Skip to main content

Kids and Food

Picky Eaters, Fostering Healthy Eating Habits and More

API's Eight Principles of Parenting are recommended companion readings as the foundation and context for all of our research-based resources.

 

Tips on Nurturing a Taste for Nutritious Food

  • Model healthy eating habits
  • Try to make at least one meal a day a time for connection and community
  • Encourage a child to follow his bodily cues for hunger and thirst, to eat when he is hungry and stop when he is full
  • Forcing a child to eat, or to eat a certain food, is counterproductive and can lead to unhealthy eating habits and potentially eating disorders
  • Avoid the use of food as a reward or punishment, or of making food (or dessert) contingent on behavior
  • Rather than restricting access to certain foods, consider having only healthy options available in the home and allowing the child to choose

 

Free Resources from API's Library and Publications