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It has been a long day. Home from work, you put together a nice, healthy dinner for the entire family to enjoy. Gathering the family around the table, you sit down to eat and within a minute, a voice pipes up, 'I don't like anything.' Encouraging, you say, 'I've made some of your favorite foods and even put a couple new things on the table that I'm sure you will like if you just try. I really think if you will take one bite, you'll love it.' The response, 'No, I don't want to eat because I don't like it.'

If you think about the way in which food is perceived by adults and children, it is very different. For example, adults often use food for comfort or to celebrate a special occasion while children view food as food ' a way to make a hungry tummy stop hurting. Therefore, if you have a child who begins to show signs of being a picky eater, remember that his or her body at that particular time may not need much food. When this situation first begins, offer encouragement but never force your child to clean his or her plate. In most cases, not making a big deal is the best course of action.

However, after a few weeks if you find that the picky eating behavior continues and even seems to be getting worse, you might need to intervene. At this time, it basically becomes a matter of teaching your child good eating habits. The problem is that many times, the child has already established him or herself as a picky eater and now, is not so sure changes are needed. Keep in mind that when a child first starts ignoring food, people are usually making a big fuss. Therefore, by the time appropriate changes are made, the child might have figured out that he or she has some control that was not known about before. With that, the teaching process becomes more of a struggle than a lesson.

It is also important to understand that children taste food differently than adults do. Physically, children have more sensitive taste buds. For that reason, hot or spicy foods that taste good to an adult may be unmanageable for a child. Children also avoid bitter foods often found in dark vegetables. With this, parents of a picky eater can choose recipes that would be better suited for the child. To help parents of picky eaters, we have written an amazing book called, 'Help! There's a Picky Eater in the House'.

In addition to featuring stories by other parents of picky eaters, this book is also loaded with informative chapters that include helpful strategies and 500 kid-friendly recipes the entire family can enjoy. You will learn ways to introduce foods that your child would love. As an example, picky eaters will generally try a food if it is similar to another type of food they already like. As an example, if your child likes nectarines, then peaches would be a good choice of new food to introduce. By using this tool, you can dramatically reduce or even eliminate dinner table drama while knowing your child is eating healthy foods!