There was a time when my two older boys would eat nothing but their favorite meals.. sinigang na hipon for my oldest and corned beef for my second. A few months after, they were back on track eating healthier food, vegetables, fruits and the likes. I think it was just a phase and thank goodness, my two older boys went through that phase without me worrying that much.
The story is different with my 3rd boy.. well you know, we had a situation before where I almost neglect him..it was kinda hard dealing with him, specially with eating.. since bumabawi ako sa kanya sa lahat ng pagkukulang ko, I have this tendency to give him what he wants.. There was a time when he’d prefer eating donut over meals o minsan naman mas gusto pa nya ang popcorn kesa kumain ng kanin..it was a hard phase.
Later on, I learned that this kind of phase is normal to kids ages four to seven years old.. it’s called the “diet shift” phase, where they develop a preference for unhealthy food and therefore, becomes at-risk of important nutrients he needs for proper growth and development. Obviously, my two older boys went through this phase too.
Medyo madugo with my 3rd son.. ang hirap niya iplease! But now, he’s better in the eating department.. through a series of experiments and close observations, I was able to handle him better. For one, I noticed that he eats a lot when our ulam is soup based or if the dish has a lot of sauce. So, I started preparing dishes that he would like, sinigang, kare-kare, menudo, and anything with sauce. Little by little, he learned to love eating more.. and though he still loves eating donut, he knows now that he can only eat those after eating his meal.
he even eats like his dad! how a true blood novo ecijano eats!
I know a lot of moms have a hard time battling this phase, here are some practical tips on how to overcome diet shift:
- Know your kids, just like what I did, observe and observe. Take note of the healthy food that he likes and from there work your magic
- Always make sure that you eat with your child. It will encourage him to eat better since he can see you eating, but make sure that what you are eating is healthy. This was effective with my third born, he would sit beside his dad and eat whatever his dad eats, hence he now prefers Filipino dishes (it’s daddy’s favorite!)
- If your child does not like vegetables, slowly incorporate veggies on his food.. like a fried rice with a few carrots, spaghetti with more veggies.. just make sure that he won’t see the veggies.. minced everything if you can.
- Establish a routine in terms of eating, do not commit the mistake of giving them snacks before meal time. Make sure that there is time for meals and time for snacks.
- In terms of snacks, ask them to prepare it with you, give them healthier options like sandwich instead of chips.
Another thing that helped me overcome my 3rd son’s diet shift is the fact that his older brothers eat healthier food.. aside from his dad, he have his two kuyas to look up to in terms of eating.
