To be at a loss as to how to get 9 year-old to eat healthily?

[ScaredOfFlying]

I’m really keen to raise DS with healthy eating habits but he’s getting worse as he gets older.

Does anyone have any tried and tested ways to get a child this age to eat any of the following?

Leafy greens
Salad
Beans, lentils, chickpeas
fish
Vegetable soup
Corn on the cob
any form of fruit
whole egg not just yolk

Until he was about 6 he would happily eat broccoli, now he pushes it to the side and has to be forced to eat it. Same with fruit, used to be fine but now hates it. Went from loving tuna to making vomit noises at it. Used to love eggs but now will only eat yolk that does not touch the white. Ate veg curry as a toddler but now rejects it.

He is an only child so no siblings to model/cajole him. DH and I model very healthy and varied eating, it’s almost like he is rebelling. He is bright and we’ve tried science/nutrition explanations, to no avail. He will refuse even a single mouthful of something new and it’s clear that he has decided in advance to say that he hates the food. Stand offs of the “eat what you are given or go hungry variety” result in huge arguments and we absolutely do not want to make food into a battleground.

Help! Will he maybe just grow out of it?

I should add that DH and I are not healthy-eating fanatics or health food bores- we eat plenty of pizza and chips ourselves, but we balance those meals with healthy ones throughout the week.

I guess my question would be: what is he eating? I’d probably focus more on making sure what he is eating is healthy, rather than making him
eat stuff he doesn’t want. I believe meat it’s important (for example) and don’t want my children eating refined (white) rice and pasta. So don’t offer the latter often. Will he eat any vegetables? Carrots? Peas etc? When mine and being fussy it gets very repetitive but I just make sure everything they eat is reasonably healthy, even if it isn’t varied

Please don't force him to eat, it has become a battle offer a side salad or anything he does eat, make tomato and lentil soup. Dont make boiled eggs make omlettes or fritattas if you want him to have whole eggs, what does he eat?

I would just dish up whatever I was cooking and that would be tea. Eat it or go hungry. I wouldn't make a big deal of it, simply say, 'Well that's all there is' and leave it up to him.

I don't particularly care if people pick bits out and leave them. Making 'vomit' noises would result in a consequence as it is rude when someone has cooked for you.

He will eat peas, peppers in a stir fry or fajitas and carrots if roasted. Might tolerate a tomato in a cheese sandwich.

He prefers wholegrain and seeded bread to white, and he doesn’t have sugary cereal for breakfast.

His revolving diet is:
sausages, chips and peas
roast dinner with gravy
Chilli (picks beans out) or fajitas with brown rice or tortillas
Spaghetti bolognese/meatballs (white pasta, we all hate wholegrain pasta)
Margharita or pepperoni pizza
chicken kiev or schnitzel
Baked potato with cheese.
sweet and sour chicken with brown rice

Why would you say “please don’t force him” when I have been clear that we do not do that and that I am asking for suggestions to encourage/persuade?

He refuses all soup.

What about just chopping up raw veg lole carrot sticks, cucumber and peppers and laying them out in different bowls and just put them in the middle of the table as a sharing platter. Don't even talk about it, don't look at them just ignore and see if he reaches for them.

Egg mashed up in a cup with butter and salt.

Does he? one of mine hates soup she is in her 30s still hates soup, strike it off for now.

You said this in your original post

he was about 6 he would happily eat broccoli, now he pushes it to the side and has to be forced to eat it

I suggested not forcing him because you said you were forcing him to eat broccoli, which i took as telling him off for not eating it.

Sounds like a not bad diet to me. But I’ve just gone back and seen youve said no fruit, that’s always my back up when mine have been dodging veg.

Does he eat any raw veg like carrots, cucumber, cherry tomatoes? I find putting a plate out of these while I’m making dinner and they are starving, results in them getting eaten.

Leafy greens my kids won’t touch, unless I make my own pesto. If you have a food processor it’s very easy and I blitz some spinach and raw broccoli in there.

If he likes fajitas he might be up for quesadillas? I spread a bit of hummus on a wrap in a dry pan, then sprinkle with finely chopped peppers, onions, sweetcorn and black beans, then grated cheese. Sometimes my youngest picks out the beans but if she has a few I’m happy.

Veg soup they complain about but will eat a bit if I make cheese scones or have something appealing like warm croissants to dip in.

Honestly, I think a lot of kids have worse diets than your DS. I get your concerns but many posters here will tell you about their child refusing food when younger and growing up to become a foodie.

Also meant to say, add some lentils to your bolognese if you want those in his diet.

Just give him the fruit and vegtables he will eat put meals on a boring rotation for a while and add another meal every so often.

It sounds like you as a family eat a lot of processed foods. Personally I would try and lead by example and eat more whole foods and try and involve him in the cooking. My eldest is 14 and autistic and for years had a very limited diet but over time the more I involved him in the planning and preparing of foods the more he ate. He can now make a dhal and flat bread from scratch!

Our ten year old is incredibly fussy and only eats four of those things plus burgers 😱

I hate beans i also pick them out of chilli. If im making chilli at home i replace the beans with red peppers.

That is not a terrible diet. My son was awful but is now 16 and gradually joining in with family meals now. He even eats chickpeas now! We mixed pulses in with meat dishes - he used to pick them out, now he eats them. Its important not to create a battleground, but make him take responsibikity for his choices so if he wont eat what you are eating he needs to help to find something else.

I’d just relax and give it time. Supplement with multi vitamin. There is a risk of encouraging orthorexia and a lot of the food you list is unpalatable to children particularly . They’ll develop their tastebuds when they’re older

Hummus in a quesadilla? 👀

Firstly, get him cooking. Would he cook eggs himself?
Secondly, make things like pizza at home and put more vegetables on it.
Thirdly, give up some of the things on your list. Some people can’t stand the texture of soup, and does it really matter whether he eats corn on the cob?
Fourthly, look for cuisines that make the aspect you are interested in amazing and find a gateway meal. Do loaded nachos, for example, to introduce beans and hope that in a few months he might accept the chili without the nachos.

I can't eat egg whites, on their own they make me gag, mashed up as egg mayo I can tolerate. I can also eat them in a chunky bacon and egg roll where I don't notice texture.

As a kid I was given raw veg on my plate as boiled made me gag and DGM only ever boiled veg to a pulp
A large number of foods I wouldn't touch as a kid as an adult I eat.

What about using Gousto/Hello Fresh then get him to look through and pick the meals and help cook them?

That way he can take ownership of the meals and you all try something new together.

Sorry, what processed food are you talking about? A few sausages, some white pasta and an occasional pizza?

We already get Mindful chef 3x a week!

How did you get that from what she has listed??
If the pizza, schnitzel, sweet and sour chicken and chilli are homemade then it’s only really the sausage and maybe the white pasta that I’d call very processed.