if the kids chuck there dinner in the bin

ceridwen

...agree with Pandora that adaptations can easily be made to meat meals to cater for a veggie. In the process of doing these adaptations the parents would be teaching their child to be a more tolerant person and accept that different people have different ways of doing things.

I believe one has to find out what sort of person one has for a child and accept that they may have different likes and dislikes to you - indeed may be a totally different person to you and someone you would not know if they werent your child.

....and then again maybe the child sometimes doesnt like what food its given because the parent is a poor cook (also the voice of experience). As a child I ate what was put in front of me - but it was NEVER EVER a pleasure (as food should be) - and I grew up thinking I didnt like vegetables for instance. As an adult in charge of my own catering I then worked my way through every vegetable in the shop and different ways of cooking them and discovered that I do actually like most vegetables - when they are prepared properly.

Visions swimming in front of my eyes of under-cooked boiled potatoes with no butter with them, listless lettuce with no dressing - bleugh! Puddings served with custard or fake "cream" - rather than the real cream or plain fromage frais and the like that I use - bleugh!

Sola

ceridwen wrote: »

As a child I ate what was put in front of me - but it was NEVER EVER a pleasure (as food should be) - and I grew up thinking I didnt like vegetables for instance. As an adult in charge of my own catering I then worked my way through every vegetable in the shop and different ways of cooking them and discovered that I do actually like most vegetables - when they are prepared properly.

Ditto - my Mum bless her wasn't the greatest cook. The only seasoning allowed was salt and a bit of ground pepper on special occasions, and all vegetables were boiled until they were soggy and yellowing. To this day I can't eat sprouts but I've learned to enjoy everything else cooked differently, even kale and Savoy cabbage. Now I just have a fussy DH who won't eat 'sweet vegetables' - sweetcorn, parsnips, carrots, swede, anything like that, so I've learned to hide them grated in stews etc.

JoJoB

It does make me laugh that people get all concerned about a child's health should they wish to go veggie. My sister-in-law was horrified about one of her kids voicing this preference and suddenly got all concerned about her daughter having a balanced diet.

She feeds her kids on frozen crap, McDonalds and sweets for christs sake! And actually gets really angry if her kids don't eat up their chips and just fancy something light to eat - and shouts at them if they take stuff from the fruit bowl. But god forbid they cut out meat, that would really mess them up eh?

Dustangle

And so it was with the new breakfast food. No one would have eaten Filboid Studge as a pleasure, but the grim austerity of its advertisement drove housewives in shoals to the grocers' shops to clamour for an immediate supply. In small kitchens solemn pig-tailed daughters helped depressed mothers to perform the primitive ritual of its preparation. On the breakfast-tables of cheerless parlours it was partaken of in silence. Once the womenfolk discovered that it was thoroughly unpalatable, their zeal in forcing it on their households knew no bounds. "You haven't eaten your Filboid Studge!" would be screamed at the appetiteless clerk as he turned weariedly from the breakfast-table, and his evening meal would be prefaced by a warmed-up mess which would be explained as "your Filboid Studge that you didn't eat this morning."

From "Filboid Studge", by Saki.

dorry_2

my ds2 ( 11 years) is a fuss pot and he only likes chicken, egg, cheese or fish, which is fine by me. I would never dream of making him eat anything he does not like, however that does not mean that I would not stop encouraging to try different foods and if he does not like them, well thats ok:p

oh will not eat sprouts, he told me that he was forced to eat them by his parents and now they turn his tummy:mad: I do feel that foods like sprouts are an equired taste and sometimes you try them when at someone else house and then just sort of like them. I feel children sometimes grow into certain foods. This year was the first time that my ds2 ate yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes. turkey and sausagement for his Christmas lunch, this is quite an acheivement for him and I am hoping that every year his plate will be filled with different foods that he has tried and liked:T

ceridwen

Penny-Pincher!! wrote: »

DD doesnt get anything else if she doesnt eat her dinner. She has gone to bed many times hungry. She is allowed water though:D ...so Im not that bad;)

PP
xx

Joking???! Arent you?

pigpen

Wonder_Girl wrote: »

Now i have to disagree, if your DD was a cannibal then i think this friend has every right to stop talking to her :rotfl:

No, that would be unfair.. personal choice and all that!.. unless of course she wanted to eat the friend.. I don't think I'd want to be friends with someone who thought of roast spuds and gravy every time we met!!!

pigpen

JoJoB wrote: »

It does make me laugh that people get all concerned about a child's health should they wish to go veggie. My sister-in-law was horrified about one of her kids voicing this preference and suddenly got all concerned about her daughter having a balanced diet.

She feeds her kids on frozen crap, McDonalds and sweets for christs sake! And actually gets really angry if her kids don't eat up their chips and just fancy something light to eat - and shouts at them if they take stuff from the fruit bowl. But god forbid they cut out meat, that would really mess them up eh?

MD's does not count as meat.. or food IMO.. and I don't think a 'balanced' diet is fed to many children who are 'forced vegetarians', or even many children who are fed 'meat' because the parents do not understand the nutrition in the first place and don't eat properly themselves.. obvious by constant illnesses, poor complexion, lank hair and other 'symptoms' of inadequate nutrition... I have 3 families in mind here who live locally.

Maybe balanced diet really does mean a bag of chips and a mars bar in each hand??!!

morwenna

Well as a mum of three, I can only speak from experience. I have never forced any of them to clean their plates, only to eat until they were full and then stop. DS1 is now 22 and will try anything, no issues there. DD1 is now 21 and is now trying to eat "healthy" and will now eat the veggies her BF cooks:rolleyes: She wouldn't for me..

DD2 eats every type of veg and will try anything, but just doesn't like meat. It's not a moral thing, she doesn't enjoy the taste or texture. I just up the pulses/nuts whatever to keep the protein levels up, any tips with this from "proper" vegetarians would be gratefully received.

Shoey1610

dorry wrote: »

When I was doing my training I used to work on the CAMHS unit for children who suffer mental health problems. I remember sitting with one of the girls who suffered from severe anorexia and it took her 1 hour to drink 5 ml of water. she was about 5 stone and nearlly died a couple of times. I think that once kids start being extremely overpicky with their food, they need to visit one of these wards, just to see where it may end!!

I agree with everyone here, no tea till next meal

As a senior mental health staff nurse who has worked on a CAMHS unit and an eating disorders unit, I'd just like to say that the fussiness with food we are talking about here has little to do with anorexia or any other eating disorder.

I give my 18 month old her meal which she can eat or leave, I don't give her an alternative if she won't eat it but I will give her her usual fruit afterwards which she can also eat or leave. However, she is a very adventurous eater, which I think is borne from personality rather than my parenting. She proved this today by insisting that she had some piccalilli like mummy (it was extra strong too!) and eating the little bit I gave her with her spoon and asking for more!