Vegetables are frequently not on children’s favourite food list.

It’s the old dinner table dilemma. On one side you have your children and on the other a plate of peas and you are trying to negotiate a ceasefire. Of course, the easiest option would be to recruit tomato ketchup as a valuable ally – but that’s not very healthy is it?

And it’s not just peas. With children, the enemy could be anything from green vegetables to lentils and fruit which isn’t too fancy or colourful.

With children and food, it’s a chicken and egg situation – are they born fussy eaters or do they develop that way?

Children copy their parents in most things and very few develop tastes which are different to their parents’. That means that if the parents are fussy about their food, then their children will copy them and become fussy eaters themselves.

That said, there are a number of food textures and tastes which most children commonly dislike.

Vegetables are frequently not on children’s favourite list of food. Most children like sweet tastes as well as soft or liquid food. However, it is very important that parents insist that their children taste different food textures. When children are four months old, parents should start weaning them to more solid food gradually.

Children will not like it when parents reduce their milk intake – this is why solid foods should be introduced gradually. Children who grow up and still hate solid foods might need some medical and psychological guidance from professionals in order to help them progress normally.

As children move from a liquid to a solid diet, they will be introduced to new foods. How can parents encourage them to taste these novelties?

Children copy adults. Therefore, adults should act as role models and eat solid foods in front of their children. Older siblings can also be helpful in encouraging their younger brothers and sisters to eat solid foods. The aim is that children, especially as they grow older, eat the same food as their parents. Of course, this only applies when parents eat a balanced and healthy diet.

The shift from liquid to solid foods should be as gradual as possible. If the going gets tough, parents should still insist. They can use some tricks to include solid food more subtly, such as hidden into soups.

Parents should insist but they shouldn’t push too hard as this might make the children’s resistance even harsher. Moreover, parents should not give their children rewards involving fast food – rewards and treats should be in the form of healthy snacks.

To discourage children from becoming fussy eaters, parents should also involve their children in the preparation of meals – this helps children understand ingredients and is an incentive to try out the food that they have prepared.

Parents should also maintain regular mealtimes. This helps children digest their food better. Small frequent meals are much healthier and help metabolism work faster and more regularly. This is in fact one of the ways of controlling obesity in children, which is a serious issue locally.