You offer your kid an apple, he asks for potato chips. You offer him yogurt, he asks for a milkshake instead. Getting your finicky child to eat healthy can be a daunting task for many parents. However, with a little creativity, most parents can find foods that even the most picky child will eat.
Breakfast
The most important meal of the day is often the most overlooked. Breakfast meals can also potentially contain the most sugar, with sugary cereals, muffins and donuts filling supermarket aisles. But breakfast can be fun and healthy. Spread cream cheese on a multi-grain bagel and give kids banana slices, raisins, olives and cut vegetables to make funny faces. A fresh fruit salad may satisfy the sweetest sweet tooth, or throw some favorite fruits, yogurt and ice into a blender for a custom-made smoothie.
Lunch
Lunchbox sandwiches are fine lunches, but they can get boring after a while. Use a cookie cutter to cut a turkey on wheat sandwich into fun shapes. Kids also love to dip foods, so offer veggies with a side of low-fat ranch dressing or hummus. Put peanut butter or cream cheese on a celery stick and top with little "ants," or raisins. Keep things interesting by offering breakfast for lunch, such as pancakes or a hard-boiled egg.
Dinner
Forget deep-fried chicken nuggets. Instead, bake your own, coated in crushed nuts or whole-wheat flour and dip in low-fat honey mustard dressing. Let kids make their own pizzas, choosing from a variety of vegetable toppings. Use the same method for fajitas. Parents have found that the more say kids have in their own food, the more likely they are to eat it.
Snacks
Snacks don't have to be cookies and chips. Cut up fruit and put it on a skewer to make fruit kabobs. Make a trail mix with nuts, raisins, whole-grain cereal and a few chocolate chips. Those who are feeling creative can mix a drop or two of blue food coloring into a few tablespoons of cream cheese. Spread the mixture on a rice cake and top with goldfish for "fish on a pond".
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