41 tricks to get your child to eat healthy

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Getting a fussy child to eat is the ultimate exercise in self-restraint and persuasion, and requires Zen-master-like mental power and stamina for even the most loving parent. And this is not just about the child too often, a parent's self-esteem hinges on her ability to persuade her child to eat healthy food when he doesn't want to. Consultant child psychologist Dr Olwen Wilson explains it: The most basic motherly impulse is to nurture. So mothers often feel inadequate when their children reject the food they provide.

A child's rejection of food might actually be because of an involuntary defence mechanism; their systems are afraid certain foods might be poisonous. But more often than not, Indian parents attach so much emotion with food that they end up pressuring their kids unduly, says Dr Shelja Sen, Prevention columnist. Also, most of us forget that every child is unique.

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There are certain kids who are extremely sensitive: they are differently wired. Since their sense of smell and taste buds are super-developed, they might refuse to take foods that are liked by others. In such cases, parents should desensitise their taste buds in a very cautious and gentle manner you see that healthy breakfast as a basket of tasty nutrients; your child sees a living green blob poised to attack him. How do we resolve this? Let's examine some common food peeves and find out how to beat them.