Actually your job is to serve a balanced diet. It is your son's job to eat it. You started off just fine by serving broccoli along with his favorite pasta or bread. The trouble began when you got into a power struggle. The meal was ruined at that point. And that's a shame, because all of us--moms, dads and children--need the pleasure of a family meal a lot more than we need a bite of broccoli.
Here is my formula for planning family meals that work. Serve at least three items at every meal. Make sure one of them is a food your son likes and at least one item is a fruit or vegetable. Sit down with your child. You eat all the foods on your plate and guide your child on manners, behavior and safety at the table—not on how much or what he is eating. A healthy, hungry child will eat what he needs if he is served wholesome food in a pleasant and predictable manner.
Research shows that healthy children will eat more or less at any given meal. However, over the course of a day, their total food intake remains remarkably constant without any pressure from parents.
It's fine to offer to help cut, chop or season your little guy's food. Don't coerce or pressure him to eat. Instead trust him to eat what he needs and see what happens; at the very least you will have a much more pleasant meal time.
Try it and let us know what happens!
Eileen Behan
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