Talk to Organix about helping your DC grow up with a Lifelong Love of Good Food - you could win an Organix selection - NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

As you know we are working with Organix to help them understand your feelings about their range of baby and toddler foods

They have asked us to get you talking about their goal which is to help mums and dads inspire a "Lifelong Love of Good Food" for their children so they can understand better how you feel about your childs interaction and enjoyment of food.

So with regards to food and feeding for your child:

• Do you think you/ your partner has a real love of good, healthy food? If so, where did this come from? How do you try and pass that on to your child?
  
• What challenges do you feel you face in establishing good food foundations for your little one? What has surprised you about your child?s journey with food so far
  

Do your children love all food or can it be a challenge at times to get them to try and enjoy new foods? What kinds of foods do you find more challenging to try with your little one

• What worries and concerns do you have about their future enjoyment of food? How do you deal with these?
  
• What hopes and aspirations do you have for their lifelong eating habits
  
• What help and support are you looking for? Where do you get that support currently?
  
• When do you want to receive help, support, info and where?
  

Everyone who adds their comments on the thread will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win £50 of Organix product.

You can read all about Organix on their special pages on MN

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

[AnnMumsnet]

Ohhhh - so sorry prakattack.....

[prakattack]

Hmmm, that was good timing then. Missed MNHQ message while I was typing!

[prakattack]

Do you think you/ your partner has a real love of good, healthy food? If so, where did this come from? How do you try and pass that on to your child?
I'd say we both have a love of food in general, sometimes it's healthy sometimes it's not. My love starts in childhood (my mum was a great and did everything from scratch), DH's only in his 20s (growing up they ate a very limited selection of food, and a lot of pre-packaged meals so he wasn't very adventurous at all when we first met). We make sure we cook from scratch for us all, we eat together and we make sure mealtimes are fun, sociable occasions.
We also never restrict what they try, if that makes sense. I'll hear friends say to DCs "ooh, no you won't like that" or "go on, try some but I don't know if you'll like it". The often the DCs don't like it because they've been given the idea they might not. With our boys, if they ask for something, they can try it and we've been surprised how little there is they don't like. They love olives for example - I was 30 before I started liking them! - and DS2 loves strong blue cheese (at 18mths).

What challenges do you feel you face in establishing good food foundations for your little one? What has surprised you about your child?s journey with food so far
What's surprised is how well they've always known their own tastes and their own appetites. Even very young, they knew when they were full. Some days they ate so much less, other days they ate loads but they always knew what their bodies needed.
I've learned to go with the flow as their diets are so good, i don't want to do anything to discourage it.
In terms of challenges, I've found peer pressure the hardest. For example, DS1 used to love Greek yoghurt with fruit/ berries, until the day I offered it to a friend's child, who declared it yucky and insisted on petit filou instead. It took me ages to get DS1 to eat it again!!
I'm going to struggle in September I think as he starts reception. He is in pre-school morning sessions at teh moment so eats at home. All other childcare is with grandparents so I always know what he's eating.
In September, he'll have compulsory school dinners so I can't choose what he's offered and I'm not sure how he'll get on with them to be honest...

Do your children love all food or can it be a challenge at times to get them to try and enjoy new foods? What kinds of foods do you find more challenging to try with your little one
I've been lucky and mine will try anything. Again though, i try not to give them new foods and ask them to "try" them. It just sets up their expectation that it might not be nice or they might not like it.

What worries and concerns do you have about their future enjoyment of food? How do you deal with these?
No real worries but I just hope their healthy eating habits continue and peer pressure doesn't become too much of an issue once they're both at school.

What hopes and aspirations do you have for their lifelong eating habits
That they stay active and lead healthy lives where weight isn't an issue for them and they can continue to enjoy good food, including occasional treats.

*What help and support are you looking for? Where do you get that support currently?
I don't really look for anything but if I did, I would probably look to school, health visitors or Sure Start centres

[AnnMumsnet]

Hi - thanks for all the great tips and suggestions.

Am pleased to say Mominatrix has been picked as the winner of the £50 of Organix products - well done!

[idontgivearatsass]

So with regards to food and feeding for your child:

• I believe my husband and I have a real love of healthy food and we got this approach from our respective parents. We try to model this behaviour to our 2 year old and limit the sweets.
  
• When I made it a point to breastfeed for 12 months with no formula as back-up, I was surprised by the resistance I got from various people about this choice.
  
• As a child I didn't have a huge appetite, I am pleasantly surprised that my son really enjoys his food and looks forward to meal times!
  

-In general he is not a fussy eater at all and I was a fussy eater. I am so happy that he is a straight forward child in the eating department.

• I worry that his good, healthy start will be in vain when he starts schoo as he may ollow peers but not if I can help it!! We try to keep meals varied so he never gets bored with good quality home cooked food. My husband does most of the cooking and involves our son in meal preparations. Last autumn, we bought a play kitchen for our son as he is really keen to practise his cooking and was turning every flat surface in our home into a stove top.
  
• I pray that he follows his dad's attitude and becomes a great cook and contribute this skill to any household tha the may be a part of ranging from university to adulthood. Hopefully that would be part of adopting a healthy lifestyle
  
• Meal planning to keep those meals interesting. I look at various mealplanning ideas that mumsnetters post
  
• Probably once a week by email?

[Lillabet]

Do you think you/ your partner has a real love of good, healthy food? If so, where did this come from? How do you try and pass that on to your child?

We love food, it's not always healthy but it is always good and varied. Both sets of parents encouraged us to eat varied food and try new things. We encourage both our children to try varied foods and cuisines and we always ask our eldest (nearly 4) to at least try something a few times before he declares he doesn't like it.

• What challenges do you feel you face in establishing good food foundations for your little one?
  

Not resorting to sweeties nd chocolate as treats; very difficult as I and my husband both have a sweet tooth and find it slightly hypocritical to say one thing and do another!!

What has surprised you about your child?s journey with food so far

Eldest has gone from eating lots of stuff to not much varied stuff, but we are still encouraging him to try varied things. Youngest is just starting on her food journey, we are doing a combination of baby led and puree and she really has got the hang of baby led.

Do your children love all food or can it be a challenge at times to get them to try and enjoy new foods? What kinds of foods do you find more challenging to try with your little one

Youngest will try most things, especially if she can squish it in her fingers first. Eldest is more circumspect about things but will at least try most stuff;p he is wary of spicy things but will eat mildly spicy food.

• What worries and concerns do you have about their future enjoyment of food? How do you deal with these?
  

I don't want my children to spend their lives struggling with weight issues, so we make sure they understand all things in moderation and that sweets, crispis and biscuits are all treats not for all day every day.

• What hopes and aspirations do you have for their lifelong eating habits
  

Healthy and varied with a touch of adventure.

• What help and support are you looking for? Where do you get that support currently?
  

I don't! I trust my instincts!

• When do you want to receive help, support, info and where?
  

More information on baby led weaning from my health visitor would be great but otherwise I go find out what I need to know myself.

[SaltySeaBird]

• Do you think you/ your partner has a real love of good, healthy food? If so, where did this come from? How do you try and pass that on to your child?
  

We try to eat fresh, seasonal food as much as possible. I am diabetic so I try to be careful about eating too much sweet stuff. I was brought up on home cooking and never had ready meals and as an adult that has continued as much as possible.

• What challenges do you feel you face in establishing good food foundations for your little one? What has surprised you about your child?s journey with food so far.
  

Grandparents love to fill my child with cake, chocolate and biscuits. I'm surprised how much my child loves food!

• Do your children love all food or can it be a challenge at times to get them to try and enjoy new foods? What kinds of foods do you find more challenging to try with your little one.
  

My child loves all food, she is 11mo and will eat anything offered to her. We've done lots of BLW (although she has some purees and fruit pots). She will try anything with gusto!

• What worries and concerns do you have about their future enjoyment of food? How do you deal with these?
  

No real worries but hope she continues to enjoy healthy foods.

• What hopes and aspirations do you have for their lifelong eating habits
  

As above, I hope she enjoys eating a good healthy variety of food, is happy to try new things and sees cakes/chocolate etc as one off treats not as everyday options.

• What help and support are you looking for? Where do you get that support currently?
  

Always good to have new recipes which I tend to find online.

• When do you want to receive help, support, info and where?
  

Online is the best medium, although the Cow and Gate weaning guides I got when she was 6mo were great. There marketing team really had the information drip timed very well. I tend to delete emails (too many) but their snail mail was actually useful. I even recommended it to a few friends who signed up.

[apatchylass]

So with regards to food and feeding for your child:

• Do you think you/ your partner has a real love of good, healthy food? If so, where did this come from? How do you try and pass that on to your child?
  

Mine comes from childhood. My dad grew his own fruit and veg - memories of picking raspberries and eating them straight from the canes in summer. My mum was a real cook - baked her own bread, cakes, made jam and even cheese sometimes. She was adventurous for her day too. I still remember the first taste of curry, sitting on her lap and being amazed how good it tasted.

• What challenges do you feel you face in establishing good food foundations for your little one?
  

DS2 was very ill with twisted gut and chronic reflux that resulted in FTT. So all my plans for healthy weaning and happy family mealtimes went awry. Had to work really hard to get him to enjoy eating. My trick was to put tiny bits of healthy food in his mouth all day long while he wasn't concentrating, and then at meal times only serve treats, so he associated sitting up to table with pleasure, but was still getting his five a day. Because he ate so little I became vigilant about every mouthful counting.

What has surprised you about your child?s journey with food so far

DS 1 was very adventurous from a young age. He loved olives and feta and used to snaffle them from food markets when he was so tiny I still carried him in a baby sling. He loves strong flavours: chilli and coffee.

Do your children love all food or can it be a challenge at times to get them to try and enjoy new foods?

It's a challenge. I usually try introducing new food in the context of familiar food, so would put tiny amounts of spinach in a ragout sauce, then up the quantities gradually. Once it became familiar I'd stop putting it in ragout but add it elsewhere and remind them they ate it in other sauces.

What kinds of foods do you find more challenging to try with your little one - with DS1, he's not keen on specific items, like broccoli or ham. With Ds2 he hates certain textures, especially thick veg or lentil purees which are the basis of some soups, dahls etc that the rest of us love.

• What worries and concerns do you have about their future enjoyment of food? How do you deal with these?
  

My main worry is that I spent so much time in their toddler and early years trying to get DS2 to eat anything at all, that table manners (which I'd hoped would be important) are almost zero, even now they're heading towards their teens. They know in theory how to use cutlery properly but don't bother, and because meals were such a stressful time for so long, I don't enforce good habits but know I must soon

• What hopes and aspirations do you have for their lifelong eating habits
  

That they can cook from scratch, appreciate healthy food, learn to be polite about food that is not to their taste, try food from other cultures, and most of all, have a very healthy diet of fresh food throughout their lives

• What help and support are you looking for? Where do you get that support currently?
  

In early years, HVs helped, but their advice changes all the time, so I took it with a pinch of salt.

I am thinking of getting someone in to teach them proper table manners. Not that I haven't, but they might listen to an outsider. That aside, I'm happy to teach them how to cook, shop, choose good fresh veg etc (they know broccoli is good when purplish blue and old when starting to flower yellow)

• When do you want to receive help, support, info and where?
  

There was very little advice for weaning reflux babies when DS2 was little. The best advice I got was word of mouth from other mums. It would have been helpful to have a leaflet on this/ Even baby books rarely mentioned it in their glossaries, and yet it's so widespread and can have a real knock on effect on weaning and interest in food generally.
General tips on healthy eating are welcome from all sources - GPs and clinics, supermarkets, online etc. Right now I'm looking for suggestions for healthy snacks for after school, so they don't munch on biscuits to fill the gap between school and dinner.

[Hopezibah]

• Do you think you/ your partner has a real love of good, healthy food? If so, where did this come from? How do you try and pass that on to your child?
  

I think I do - especially fruit and veg. My mum used to always have a fruit / veg eating session every day where we would all sit together as she would peel the fruit and we would munch away together so I have happy memories of eating healthy foods. She also always kept a huge bowl of fruit for us to help ourselves too. It was so big all my school friends would comment on it!

• What challenges do you feel you face in establishing good food foundations for your little one? What has surprised you about your child?s journey with food so far
  

I think so many foods contain sugar or are sweetened with natural sweet flavours and this can set bad habits for later as they become used to sweet foods so early on.

What has surprised me is that despite doing the same in terms of weaning - my third child is showing signs of fussiness when the other two didn't. Just shows each child is different I guess.

Do your children love all food or can it be a challenge at times to get them to try and enjoy new foods? What kinds of foods do you find more challenging to try with your little one

I have tried to encourage a real variety of tastes and textures, but my youngest doesn't seem to like bread at the moment. My older two don't like courgette and mushroom but will try most things.

• What worries and concerns do you have about their future enjoyment of food? How do you deal with these?
  

I hope they will grow up knowing enough about food, where it comes from, what healthy eating it and making healthy food choices.

• What hopes and aspirations do you have for their lifelong eating habits
  

That they will have a passion for eating good food and enjoy cooking it too.

• What help and support are you looking for? Where do you get that support currently?
  

We tend to use the internet and cookbooks for finding out more.

• When do you want to receive help, support, info and where?
  

at weaning stage it is really useful to have information sent to you at just the right time as it informs decision making and gives guidance on do's and dont's which are all to easy to forget otherwise.

[Happiestinwellybobs]

Do you think you/ your partner has a real love of good, healthy food? If so, where did this come from? How do you try and pass that on to your child?

I (rather than my husband) have been brought up to have a healthy diet. I try to encourage my daughter (aged 2) to try lots of new things and have a healthy varied diet.

What challenges do you feel you face in establishing good food foundations for your little one? What has surprised you about your child?s journey with food so far

I have been surprised how quickly she changes as to what she will and will eat. When she came to us (we adopted her) aged 10 months, she ate everything, and then 4 months later, would hardly eat anything. Nowadays she wolfs most things down, but still has her 'moments'.

Do your children love all food or can it be a challenge at times to get them to try and enjoy new foods? What kinds of foods do you find more challenging to try with your little one

Dependant on her mood, she will try lots of things. I've been particularly surprised at her willingness to try hot-spicy foods

What worries and concerns do you have about their future enjoyment of food? How do you deal with these?

As I don't really eat beef or lamb I'm concerned that this is lacking in her diet (but buy meals just for her to overcome this. I'm also worried about the influence of fast food.

What hopes and aspirations do you have for their lifelong eating habits

That she will be willing to try anything once!

What help and support are you looking for? Where do you get that support currently?

Ideas for healthy eating. It's good to know that others are going through the same difficulties and phases. I usually get that help online through forums and parents pages.

When do you want to receive help, support, info and where?

I want to access it at any time and preferably on line

[babsmam]

I was brought up in firmly a meat and two veg family with treats on a weekend if I was lucky. I have slowly learned more and more about healthy food and believe in everything in moderation.

My challenge is my kids are grazers rather then meal eaters. They would rather snack all day long. Although they will generally choose the healthier option naturally. Sometime they have chosen fruit over sweets which did surprise me. Nothing is banned food but some things are strictly grandparents treats. Ie macdonalds etc..
Spicy food is a challenge. My older one more fussy than the younger. We have the rule you can't say you don't like it if you haven't tried it.

For the future I want them to be able to cook and not have issues with food hence the no banned food. We try an et seasonaly and having a good local butcher and loot,net help with the too. I try and let them help,me cook thought that's not always possible in our busy lives. They come with me shopping and see the food at the butchers to which helps especiallaynwhenthey can choose tea

I get most of my advice on line and from cookery magazines. I have a number of recipie books to fall back on too.

I keep meaning to try that yellow campaign but keep forgetting . The name escapes me so far. I would like child friendly resources through the post to engage e kids more.

[Babycarmen]

• Do you think you/ your partner has a real love of good, healthy food? If so, where did this come from? How do you try and pass that on to your child?
  

Yes! We both do, I get a very high interest in healthy eating from my Mum who was vegetarian and always cooked us fresh home made meals and stressed the importance of eating fruit and vegetables. I try and pass it on by buying a variety of fruit each week and getting them to at least TRY it, if they dont like something then fine, as long as they try it first. Both my daughters (1 and 5) love their fruit and veg so I'm lucky.

• What challenges do you feel you face in establishing good food foundations for your little one? What has surprised you about your child?s journey with food so far?
  

It is hard to get my eldest to take fruit to school for snack when all of her friends are having crisps or chocolate. Sometimes she does surprise me though if I offer her crisps she will say no and take a banana! It has also surprised me how much they enjoy fruit, especially things I dont personally like such as blueberries.

Do your children love all food or can it be a challenge at times to get them to try and enjoy new foods? What kinds of foods do you find more challenging to try with your little one?
They are not fussy eaters, naturally there are foods they dont like much, my eldest doesn't like pears and my youngest wont eat cheese, but it is not a big deal as their diets are still pretty healthy. My youngest also would not eat bread at all which made it really difficult for lunches, but I kept offering and now she eats it with no problem!

• What worries and concerns do you have about their future enjoyment of food? How do you deal with these?
  

I worry that they will become fussy. My eldest has started to leave her vegetables at dinner which is new and doesn't want as much fruit. We deal with it by telling her the benefits of eating healthy and not giving her sweets etc unless she has had some fruit or eaten her veg at dinner.

• What hopes and aspirations do you have for their lifelong eating habits
  

I hope they have healthy varied diets! It is extremely worrying for me as a mother as I suffered with anorexia for years so I know the importance of a good diet.

• What help and support are you looking for? Where do you get that support currently?
  

Ideas for lunches, especially that they can take to nursery/school.

• When do you want to receive help, support, info and where?
  

Through school and also HVs (which have not been helpful at all)

[confusedofengland]

• Do you think you/ your partner has a real love of good, healthy food? If so, where did this come from? How do you try and pass that on to your child?
  

My husband and I both have a love of good, healthy food. I think that it stems mainly from our year living abroad, in Brussels, where we were fortunate to have many fantastic restaurants on our doorstep & a budget to eat out frequently. Also, the attitude towards food there we found a lot more relaxed & open, we rarely saw things like ready meals for sale & fresh food was available cheaply.

• What challenges do you feel you face in establishing good food foundations for your little one? What has surprised you about your child?s journey with food so far
  

I feel the main challenge is to get my sons (4 & 2) to try as many foods as possible, rather than get stuck into the fishfingers & nuggets rut. They both already love many foods, and it has surprised me that they eat some things that DH & I don't like (olives, baked beans)

Do your children love all food or can it be a challenge at times to get them to try and enjoy new foods? What kinds of foods do you find more challenging to try with your little one
My children love most foods, but I would say that they are less inclined to eat fresh fruit than other foods. I counteract this by pureeing foods to include in cereals/rice pudding, making smoothies & offering plenty of dried/tinned fruit & vegetables. I also try to make fruit fun eg cooking with fruit, strawberry picking etc

• What worries and concerns do you have about their future enjoyment of food? How do you deal with these? I have no worries about their future enjoyment of food - except maybe my grocery bills! I am confident that they will continue to have healthy, balanced diets & I can contribute to this by offering healthy choices at all times, including for school when DS1 starts in September.
  

• What hopes and aspirations do you have for their lifelong eating habits
  

I hope they continue to enjoy their food as much as they do.

• What help and support are you looking for? Where do you get that support currently?
  

I like to have new healthy, family recipes to try. I ask friends, family, people on MN & look on internet sites.

• When do you want to receive help, support, info and where?
  

I want to be able to refer to websites when I need to.

[GetKnitted]

Do you think you/ your partner has a real love of good, healthy food? If so, where did this come from? How do you try and pass that on to your child?

My DH has a much better understanding of healthy food than me, but I've been learning much over the last 10 years and we're trying to pass that on to the dc.

• What challenges do you feel you face in establishing good food foundations for your little one? What has surprised you about your child?s journey with food so far
  

All his friends have much more free access to sweets and crisps than ds, but because we have explained that healthy food builds a healthy body, he does prefer healthy options now. Was very surprised that school's idea of vegetables extends to spagetti hoops!

Do your children love all food or can it be a challenge at times to get them to try and enjoy new foods? What kinds of foods do you find more challenging to try with your little one

I fed DS1 too much puree as a baby, so it is difficult to get him to have textures.

• What worries and concerns do you have about their future enjoyment of food? How do you deal with these?
  

That they will switch to junk foods when they are old enough to choose for themselves

• What hopes and aspirations do you have for their lifelong eating habits
  

that they will love healthy foods

• What help and support are you looking for? Where do you get that support currently?
  

N/A

• When do you want to receive help, support, info and where?
  

I would like to have the support of a healthy community and school

[katiewalters]

I have a real love of good healthy food, which came from my mom introducing us to lots of different/healthy foods when i was a child. we always had veg with every meal and were given fruit for snacks. my partner is the opposite, he is very fussy, likes to eat the same things, doesnt eat much fruit, and even less veg.
I try to make lots of different foods for my son to try, even if he doesnt like them. I always get him to try them anyway. If he says i dont like it, I say how do you know as you've not tried it. Sometimes hes gone on to try something and he likes it. I always have fruit in the house, which I will offer as snacks and do veg with every meal. I even get his dad to have the veg on his plate and either try it or pretend to eat it, so my son sees him eating it as well as me, as I dont want him to say I dont have to eat it as daddy doesnt.
I am surprised that my son does give lots of new food a try, even if he doesnt like it, hes willing to try things. He doesnt love all foods, but he does eat a lot of things. The challeneges in establishing good food foundations, is about the cost, as good, healthy foods isnt really that cheap to buy, so i make sure i budget and get things on offer i can.
I hope my son continues in life to try new foods and continues to enjoy his fruit and veg.

[zarahe]

Do you think you/ your partner has a real love of good, healthy food? If so, where did this come from? How do you try and pass that on to your child?

I like to eat varied and healthy things. I am keen on not introducing sugar as a regular daily event (that includes in the many biscuit/flapjack/dried fruit) combinations that seem so prevalent for toddlers

• What challenges do you feel you face in establishing good food foundations for your little one? What has surprised you about your child?s journey with food so far
  

eating out can be difficult. To find meals that have a good proportion of vegetables etc. I used to take pots of food eg roasted veg etc and used some prepared foods - but preferred vegetable ones. This was trickly when my child couldn't have dairy. There were spinach falafels but that was about it. Much easier now my child eats everything.

Do your children love all food or can it be a challenge at times to get them to try and enjoy new foods? What kinds of foods do you find more challenging to try with your little one

My child likes food. Some things he wasn't keen on, but I just keep on offering it and eat it in front of him, describing flavour texture etc, Boiled eggs don't seem to be a favourite, but I then offer them when he's hungry - it helps.

• What worries and concerns do you have about their future enjoyment of food? How do you deal with these?
  

That he might have too many influences from other people, advertising etc. I just encourage him to develop his tastes and as a result hopefully will make his own decision to eat nutritious food

• What hopes and aspirations do you have for their lifelong eating habits
  

\That he develops an interest in eating different healthy and nutritious foods.

• What help and support are you looking for? Where do you get that support currently?
  

food planning - recipes for quick easy healthy natural food

• When do you want to receive help, support, info and where?

[aristocat]

• Do you think you/ your partner has a real love of good, healthy food? If so, where did this come from? How do you try and pass that on to your child?
  

Yes we both love food - sadly both healthy and not-so-healthy but know how important it is to set an example to our DCs. We were both brought up with traditional family meal-times, DH had typical English food where I had more of a varied range of European foods.
My daughter loves helping me cook/bake and we often make new dishes together (as I did with my Mom).

• What challenges do you feel you face in establishing good food foundations for your little one? What has surprised you about your child?s journey with food so far
  

£££ really, we would all to love to eat Organic food but the budget wont allow it.

Do your children love all food or can it be a challenge at times to get them to try and enjoy new foods? What kinds of foods do you find more challenging to try with your little one
My DCs will try and enjoy a wider variety of foods now they are older. It was a struggle when they were younger but both DCs will happily try anything I am aware that we do not eat enough fish - but that is because I dont like it .....

• What worries and concerns do you have about their future enjoyment of food? How do you deal with these?
  

I dont want them to be obsessed over their weight and body image. Our choice of vocabulary has to be healthy rather than fattening.

• What hopes and aspirations do you have for their lifelong eating habits
  

To continue enjoying food and experimenting with new flavours/textures in the kitchen.

• What help and support are you looking for? Where do you get that support currently?
  

None.

• When do you want to receive help, support, info and where?
  

I do have a vast range of cookery books from which they can look at for new ideas.

[Mominatrix]

• Both my DH and I have a love of good food - his more to eat, and mine to eat and cook. DH is French, and good food is a part of life. I grew up more with a miss-mash of cuisines, and trying new foods and incorporating them into familiar dishes was a way of life. As we both love food, this is also something we wish to pass on to our children. This was started from a very young age by not "dumbing down" food for them, and having them eat a simpler version of what we were having. For family meals out, we avoid the chains and choose places with good quality food, usually choosing smaller portions of the regular menu as opposed to any children's options. Another way I am trying to pass on a love of food is having my sons cook with me - particularly the elder child.
  

• A challenge to establishing a good food foundation is the quality of restaurant options for children - everything with chips, and most things processed. One thing which has surprised me is that I seem to be in the minority in terms of attitude towards food and children. Many friends simply accept/encourage food faddisms and rejections.
  

• My children don't love all foods instantly. However, I have brought them up with the attitude that they never have to finish what is in front of them, but do need to try at least 2 bites. With time, they sometimes do find that they start liking something which they initially were hesitant to try. THings which are difficult to get my children to accept are the more esoteric or stronger tasting foods - liver, kimchee, raw oysters, sea urchin. Slimy textures can also be tricky - bone marrow, cooked (but not raw) spinach.
  

• I don't have any concerns about my childrens' future enjoyment of food as it is something we all enjoy in the family, and my children have always had open minds in trying new foods.
  

• I hope that my children have balanced attitudes towards food and will continue to eat everything (in moderation), and keep open minds in trying new things.
  

• I'd love to find a cookery course for children where they make more than pizza or cakes. It would be great for my children as good attitudes towards food can be reinforced if they see that other children their age share their tastes and interest in food.

[Mandy21]

When we struggled to conceive, I adopted a very healthy, organic diet. I conceived a few months later, and continued with my new eating plan. When I had twins more than 12 weeks early, I feared the worst, but was told they were "good weights" for their gestation. They had a smooth ride through special care and still recall to this day being told they were the "stars of the unit" - they did much better than everyone expected.

I'm not saying that was all down to diet / health, but it certainly made me conscious that diet has a massive impact on general well being.

We've continued with the healthy eating ever since - of course there are treats / days when you could so better, but its important to have a balanced, healthy diet. We have quite a variety and the rule is "if you don't like it, you don't have to eat it, but you have to try it". They get involved in growing it, cooking it and we sit down at the table as a family so they see us trying everything too. Has worked so far and and we have 3 children who will be adventurous. I've been surprised by their tastes - food that you'd generally class as "adult" - olives, mussels, spicy food - they love too.

I think support is a bit of a difficult concept - it goes back to manufacturers and advertising companies promoting healthy food - not packing everything that's aimed at children with sugar and additives. Supermarkets / cafés should stock and promote healthy options, not just the milkshakes / crisps / sweets that you aways see.

I hope they continue to be adventurous with their food - adopt a balanced view of food - a little of everything is good - food is something to enjoy!

[Ilikepinkwine]

Do you think you/ your partner has a real love of good, healthy food? If so, where did this come from? How do you try and pass that on to your child? I am probably more into healthy food than DH. He eats a lot of fruit and salad but when he does the shopping he manages to get a lot of junk too- some of the processed stuff he buys shocks me and I usually dispose of it when he''s not around (think dodgy cold sausage thing make from chicken, pork and e numbers). We just never had that stuff as kids, my mum was a lentil and chickpea lover and veg curry, chapatis and dahl were our usual types of meal. Our children meet us in the middle and will eat most things. They are aware that taste buds change so will try things even if they didn't like them before.

What challenges do you feel you face in establishing good food foundations for your little one? What has surprised you about your child?s journey with food so far? The main challenge is cost. I would love everything to be organic and meat to be ethically reared but we just can't afford that luxury right now.

Do your children love all food or can it be a challenge at times to get them to try and enjoy new foods? What kinds of foods do you find more challenging to try with your little one? My girls are developing into mini-foodies, but it would be good if they ate more fish.

What worries and concerns do you have about their future enjoyment of food? How do you deal with these? I worry about their relationship with food as they get older- I really don't want to them to obsessover weight, food groups etc. as some of their friends already seem to.

What hopes and aspirations do you have for their lifelong eating habits? I hope that they continue to try new things and try to eat a healthy balanced diet.

What help and support are you looking for? Where do you get that support currently? Recipe advice and clearer packaging to avoid harmful additives. Aspartame is my main concern but I know there is a lot of rubbish in food aimed at kids.

When do you want to receive help, support, info and where? The government and food manufacturers need to raise standards and put health over profit.

[ipanicked]

• my parents were VERY into healthy eating when I grew up, think lentils and chickpeas (but we still has treats), so healthy eating was normal for me. DH had a more 'unhealthy' upbringing, but discovered exercise and hence eating healthily to stay fit and as he does all the cooking we eat very well! We try and pass this on by making sure the majority of food we eat is fruit, veg, carbs and protein with a mix of cake/sweets occasionally. We don't tend to have pudding, biscuits or crisps in the house to snack on. I tend to serve everything including the fruit at once so the DCs don't differentiate between main course and puddings.

• the main barriers are money; it costs more money to eat nice healthy food, a variety of fresh vegetables, fruit (esp. in the quantity it gets consumed in this house!) and healthy alternative snacks (like organix crisps!) rather than eating, say, apples every day. Other barriers are the influence of others; DS knew about the existence of Haribo from his nursery teacher who gives them to the kids as treats for being good . I also hate cooking and trying to be adventurous is challenging (if its just me and the DCs we pretty much eat the same meals every week in rotation).

What has surprised me about my DCs is how different they are when in comes to food, even though we fed them the same. DS (4) is healthy but very limited in his diet: only eats plain/tasteless food - steamed vegetables with rice and tofu etc and will actively choose veg over crisps. He will taste other foods but instantly reject them. DD (2) is adventurous but with a taste for unhealthy: she'll eat anything and loves strong flavours, curries etc but will actively ignore the veg in favour of the carbohydrate!

• I really worry about them being obsessed by body image and them not loving food (DH and I adore eating). DS (age 3) once refused chocolate ice cream because he said it would make him fat and from that point onwards we made sure we referred to healthy or unhealthy foods instead of fattening ones. We also try and eat together as much as possible, never force them to eat what they don't like or make food a battle ground and make sure they see us trying and enjoying lots of different types of food (not hard )

• my aim is to install in them a genuine love and delight in food and a sense of adventure in discovering new tastes, and to eat healthily but not be obsessed with dieting.

• I don't look anywhere for advice but tbh I don't think I'd bother. I'd rather look for a new recipe online - we use the BBC recipe site a lot for ideas.

[Jux]

I was brought up on French cooking and fresh veg from the garden. Because mum knew how to cook well, as did my gran who lived with us and grew all our veg, I enjoyed most food. All my relatives are real foodies for the same reasons. Hungry mid-morning? Pull up a carrot. Treat mid-afternoon? 15 mins amongst the raspberry canes and strawberry beds. Unjustly, the year I lost my front teeth was the year my gran grew sweetcorn

DH grew up on veg boiled until it was khaki. He is not a foodie. It was all I could do to expand his veg intake from just broccoli and peas to include cabbage!

DD is 13 now and going through a picky stage, though she has always loved fruit and veg. She is more difficult with meat, and hates fish. I think this is partly peer influenced, and partly teen rebellion. She has always hated sauces, so no cauliflower cheese. She loves liver, though! On the whole she eats healthily and wants to.

Weaning her just meant I made loads of purees and froze them. No fruit or veg was safe from from my Mouli! Unless mil was standing behind me making stupid faces (she did do this) then dd was happy to try anything, and actually didn't reject anything. MIL put her off fish when she was 6ish by telling her that the bones made you ill. I'm not sure I'll ever forgive her for that. She also put dd off eggs in a similar way.

The most surprising thing about dd was her willingness to eat food with garlic in when she was being weaned! Unexpected! The other surprising thing was MIL's attitude and behaviour.

I am sure hope dd will always eat as healthily as she can afford. She has grown up in a house where fruit and veg is always available, cooked and raw. I suspect she'll feel a bit like I did when I first started sharing a flat on leaving home: uncomfortable if there's no fruit around.

[Fillybuster]

I think it helps that both me and dh absolutely love good food, and I am passionate about sourcing ethical, local, organic ingredients. Some of that passion, and the fact that we talk about food, recipes, ingredients and restaurants with our friends automatically gets passed down to the dcs.

Beyond that, I have found that getting them to help in the preparation and cooking can start a wider conversation about balanced meals, health and enjoying food....even better (although we are city based, so this is a bit limited!) we try to grow a selection of vegetables and fruit in pots every summer, chosen by the dcs, which gives them a much clearer idea of 'where it all comes from'.

As much as I want them to try everything, and be a bit brave in their choices, I do also accept that pizza, fish fingers and pasta will remain firm favourites, and so I try to find a balance between serving meals that I know they are going to love and things which might be a bit trickier. So far, that mostly works...also, we have a rule that everyone is allowed to have one thing that they definitely don't like and don't have to eat....somehow, being allowed to have one 'opt out' makes it easier to convince them to try everything else!

[snowymum12]

My daughter already has a varied taste in food and is always keen to try new tastes and textures. I love food and try to cook from scratch most nights. I think this helps as my daughter has always had a taste of whatever we eat and sees us all enjoying food as a family. When we eat out, she tends to have a bit of our food if there's nothing suitable on the menu as it really upsets me that children's menus tend to be filled with 'chips, nuggets and beans'. We do eat chips and beans occasionally but it gives children the wrong impression of food when we eat out and the adults get something tasty and interesting and the children get something bland and, often, unhealthy.
I might just have got lucky with my daughter, I know others find mealtimes difficult but I hope that our attitudes will serve her well as she grows into an adult herself.

[manfalou]

So with regards to food and feeding for your child:

• I don't think neither me or my partner has a natural love for healthy food... we're foodies but not for the good stuff although since having baby number 2 we are beginning to enjoy more healthier meals. I'm the grand daughter of a butcher and the daughter of a baker so needless to say I love meat and pies! (i'm only a size 10 though!... I don't scoff my face on them all day lol)
  
• Ive found it hard setting the foundations for a healthy love of food. When weaning DS1 loved everything...then he started going to grandmas. Now he loves nuggets, fish fingers and waffles =/ He won't eat ANY veg or fruit apart from dried fruit and fruit juice. I suppose you could call it 'an adventure' but not the good sort.
  

My child won't try anything new... even things I know he'll love like cheesy omelettes. Thats half the issue. He has such a small meal choice because he won't try the food.

I worry constantly about Ds1's eating habits. I'm hoping that his baby brother will be a better eater and this will urge him on to try new things. I hope he grows to like at least some veg!

• I can only dream of him eating a sunday lunch...that would be the ultimate goal! And for him to willing try new foods. I don't expect him to like everything but I would like him to try a range.
  

• Ive sought advice from the Hv with little success, family and friends just say let him eat what he wants. I find that theres little support out there for trying to get him to eat new things.
  

• I'd like info through the post, maybe on posters so DS can see it for himself. I'm not sure what other help there is... the thought of people coming round is a good idea but at the same time i think it would make me personally feel like I had to push DS even more and I've fond from experience that doesn't work.