Picky Eaters and How to Deal With Them August 1, 2010

How many times have we mothers told our children “If you take 4 more bites you can have dessert” or “If you eat all your vegetables you can have a special treat”? Yes, I know mothers have the best intentions when we are trying to bribe our children to be healthy. I admit I say these things to Jackson. But let me share with you a simple method of handling meal times that will change how your child eats and more importantly it will change how you react to his/her eating.

Jackson, at the age of 3 had turned into a picky eater. Implementing this feeding method helped tremendously. The method is called the Division of Responsibility coined by Ellyn Satter.
A great article was published that summarizes the Division of Responsibility method, written by Maryann Tomovich Jacobsen, Registered Deititian, and creator of http://www.RaiseHealthyEaters.com. This article is posted here.

RaiseHealthyEaters is my all time favorite blog for great information on feeding our children. For the entire Picky Eating Series, here are all the articles.
I had the honor of being quoted in her last couple articles on picky eating
10 Pitfalls to Feeding Picky Eaters
and this latest titled 15 Sure-Fire Ways to Get Kids to Eat Healthy

I encourage you to read these articles. As I spoke about in Maryann’s article 15 Sure-Fire Ways to Get Kids to Eat Healthy the biggest problem to kids eating healthy are the parents. It is harder to change our ways than it is to change the ways of a 4 year old. Trust me, I still struggle.

I hope this information helps make your meal times more peaceful and your household more structured. Enjoy!