How long do you try to ignore a food fad. I have tried everything that my local Health Visitors have suggested and my son is going from bad to worse with eating. I make sure he doesn't know how worried I am about it and try to make meal times fun but he runs off of hides under the table and I can't seem to win this battle.


A You could try to eat together as a family, wherever possible, to explore the social side of eating, where you present a meal, sit for no longer than 20 minutes then take the meal away.

I know this sounds very difficult but you do need to stop thinking of mealtimes as a battle as, no matter how hard you try, this message will pass to your son.

You could try to keep him sat at the table by exploring different chairs and choose some new crockery and cutlery for him.

You might find this link helpful: www.healthvisitors.com/meal_times.htm

You could try to keep some meals very simple and experiment with ‘picnic’ style lunches, invite friends round to make it a more fun time also.

You could also get him involved in the food preparation so he feels more interested in food; making pizzas can be a great start with children as they can decorate their own and watch them cook. You could then try making smoothies which is an easy way of encouraging children to eat fruit and vegetables.

This link has some interesting ideas: www.bbc.co.uk/cookingwithchildren

It would be good to involve your son in the food shopping to give him a greater sense of involvement.

You might find this link helpful: www.healthvisitors.com/shopwithchild

health visitor