The selective schoolage eater

Selective eaters
Your most well-balanced meals and wholesome snacks won't nourish your child if she turns up her nose at them. All children -- and most adults -- snub at least a few foods. But some children keep ever-lengthening lists of foods they detest. Or they decide to become vegetarian, eliminating meat from their diets.

Sometimes an unpleasant experience with a food causes an aversion to that food. Maybe your child accidentally drank sour milk and began to gag at the taste, smell, and even the sight of milk. To counteract such food aversion, let time heal. Until she's ready to drink milk again, keep up her calcium intake with other milk products -- yogurt, cheese, or milk pudding. Reintroduce milk in a relaxed situation in which she can control the amount. She may want to try just a few sips at first.

Avoid labelling
The best thing you can do for such a child is to relax about his eating style. No matter how selective your child is about food, don't call him a "picky eater" -- he may feel he has to live up to the label. If you give your child a lot of attention, positive or negative, over his food choices, a small problem might grow into a big problem.

Don't worry if he rejects all sandwiches except peanut butter, and don't comment on the fact that he's had a peanut butter sandwich for lunch six months straight. You may think his peanut butter sandwich jag is a challenge to your authority. It's not. He's just exercising his right to choose. He wants peanut butter.

Set a good example

It may he useful to take a look at the eating behaviours of the rest of the family -- your child may be imitating you. Do you or does your spouse pick out all the peas in a serving of shepherd's pie and roll them to the side of the plate? Do you berate yourself for eating "too much" and being "too fat," then ponder why your child eats such minuscule quantities?

Your concern from preschool on should be that your child receives adequate nutrition and develops a healthy attitude to food and eating. Try inviting him into the kitchen. Helping prepare meals can accustom your child to a wider variety of foods. This is also a more opportune time to talk about Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating, the four different food groups, and the advantages of a variety of foods.

As long as your child continues to grow well, and your doctor don't worry about the lack of variety. Your six-year-old or eight-year-old may reject your food choices, but the protests won't last. When they begin the final growth spurts of puberty, they'll be too hungry to reject any foods.