Faddy children
Faddy children
A new survey conducted by Haliborange has shown that one-third of households in the UK have children who are faddy eaters. The survey is based on interviews of 500 parents with children between the ages of two and ten. It revealed that attempts to get children to eat more healthily have been met with mealtime misery according to child psychologist Dr David Lewis. For example, two out of every three children go through a stage of refusing to eat certain foods and 65 per cent of under tens refuse to eat fresh fruit and vegetables. Even worse, up to one in 20 children refuse to eat almost anything set before them. Most hated vegetables are brussel sprouts (41 per cent), cabbage (30 per cent) and tomatoes(28 per cent) and most hated meals include anything made with garlic, eggs or milk. As was recently found, these days most children get their vitamin C from chips and artificially modified fruit juices. Dr Lewis recommends parents to set a good example to their children by eating a healthy balanced diet themselves and never to describe fresh vegetables as "rabbit foods", which could put a child off for life. Keep stress at meal times to a minimum, praise when the child eats but do not scold, do not bribe and avoid giving sweet foods as a reward. A vitamin pill can compensate for deficiencies in the diet.
