News

"No dessert until you clean your plate," writes Tralee Pearce in Tuesday's Globe and Mail .

"Just five bites — then you can leave the table.

"C'mon, it's good for you

"All are classic exhortations in the struggle to persuade convince children to eat well. And all are backwards, according to Montreal-based dietitians Marie Breton and Isabelle Emond, the authors of a new book, Family Table: Recipes and Strategies. Instead of cajoling kids into a lifetime of healthy eating, parents are setting them up for bad adult habits: lusting after sweets, eschewing healthy foods and overeating."

Ms. Emond was online earlier to take your questions on why the tactics parents use to get their kids to eat may be all wrong. From getting everyone to the table to balancing varying nutritional needs to dealing with fussy eaters, Ms. Emond can give you advice on helping your family eat well.

Your questions and Ms. Emond's answers appear at the bottom of this page.

Isabelle Emond is a professional nutritionist with 20 years of experience. With a passion for culinary creation and communication, Isabelle Emond has published several works including recipe books such as Family Table and Lunch Box, both winners of the gold medal awarded by Cuisine Canada. A proud mother, she works hard to make her toughest clients (Victor, Jeanne and Estelle) happy and healthy.

Editor's Note: globeandmail.com editors will read and allow or reject each question/comment. Comments/questions may be edited for length or clarity. HTML is not allowed. We will not publish questions/comments that include personal attacks on participants in these discussions, that make false or unsubstantiated allegations, that purport to quote people or reports where the purported quote or fact cannot be easily verified, or questions/comments that include vulgar language or libellous statements. Preference will be given to readers who submit questions/comments using their full name and home town, rather than a pseudonym.

andrew long from Toronto Canada writes: My 15 month old daughter is being raised on a meatless diet. She loves starches, tofu, cheeses, yogurt, milk and fruit but...really dislikes vegetables. I've tried pureed, mashed, boiled, baked, and roasted and she still refuses them. She has also become savvy to the vegetables hidden within the starches so loves. How am I going to get proper nutrition into my girl now that she has learned my secrets?

Isabelle Emond: I've already try the "hide and seek" method for vegetables with my oldest daughter and, like you, it works for a while... and after a while it was like she felt cheated and became more suspicious even with food she liked. I think the better way is to persevere and present the vegetable the more natural way (vegetables or steamed) or with her favourite sauce. Maybe the first step is to allow her to accept the vegetable in her plate and after many meals she will give it a try. I believe that to force a kid to eat a particular food causes more harm than good and more resistance. If you CONSISTENTLY offer healthy food options she will learn to eat well. Have you ever try the «this is a grown-up vegetable», it may look more tentalizing. As you prepare the dinner, you can ask her to wash some vegetables and help you to prepare them, like it is a child play and then she will be more prone to taste it. I think you are still in the good way, don't give up.

Arif Nizami from Canada writes: How do you get a three year old to sit long enough for a balanced meal? My three year old is good about trying anything and does have a varied diet but lately looks at food as purely fuel. He will eat whatever is the easiest thing to eat at a meal then be off. We eat dinner as a family every night and we can sometimes convince him to enjoy the rest of the family's company and he'll have another couple of bites of something else but he won't sit still. Should we give him less food options at each meal to ensure balance over a day or trust that he is making the choices his body needs by presenting him with all the food groups?

Isabelle Emond: I think that you don't have to worry. First of all, your kid seems to be healthy and seems to eat a good variety of food. At three years old the appetite is more variable because he grows up a little bit slower than during the first two years. And also at this age, the world is more interesting than food. As long as you keep the rules clear, that he can eat at meal time and at snack time and not all day long, it will be fine. You also have to look at the whole week to evaluate his feeding, two or three meals that are not complete is not that bad, maybe he will eat more the next meal or the next week. Stay with the all food groups for every meal, it's how he will earn to eat well.

Annie Crombie from Ottawa Canada writes: My almost 4 year old will only eat fruits and vegetables in a puree, so he still eats baby food. At least he is eating fruits and veggies, so I keep giving them to him. However, other than hiding vegetables in other food that he will eat, he absolutely refuses to try any fruit or vegetable. It started out as a texture aversion and now just seems to be stubborness more than anything. I know that experts say that you have to offer the food more than 10 times for your child to try it. Well, I've been offering at every meal for almost 3 years now to no avail. Other than giving him baby food or hiding the vegetables, do you have any other suggestions?

Isabelle Emond: I don't want to talk about my family but your story reminds me of someone... My second child began to be fussy at one year old, she didn't want to eat any fruit and vegetables, except certain ones in puree. Like you, at that time, I considered the texture aversion and that's what it was . In fact, they call it "hypersensitivity." They can detect changes in texture, temperature and even different brands What you need to do is find ways to give him fruit and vegetables: popsicle made with fruit puree, vegetable soup in puree. After a while you can start to give him the same meal as the rest of the family without any explanation other than, "You're grown-up now so I'm giving you grown-up food." If he doesn't eat, keep the rule "you eat at meals time and at snack time." As you've experienced, it takes time to change food habits. I encourage you to continue and to slowly replace the baby food with grown-up food. Maybe you can give him "the privilege" to help you with the cooking: washing, cutting fruit and vegetables, mixing the dressing in the salad, etc.

veronica mengana from Toronto writes: I find controlling teenagers' eating habits in the home not as much of an issue as influencing what they eat outside. What tips can you provide to help influence teenagers' eating habits at school where there aren't too many 'healthy' options available or when out with friends, etc? What do you find is the best way to motivate them to eat healthy when they are not under their parents' influence?

Thank you,

-Veronica

Isabelle Emond: I will have to deal with this situation in the coming years. What I will have to do is trust them. You know when you go out once in a while with friends and eat junk, it's not that bad. Consider the quality of the rest of the week. Also, if the junk food is not forbidden, it may lost it's attraction after a while. And even if it is happening too often in a week, if they have the fundamentals of eating well, they will likely go back to them when they're feeling less "rebellious."

Rasha Mourtada, Globe Life web editor: Thank you, Isabelle, for coming online. To our readers, we're sorry we didn't get to all of your questions.