Solution to Childhood Obesity is in the Parents’ Behavior
