How to prevent picky eating

Put picky eating behind you with this simple act: Family meals

We’ve talked about this simple yet powerful “intervention” for picky eating in the past and we will say it again-

Family meals are one of the single best ways to teach your baby or child to eat a wide

variety of food, to have a positive, healthy relationship with food, and to succeed in other areas of life, like school!

There's a good amount of research which finds a solid association between family meals and positive developmental and health outcomes for children. We will note first that many studies aren't able to fully separate out whether the benefits found in the research examining family meals are due specifically to the family meal or to other associated characteristics- like families who eat together also tend to have higher socioeconomic status and a mother who doesn't work (working full time +cooking for and eating with your family = a LOT of work, we know). But nonetheless there are MANY positive outcomes associated with family meals including:

♥️ Family discussions at mealtime supports early literacy. The more positive words a baby hears before the age of 3, the better for the infants communication development. Meal discussions tend to include different words than those found in kid's books, which adds to a wider vocabulary.

♥️ For school age kids family meals are a strong predictor of academic success.

♥️ Family meals are linked to less depressive symptoms for teens and overall improved psychological well-being for children.

♥️ Kids who participate in family meals tend to eat more healthy foods.

HOW OFTEN?

Many studies find benefits with 3 or more family meals per week. More is certainly not a problem but to be realistic for many families who work full time, often multiple job