My 7 year old daughter refuses to try ANY new food item and will not eat meat at all. Need Help?

Question

She eats a reasonable variety of veg but will only eat apples. Won't touch meat/pasta/rice etc won't eat pizza. Have tried hiding things in other things;cooking with her; trying one new food a week-nothing works. If she hasn't tried it before she will not even try one bit despite star charts everything we can think of. Rest of the family will eat anything-any ideas beyond starving her in to submission?

Answer 1

I have to wonder if she is a milk & bread junkie? Does the majority of her diet consist of dairy & wheat products? She could have a leaky gut. If this is the case you probably will need to put her on a gluten & Casein free diet for a while. Do a google search. Has she been on a lot of antibiotics? Ear infections?

Answer 2

If she eats a reasonable variety of veg, then she will probably survive. I would say let her be. In time, when she is ready, she will start to eat more of a variety of foods. I bet in a year's time, if you leave her alone, she will be eating more - say pasta and rice at least.

You have been very creative in all the things you have tried to encourage her. You don't mention if she has had a check up with the doctor? That might be a good idea just to make sure she is OK.

It might be that for some reason she is different, or wants to be different. i think the more you try to persuade her to be the same as the rest of the family, the more she will refuse to eat more variety. There is a reason why she is like this, and you might never knpw for sure.

Some children are very singular individuals. That can be a positive character traite. It is clear that you are creative in the ways you've tried to encourage her - well, I think you have a creative daughter. I'd guess she has above average IQ.

If eating is the only problem, I suggest you just ignore it. Tell her you understand, and if at any time she wants to try something, just to say so. Meanwhile, let her eat what she wants.

Hope this is of help. I'm a health professional and mom of two boys. One was very picky until he was 17....I hope you don't have to wait that long!!!

Answer 3

Even the idea of "starving a child into submission" is criminal and I hope it was a bad joke.
Not eating meat is no problem and would not concern me. It can make your daughter even healthier, as long as she eats fruit and vegetables. Many people are vegetarians or vegans and quite in good shape and good health.

But the problem you face here is not with your daughter and not a question of food. It is a question about education and authority. You must have made crucial mistakes with her before, giving her the idea that she can decide what to eat and what not.
If you cannot manage this on your own, you should see a child psychologist as soon as possible.

When I was a child, whatever food was on the table was eaten, without a question or fuss. And when I developed a disliking for spinach, it was served again and again (with no alternative) until I ate it eventually. Nowadays we would not do this anymore, but it did work and I have never been a fussy eater.

Answer 4

Well, here's a story that might just give you some hope. My six year old son was just like that, except that his diet contained no veg except potatoes (chips and mash). No pasta, rice. The only fruit he would eat was grapes. If I put something new on his plate, he would sometimes even gag. Like you, we tried everything. Star charts, cooking together, confrontation, you name it. I even had to collect him from school one lunchtime because the smell was making him feel ill. I used to dread every family meal. His ten year old sister was just the opposite and would eat anything.

Anyway, last Saturday, I put the usual on everyone's plates. We had roast beef, carrots, broccoli, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding. I called him in from playing out. He sat down at the table and cleared the lot! Not an ounce of a struggle! We all sat there, dumbstruck, watching him not only eat it all, but use his knife and fork correctly (another issue).

He could not explain why he suddenly felt able to eat these things which had previously caused so much trauma. But I'm not bothered. His eating problems just seem to have disappeared over night!

Let's hope your daughter does the same.

Answer 5

Don't pressurise her too much. There's nothing wrong with not wanting to eat meat. Maybe she will be a vegetarian. And if she won't eat pizza then that's a good thing, it's hardly a healthy meal and so many kids live on junk food and are obese. Consult your doctor/nutritionist and they will give you advice as there are many foods on the market now for vegetarians. My mum's been a veggie for 30 years and she's incredibly healthy for it. Be patient, if you make a big deal out of it the more she will too. If she doesn't get her carbs from pasta/rice then she can from potatoes. Does she like those? If she's underweight or malnourished then I'd definitely take her to see a doctor. Good luck.

Answer 6

I Have 3 children with the same problem, i seen my GP about the eldest who's now 9 and he told me the worst thing to do is make an issue out of it, we have started to plan a menu through the week, each child gets to choose a dish for the whole family, they shop for it and help prepare it, the rules are that we try different things. it has worked well, they feel in control of what they eat, they appreciate the effort it takes to prepare a meal and they take ownership of the dinner. We still have the usual stuff that they like so there is no pressure. There is lots of praise for the meals they choose and more often than not everyone enjoys and finishes the meal. They now look forward to thinking up new ideas and the shopping for food is a good one to one experience for making them feel in control and important.

Answer 7

Talk to your doctor/ hers. She is becoming a picky eater. While she is still at the age where you can control what she eats you NEED to start forcing her to eat small amounts of other healthy things. Don't give in. You are the parent/ the boss. If you don't hold your ground now you will lose your authority on other aspects. Also buy children's chewable vitamins and give her 1 a day everyday. So she won't suffer any vitamin deficiencies. Make sure you explain to her she can only have 1 vitamin a day (danger of iron overdose is she takes more than 1 a day) and keep it up high where she can't reach it.

Answer 8

The meat thing maybe as she is turning into a vegetarian which is healthier if you eat the right replacements for protein etc
Ie she don't want tthe nice fluffy lamb killed.

As for the rest try this... Kids often eat everything at a mates house and try new stuff there... So get sneaky with her freinds mum and Ill bet you her kids are the same.


Sounds like she wants to eat healthy so get her lessons on neutrition and teacher her to cook and see what she comes up with... With the rule that she has to take medial advice and cover all food groups, ie proteins,

Answer 9

It is okay for her to not eat meat,my daughter was the same way,just check with her doctor and ask for some meat substitutes you can try.be sure she gets a multi-vitamin every day,and have her general health checked out-but this may just be a phase too,I have a cousin who ate nothing but canned spaghetti from age 4-7,then just decided to try other things. Have Patience,don't make a big deal out of it,the more you push-the harder they resist.

Answer 10

i had a son who was like this , wouldnt eat saghettie because of the meat , wouldnt eat pizza unless it was cheese , wouldnt eat hamburger , but he would eat peanut butter , so i made him as many peanut butter sandwhiches he wanted , he would eat hot dogs only if it was pork n beans and hotdogs aka beans and wienies , he loved beans so every meal we had beans , baked beans, pork in beans , pinto beans , even refried beans , , he is very healthy and the beans etc had the proteine he needed , another thing i did was give sumplemental vitamins to help compensate for the protein he wasnt getting along with other vitamins , , latter on my son would eat hamburgers but the couldnt have any mark from the barbecuer on them so i use to place the pattey in a frying pan with some water , this cooked the fat off the hamburger and also jkept the marks off it , , i did this for a year now he will eat hamburgers , spaghtie meatloaf, chicken enchiladas etc but he wont eat cheese on anything unless its pizza and his cheese pizzas are now peperoni and sausage pizza , so go with the flow and in time there taste budds will want something diffrent