We all know a few….the parents whose preschoolers dominate edamame at the sushi joint when you all go out together. Or the one whose toddler slurps happily on a green smoothie from the confines of their jogging stroller. Then, there’s the school age child who comes for a playdate at your house, makes a face when you offer them a cookie and says, “Do you have any raw almonds?” 

In all honesty, most of us are jealous of the parents whose children are adventurous eaters. In the world of competitive parenting, somehow it feels like a personal failure when a child (or, okay, every child in your house) only wants to eat the same five things all.the.time.  Even though we know that picky eating is far more commonplace than meeting a child under age ten with a sophisticated (or even healthy) palate, it still drives us bananas (well, actually, bananas would be an improvement in some cases). 

So, what should my child be eating? 

According to American Academy of Pediatrics, variety is key.  The AAP site offers a handy tagline: “The parent provides, the child decides,” which indicates that any combination of recommended foods is appropriate for consumption at meal times and for two 2-3 healthy snacks a day. The choices offered should represent a variety of the five food groups. Another key suggestion for each age group of children is that their beverage choices be limited to milk or water. We know..the glaring omission of juice is scary. If you’re reading this before the holidays, you may want to pretend your tiny humans are on the same plan that you are and just say that the um... juice habit will stop by New Year’s Day. 

What are the food groups? 

Dietary recommendations can be hard to keep up with. After all, the upper end of the current parenting age group (here’s looking at you, 90s kids) grew up in the “fat free” phase, only to learn not all that much later that fat was no longer the enemy. Then, we cooked our Atkins Diet cheeseburgers on a George Foreman grill, swore off Diet Coke, had babies, and suddenly brussels sprouts were posh. 

Rest assured, the five major food groups are mostly still the same as they were back on when we were in elementary school (where you definitely stared at a few posters of the good ol’ food pyramid) They are: Grains, Dairy, Fruit, Vegetables, and Proteins. For a variety of reasons, the good old pyramid has been replaced by MyPlate, an icon of a simple place setting that helps everyone visualize eating a healthy meal with the five food groups in proper proportional amounts. 

Okay, great..but just tell me what my kids should be eating…

Just like we should, kids should be eating a variety of foods, and trying to put the focus on “eating the rainbow” (no, not taste the rainbow, that’s a Skittles commercial) and eating the most from the fruits and vegetables categories. 

The food we, and they, eat should be as close to its natural form as possible. Packaged and processed food should be avoided whenever possible. 

Given the choice, most children would survive on foods that begin with the letter C: crackers, cheese pizza, chicken nuggets and cereal.  While there are plenty of people who made it to adulthood on that menu, your kids will be better off if you can expand on their favorites and focus on making sure what they actually do eat is multi or whole grain, and rich in fiber. Lean proteins are important and of course, their little bodies need fats and oils in small amounts too. 

But how? 

Despite parental knowledge and a ton of effort made both by parents and food  manufacturers to disguise vegetables and healthier foods, kids always know when they are being duped. The broccoli in tater tot’s clothing? They might eat it at 10 months, but one taste of the real thing and they’re wise to the game. Their nose wrinkles, their voice gets whiny, and they squint their little eyes in suspicion as they evaluate the delicious chocolate chip cookie you made (that just happens to have little chunks of carrot baked in.) 

Eating at home is one of the best habits you can instill in your child, and almost always leads to healthier habits. Make it fun. If you’re on the go because of evening practices, pack healthy foods from home and let your child picnic in the back of the car. 

Get your child involved. Let them chop and peel as much as common sense dictates as far as safety. This works really well with the “set in their ways” age group between 8 and 13.  Pride in their creation will often result in trying more things — like cooking classes too! Younger kids may feel less put off by “green things” if they can play their food a little...think cucumber faces “little trees” (broccoli), insects made of radishes, and and the old favorite, “ ants on a log” (raisins on peanut butter smeared celery.) 

Lastly, just keep trying. They will learn to like the taste of “yucky” things at some point. After all, remember how you first felt about beer?