My son was the pickiest eater I had ever run across. He would only eat bread, cereal, chicken nuggets and other bland foods that were similar. He refused to eat vegetables and fruits. At first we thought it was a phase he was going through and he would grow out of it, instead it steadily got worse. He wouldn't try new foods and wanted certain foods every day.

Finally we had enough and refused to offer him his favorite foods. He was offered the same foods that we had for dinner. If he didn't eat then it was on him because the food was offered. Now, I am not saying this was an easy decision to make, but it was one that had to be made for his health. If we had continued to allow him to eat only certain foods then he wouldn't receive the vitamins and minerals he needed to grow into a healthy adult.

It took about 2 months to get him to a point where he would sit down and eat the same foods we ate. He would fight us over eating his vegetables and try to eat as small of a helping as possible, but every time the fight got less until the time when we could sit down to dinner together and enjoy our meal. There wasn't the fighting to get him to eat, or his arguing that he didn't want to eat. If you have children, you first concern has to be for their health not for how good of a friend you will be to them. Even if they don't want to do something you still have to force them to do some things and eventually it will get to a point where they will make the choices that will benefit not only their health but their lives.

Learn more about this author, Patti Winters.
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