How to change kids diet?

[EmmaDilemma5]

Reading up on ultra processed foods and have realised how bad my family's diet has become.

We're vegetarian and both work full time so often default to (UPF) veggie meats as the basis of a meal, with oven chips, rice or pasta and veggies. But also have oven pizzas as a weekly staple. Then, shamefully, too many biscuits and crisps than I care to admit.

If it was just me and husband, we'd eat much better but my young kids are fussy and often refuse homemade food (won't eat lasagne, shepherds pie, stews, jacket potatoes). They also moan for snacks 24/7.

But we need to change things while they're young.

So how do I do this?! Has anyone radically improved their fussy kids diet? How?

How old are the kids?

Following because I feel exactly the same and don’t know where to start.

Depends in their ages. If very young I think it'd be easier

I'd go down the route of saying snacks only allowed to be cut up veg, pitta and hummus (look for pitta with max 5/6 ingredients)

Then maybe bake some sweet snacks with them with minimal ingredients (like sweet potato brownies)

Then change one meal a week to something like a buddha bowl.

Do it slowly and strategically. Tell them you all need to be healthier and that's why rhings have to change.

Could you start slow, change one thing at a time?

Start making your own versions of things you have anyway. Homemade chips are easy. Homemade pizzas not too much harder as long as you have a warm spot in the house! You could make your own bean burgers etc, get kids involved.

I also wouldn't be tolerating lots of fussiness. So in this house, DS11 is the fussiest. If I let him, he'd leave lots of the food I serve up and want toast later. The rule is that if he's hungry enough to eat toast, he has to have made his best effort on his tea (so he can leave the mushrooms or whatever he's moaning about but everything else has to go)

I've got to know his eating habits well so I keep unfinished tea to the side and if in a short space of time he's saying he's hungry, the tea gets brought back. If he eats it, he can have toast. If he doesn't, he's not that hungry.

Homemade pizza is really easy. I make the dough by hand in 10 mins. Leave out 2 hours to rise. Can then be kept in fridge a week and use when convenient ie we often make the dough on a Sunday and then use midweek.

Mine are under 6 so I feel it's a good time to start changing how we do things.

Mine are like yours, they try it on. They eat half a dinner, then within 20 minutes say they're hungry. Then they go on about it for ages until I feel bad and give in.

But I'm better motivated now to improve things. I need to dedicate more time to food prep I think. And I'll be writing down the tips above on the fridge for when I'm out of inspiration!

Could I have your recipe please?

@EmmaDilemma5

500gram Pizza Flour (00)
320ml warm water
10gram Fresh Yeast
1 tps salt
1/2 tps sugar

1. Add yeast and sugar to warm water and leave for 5 mins yeast to activate.
2. Add water solution to flour and combine.
3. Knead the dough for 10mins.
4. Add salt to dough.
5. Cover dough with wet towel and prove for

2 hours.

@EmmaDilemma5 That’s teaspoon of sugar btw. Not tablespoon

I don’t leave my pizza base to rise.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/pizza-margherita-4-easy-steps/amp

If I have time I make it with the kids. If you do this make sure you prep the trays and toppings first.

It took me 15 years to convince my mum that I hated bananas, so I come from a low tolerance family in terms of eating what you're given! But I think the way through is to involve the kids in the food - from helping to cook, stuff like pizza and pasta dishes - to creating meals where they can help themselves/construct their own meals, things like tacos, burrito bowls, to salad choices, to snack dinners, tapas, BBQ, that kind of thing. Might feel wasteful on the day but that kind of stuff is brilliant for recycling for future lunches and stuff. Can you instigate a kind of 'school night suppers' thing where they give you suggestions and then you all work together to rustle up something that works for everyone? From about the age of 10 it was my job to cook dinner on Wednesdays and believe you me, no bananas were involved! But as I result I am very self-sufficient and whenever I visit my parents my dad always asks if I can cook (suits my mum, she's not offended, she bloody hates cooking!)

They eat half a dinner, then within 20 minutes say they're hungry.

"No problem darling, the rest of your dinner is in the fridge." and smile.

And as @GwinGwyn says, get them involved in the cooking.

DD always tries to get something half way through dinner. So the rule is now if she wants to do that it’s fine but one thing and its plain yoghurt, babybel or a bit of fruit. 8/10 times she goes back to her dinner for a bit more.

We also just don’t buy stuff like biscuits, we aren’t food nazis or anything, it just doesn’t go into the shopping basket, odd kitkat finds it’s way in though. Snack choices are popcorn, cheese, fruit, crackers, yoghurt and thats pretty much it.

I'm trying to do similar to youm I read Ultra processed people and it's so eye opening to the junk in most shop bought 'food'. I think it's great they're under 6 and that should be easier to change habits. Mine are under 4 and tbh they don't often have too much UPF but I never realised quite how food was UP.

Do you work full time? I ask as I think you're right and food preparation is key. Luckily I do have the time at home to prepare/batch cool food and snacks. I got a bread maker which is amazing and I haven't bought shop bought (UPF) bread since. I really try to avoid buying UPF now although I do think I poss have it easier as we eat meat and I do know a lot of meat substitutions are UPF.

*how much food was UPF.

Pizzas can be even easier than that...google 2 ingredient pizza dough......literally just flour and Greek yogurt.

You can also use this dough to make Pizza Scrolls (basically the same principal as a cinnamon roll but with tomato puree and cheese and veggies rolled into it before slicing and baking....so you end up with pizza rolls).

Also agree with home made versions of food they already enjoy.

Do the kids eat fish or are they strictly veggie too? As you can use polenta on white fish to make fish fingers.

No sugar added beetroot brownies, you can bake with almond meal or almond flour to about all the white flour.

Bake own bread for toast so it has less additives.

It's at this point I'd like to add I'm in the same boat as you and struggle siw to time restrictions to make any of this happen. I'm seriously tempted to take a couple of weeks off and try and kick start it all with some serious freezer prep!

I think having them really hungry at meal times helps, cut out all snacking. Get them to help you cook when you have time

I've no time for making kids to eat things they don't want to, it doesn't work. I would offer healthy options and leave them to make their own choices. My kids could always have bread/toast, fruit, so dinner was always optional really.

If they are fussy maybe go for more picky meals, it is extremely common for younger children to prefer separate foods. Eating combined foods requires an element of trust and bravery that can take time to develop. A slice of wholemeal (real) bread, some cheese and an apple is perfectly acceptable for dinner - and healthier than a upf hot meal.

Once you've cut out the upf they may just develop more interest in food over time, especially if you eat well yourself.

It’s quite difficult to make changes once you realize just how much food is classed as uhp, and so, so easy to rely on foods which are quick/easy to cook.

I think you need to make some small changes which your children may not even notice at first ie a snack could be some Greek yogurt with honey instead of a shop fruit yogurt, jacket potato with cheese and baby tomatoes.

I used to give my ds’s porridge for breakfast with either honey or sliced banana, or could make Jamie Oliver sweet potato muffins (which freeze well and can be reheated in the microwave).

I used to have a big freezer and would batch cook and freeze minestrone soup, tomato sauce which could be used on pizza or with pasta etc.

@calmcoco you've reminded me. When my lot were young, they used to struggle at large family gatherings, DB and I were of the opinion that a bowl of rice, one of grated cheese and some ketchup solved the problem. They could eat whatever they wanted, no fights allowed. DSis on the other hand wanted everyone to eat a balanced diet, every single meal.

Guess where was stressful?

If a diet balances out over three or four days, you're doing fine.

I've recently had a good go at reducing our UPFs.

I have a bread maker, it does loaves, bread dough and pizza dough really easily.

For oven pizzas, I often just make 2 ingredient greek yoghurt base though! Super quick https://tasty.co/recipe/2-ingredient-dough-pizza

Also, check the ingredients list for shop bought bread products - I've noticed tortilla wraps are usually full of shite but pitta bread is usually fine.

Breakfasts - instead of cereal and ultra-processed pancakes/bread products, I do eggs, porridge, and at the weekend make pancakes and waffles and freeze.

Biscuits and cakes - I've started making my own once a week. But it's one cake or set of biscuits and when they're gone, they're gone.

I've stopped buying crisps, kid yoghurts and packaged snacks completely. I buy corn to pop and they have greek youghurt with fruit or peanut butter (I buy the big tubs of just peanuts peanut butter in Lidl).

As for fussy eating, my approach is that it is my job to provide three healthy meals a day and their job to eat as much as they need/want. Fruit and yoghurt is always available after a meal, (homemade) bread and butter sometimes is if I know it's genuinely something they don't like.
We still have lasagne, stir fries, curries etc even if not every kid loves that particular meal and the one who doesn't want to eat has yoghurt and banana or a piece of bread.

We have a bread maker and wouldn’t go back. The loaf goes on over night and it also makes decent pizza dough!

Snacks here are fruit, yogurt and sometimes cheese and crackers. Crisps I’ll only buy the sharing bags and they’re for the weekend. I enjoy baking so there’s usually some sort of biscuits, flapjack, mini cakes for lunches etc.

A favourite vegetarian meal here is grilled halloumi with flat breads (equal natural yogurt to self raising flout with a bit of salt) and vegetables. I tend to buy frozen vegetables so they can have a choice. Omelettes are also popular. We like the roasting tin books - there is a green one which is vegetarian and vegan.

I try to look at the week as a whole and there are times when it is easier to put fish fingers in the oven!

You're in the fortunate position that your kids are too young to be buying their own snack food. So just stop buying crisps and biscuits. If they're not in the house, no one can eat them. If they want a snack, make it fruit, or hummus with veg sticks etc.

And for the meal time fussiness, just don't give it breathing room. You know which foods your kid hates, and when they're trying it on. When they try it on, don't engage. If you eat a meal together round a table, make a new rule that no one gets down untill everyone is finished, no pressure to eat at all, and just keep on chatting about anything else but food.