Combating Picky Eating Through Healthy Food Choices

Hello MIP patients and families,

Mercer Island Pediatrics is proud to sponsor a booth with kid’s activities at the Mercer Island Farmer’s Market this year!

I love this time of year not only because it brings a welcome change of season, but because of all the great fresh produce! Braving the exciting weather this past weekend, my father and I enjoyed the MI Farmer’s Market thoroughly. In addition to seeing our friends and neighbors, we brought home some fresh and delicious asparagus which our whole family enjoyed in a wonderful seafood paella.

Although my children are now in their teens and can fend for themselves at meal times, I remember the challenges of a picky eater well. What a fantastic opportunity our Farmer’s Market provides to teach kids about fresh ingredients for our meals. It’s a great way to help picky eaters by:

• Including them in meal planning by helping choose foods from healthy options.

• Including them in meal preparation which is an important life skill, great training to be a helpful member of the household.

• Creating a sense of pride in what they selected and cooked for the family.

• Teaching and learning about food (ask some of the Farmer’s Market vendors for their favorite recipes!) – knowing where a food comes from, how it is “created” and what it does for our body embraces the natural curiosity of childhood.

• Going to a community farmers’ market illustrates all the important social aspects eating healthy fresh food includes. I especially enjoyed seeing the Girl Scouts collecting donations of fresh food for our MI Food Pantry!

For more ideas about picky eaters check out: Child of Mine by Ellyn Satter; look up “picky eaters” at Zero to Three and the AAP’s Healthy Children.

For ideas about encouraging children to try new foods see Food For Tots and the magazine ChopChop.

Happy eating to all!

#mercerisland #farmersmarket #local #community #recipes #pickyeaters #diet #healthychoices