Custom Search

18.8.09

Fish N Chips for a picky eater

Ever since he turned 1 year 4 months, Irfan has turned into a picky eater. It is so hard to make him eat his food now and he totally refuse to eat rice. He'll take plain pasta sprinkled with cheese, but don't even dream of making him eat it with the sauce. As a mother, of course I become worried that he won't get enough nutrition as he don't take vege that I usually add in his rice, and will eat a little bit of chicken and fish depending on his mood on the day.

Thus, because he is quite fond of fish and chicken, last few of days I decided to make him fish and chips using ikan kerapu and the frozen french fries, cowboy style. I googled the recipe on the net and omitted things that I didn't have in stock and added a few things just because they're available in the fridge. So this was what he had for lunch and dinner on that day. He loved them, and though the portions was quite huge, he was able to finish them up. But just like his father, he refused to eat them when I dipped it in the mayonnaise.

Nampak macam cucur udang kan? Haha..

Anyway, my mum is an ardent fan of The Star newspaper and she has them delivered to her doorstep every single day ever since I can remember. So she found an article in the paper entitled "Anxiety Bites!", which revolves around the issue of the picky eaters.

It was written there that in US, a study found that 50% to 60% parents reported their child as having feeding difficulties but after closer inspection only 25% to 35% of those children have real feeding difficulties.

It is said that feeding difficulties is not the only reason why a child refuse to eat, there could be other factors such as :

1) Oral-motor-development - Depends on child's readiness and adequacy in oral motor skills, such as licking, sucking, biting and chewing.

2) Fear of new foods * - also known as neophobia, common between ages 2 and three.

3) Environmental factors* - Chaotic work schedules and cultural beliefs of eating, e.g unpredictable mealtimes schedules create inconsistency in eating habits.

4) Social development *- the time when a child starts to asserts his independence, causing him to have interest in other things than food. And also he wants to show his independency by refusing to eat, or prefers only one type of food for days on end.

I can relate * with Irfan's being a picky eater. He totally refuse to eat foods he's not familiar with nowadays. And I also realize that I was inconsistent with his mealtime, but now I try to be more strict with his eating schedule. And of course at the age of one and a half year, he has started to asserts his independency by wanting to eat on his own (though he can't feed the food into his mouth yet he is adamant to do it by himself), choosing only certain food and at times totally refuse to eat at all.

I hope this stage will pass quickly, and of course as a mother I have to try my best to coax him into eating nutritious food. I don't want my child to be under-nutrition, I want him to grow up healthy!



11 comments:

  1. u r such a good mother,ni pujian ikhlas tau..
    hehe!
    a'ah la fish tu nmpak macam cucur udang sikit tp xkisah la kan,nak masuk perut jugak..

    wink2**

    ReplyDelete
  2. i also read that between age 1 to 4 years old, there are times that the child will be facing appetite slump. at times the child really dont feel like eating. in some cases also ada some child had already become smart now at that age, they know if they dont eat breakfast or lunch much, they can make it up during dinner.

    like my lil girl, she seldom eat a lot during breakfast & lunch. there are times i have to follow her around with a bowl of food. but during dinner, she will sit down and eat with us. she do eat much more then. so usually i will give high nutri food during day. type of food yg makan a few mouth food is already good enough like dates, eggs, chicken.

    trying to make sure anak eat right is mind boggling kan?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I guess it's a phase toddlers go through ... dont worry i'm sure he'll be eating MORE healthier food in no time ... refusing mayo is a very good sign actually ... unlike arees who loves his pasta with mayo and mustard ... melampau ke tak!?!?!

    ReplyDelete
  4. i also read that between age 1 to 4 years old, there are times that the child will be facing appetite slump. at times the child really dont feel like eating. in some cases also ada some child had already become smart now at that age, they know if they dont eat breakfast or lunch much, they can make it up during dinner.

    like my lil girl, she seldom eat a lot during breakfast & lunch. there are times i have to follow her around with a bowl of food. but during dinner, she will sit down and eat with us. she do eat much more then. so usually i will give high nutri food during day. type of food yg makan a few mouth food is already good enough like dates, eggs, chicken.

    trying to make sure anak eat right is mind boggling kan?

    ReplyDelete
  5. mujurlah arif masih berselera makan, x memilih..apa aje org makan dia nk makan jugak...
    cam syaza umur 2thn lebih..dia start memilih..sayur2 hijau xnak walau sekecik manapun..makanan yg warna x menarik xnak...memilih sungguh..tp kalau jajan laju je..

    ReplyDelete
  6. baizurah :) i loike dis entry :):):)

    ReplyDelete
  7. intan : thanks ;-) tu la macam cucur, sebab tak letak soda kot hehe

    Mama Miya : ahh, thanks for sharing. we face the same problem, memang usually time dinner when husband and i have proper sit down mel dia nak join. maybe becoz during the day i tak eat proper lunch dia pun tak berapa nak kot.

    what u pracitce is good, just give him high nutriotional food during the day, will try that out.

    thanks again dear

    kak ct : alhamdulillah, arif nampak sihat je. 2 tahun start okie jugak lah, ni setahun pon dah start memilih. tension. haaa, tentang jajan tu, sama la budak ni pun tsk tsk tsk

    amy : aaa mesti sebab hang plak nak buat fish n chips kan..haha

    ReplyDelete
  8. papakeechee : ooops, terMISSED your comment. hehe, ya good thing la he dun like mayo with his food, arees likes because he's been trained since kecik kot hehe.

    but i'm gonna make some egg mayo sandwich later, hopefully he'll eat it. before this he refused to eat pancake, but tadi i dukung him while i made them, so since he saw me made them from scratch he became more interested to eat it. bole camtu?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yah -- a couple of my friends kat office ni had tried making the food look interesting (ie -- make art with food) to encourage their children to eat.. here's a sample - http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/kids/feature/famf199703_playfood1/famf199703_playfood1.html

    or put his food in an attractive plate/tray -- macam main2 la sikit..

    Also, on alternate days - try giving him carrot juices and orange juices.. At least ada la nutrition sikit..

    Good luck!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. yong : thanks for the links and tips. will try them, nak kena shopping plates baru nih hehe..

    but orange juice..oh jangan mimpi dia nak minum! dah try, bau ja dia dok buat nak muntah haha...

    ReplyDelete
  11. owh si kecik irfan ni picky eater rupanya..susah kan kalau anak picky eater ni..i pun dok rasa Indah pun picky eater.she refused to eat porridge,,blended vege whutnot. Im worried too just like u .risau nnt anak kita tak cukup zat pastu kurus melidi tsk tsk !

    hey meal for irfan tu mmg nmpk cam cucur udang..terus i teringin ,teehee..

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin