Sarah hides food from her kids. Studies show kids have a healthier diet if you do it. What do you think?

Read the full blog post: Do you hide food from your toddler?

I totally disagree with this method of dealing with fussy eaters. I would rather see parents persist with the vegies. If they dont eat them, eat them yourself... show them that they are yum and good for you. If they havent eaten them, then give them a multivitamin. Studies have shown that children will eat what the family eats eventually...If they see good eating habits, they will copy them. It may take some time but it will happen. My son would only eat vegies for Nana when he was a little fella, now he is 13 and loves all vegies, salads,even legumes and beans.
Give the child 4 or 5 vegies and ask them to choose 2 that they want to eat at that meal. Have the child help you prepare the meal. Peel the carrots. Put the frozen peas in a pot...
It trouble me that parents of today give in to children's whims to their detriment. When will your child learn to eat vegies? Are you going to puree for them for the rest of their life?

The only food that I have evr hidden from my kids is Sultanas and Tomatoes(if I was running low.)

My two eldest kids would demolish a 1kg packet of sultanas if you let them and as a result they would not eat anything else that day. I would regularly come out of the bathroom or inside from getting the washing off the line and find them on the kitchen floor shoving handfuls in their mouth. I thought they would get over it but had to remove them from reach and put something in front of them as if they saw them they would refuse to eat anything else.

DD1 is crazy about tomatoes and has been since she started on solids. She will just go to the fridge and grab one and eat it like an apple. Sometimes i've bought a couple of kilos and a couple of days later gone to make a salad and the bag's empty!

It's funny because they can reach the chips etc. but I suppose they get it that they are sometimes foods!

Oops! I misunderstood the point of the article. Maybe I should have read the attatchment!!! [url=http://www.easyfreesmileys.com/skype-emoticons....]

I don't care whether vegies are in dishes and the kids can't see them. I do care if they are purposely being hidden so they can't see them. I treat food as food. i don't make it into smiley faces or cut bread into special shapes. The kids help grow the veg, they pick the veg for the dishes, they have input into the meals, they help cook the meals and they eat them. if they go through a stage of not eating much then all treats are withdrawn (not as a punishment, I just don't offer them) I only offer nutrient rich food until the stage has passed. They have never refused any food for any length of time. (except goats cheese and olive oil) I believe everyone expects a fussy stage, so at the slightest thing parents panic and start coming up with ways to cope with "a fussy eater." Food is food, don't make a big deal out of it. Its just a normal everyday part of life. smile

I have never pureed veggies into food for the kids- i do chop small or grate veggies in some meals but the kids still know its there, they just can't pick it out smile I personally prefer my vegies like that anyway.

Some meals we have it chopped larger, some meals all the ingredients are mixed in, some they're all seperate- It depends on the meal.

Some veggies i don't like much- but i still eat them- the kids know that and know that they are good for them and follow my example most the time.

If they don't eat something i consider to be important for them (nutritionally) they don't get 'treat' food options.

I don't have a big problem with the kids and veg. the hardest part i have at the moment is getting DD to eat Breakfast (it doesn't seem to make much difference what it is) she usually leaves it and then eats it at morning tea time. But i DO require her to eat it- because i think it is important for her to learn to eat Breakfast.

For 1 year I hid vegies (had the Jessica Seinfeld book), but I also had vegies in plain site. The hidden vegies in the pasta sauce were just back-ups to the visable ones that were more often than not picked out.
We always eat dinner together as a fmaily. We always all eat the same thing, but it didn't work. He wouldn't eat the vegies. We tried ice-cream bribery. That worked but only accasionaly.And only after a good solid 20 minutes coaxing.
We turned to vitamins about 6 months ago becuase more often thatn not he was eating plain rice or pasta.

Recently we have had some success, if I give hime a choice or vegtables while I am cooking and remind him that he needs to eat them all up like cookie monster before eating his sausage/fish/chicken/meatballs he complies. There is a lot of grilled sweet potato and steamed spinach going on in our house at the moment. There is not a lot of carrots or broccali being chosen.
I'm sure it is just a matter of time before he broadens his vegie repotiore.

[quote name='boofarama' date='14 September 2011 - 02:52 PM' timestamp='1315972360' post='3059573']
Oops! I misunderstood the point of the article. Maybe I should have read the attatchment!!! [url=http://www.easyfreesmileys.com/skype-emoticons....]
[/quote]

Hehe - don't worry - thats how i understood it at first too!!!

I have the opposite problem when it comes to vegetables. My daughter will even eat the vegetables i don't eat... But when it comes to giving her any type of protein, it is a struggle. I went through 2 routes. 1 - the route of, i have given you some meat, you eat that first then you get your vegetables. She would try to find any excuse not to eat it, i has squishy bits on it (the fat on meat), i don't like it. Her main problem is the chewing she gets too tired from having to chew through the meat. To get around the problem i took the 2nd route - i asked her what was her favourite way of each meat to be done... as they are all easy to make and the entire family eats the same dish.

I got an idea of her favourites and i no longer have any struggle. we also made the deal that when we are trying something new she has to eat it all and if she doesnt like it afterward then i don't make it for her again.

Hi Sarah, when I first heard about this approach I wasn't at all a fan. I believed (and still do) that it's great to give kids a variety of foods and encourage them to eat broadly and we've done that with a good degree of success. HOWEVER, my initial thoughts were formed when my firstborn was still very young and now that she is older there are times when getting her to eat a meal is plain hard work and I can really see the value of hiding some additional veges into her food to be sure that she is getting the nutrients she needs. It doesn't have to be about deception but presentation. My baby boy is much more fussy about food and I can see this being really helpful for him too.

On the other end of the spectrum are my grandparents who have a terrible diet and don't get anywhere enough nutritious food into them. I have often made them a zucchini and carrot cake to eat because they simply will eat that I know that it's a much better option for them and just as yummy as making a standard cake.

Thanks for sharing, it's been helpful for me to revisit this especially at the moment. x

Sorry im so late with a comment. I havent hidden food or pureed any with my nearly and a half year old. He isnt a fussy eater. Which is a good thing for us because im pretty fussy with my food. But i encourage my son to eat things my partner and i may not be able to have. My partner is lactose intolerant but our son understands his dad cant have certain foods. I was brought up that if i didnt eat what was on my plate i didnt eat. Im not as strict with my son but i stil believe in it. I wish you the best of luck!

Sorry im so late with a comment. I havent hidden food or pureed any with my nearly and a half year old. He isnt a fussy eater. Which is a good thing for us because im pretty fussy with my food. But i encourage my son to eat things my partner and i may not be able to have. My partner is lactose intolerant but our son understands his dad cant have certain foods. I was brought up that if i didnt eat what was on my plate i didnt eat. Im not as strict with my son but i stil believe in it. I wish you the best of luck!

I hide food from my almost 3 year old all the time, he's always been a fussy eater and I can't remember a time he has willingly eaten a vegetable, recently he realised that chips are made from vegetables, we used to make them ourselves out of sweet potato, potato and pumpkin, he won't eat them anymore, so I've resorted to hiding them while keeping up with the offerings, he gets 'normal' veggies on his plate, which are almost always thrown on the floor and when that fails he has his hidden veggies, I hide spinach in macaroni and about 5 veggies in my usual pasta sauce, it means we all eat healthier as well and, personally, I find the meals taste nicer. My daughter is completely different, she's always been happy to eat whatever I give her and one of her favorite foods is peas, eventually my son will outgrow his hatred of veggies but I think I'll still mix pureed veggies in with our meals because it just tastes better!