Dealing with children who have difficulty eating requires patience and a separate strategy. Therefore, it is important for every parent to understand the causes of children's difficulty eating and how to overcome them so that children's nutritional needs are still met.

Children usually have difficulty eating or become picky eaters when they are 1 year old. However, there are also children who have difficulty eating when they are 2-5 years old.

At that time, children's growth becomes slightly slower compared to the previous period. This can reduce appetite, so that children have difficulty eating or only want to eat a little.

Recognizing the causes of children having trouble eating and how to overcome them

When facing a child who has difficulty eating, parents need to first identify the cause. Each cause has a different approach or way of dealing with it.

Tips for Dealing with Children Who Have Difficulty Eating

For children, eating is part of the learning and exploration process. To increase the appetite of children who have difficulty eating, there are several things you can do, namely:

• Hold regular family meals and let your little one see people around him eating various types of healthy food.

• Make a regular eating schedule, namely 3 main meals and 2 snacks every day, and limit the time to around 30 minutes for each meal.

• Let your little one eat alone and give him food that is easy to hold and put in his mouth.

• Give small portions of food first and praise your little one when he finishes it.

• Use tableware with attractive pictures and colors or ones that your little one likes.

• Occasionally invite other children to eat together.

• Put away television, games, pets, and things that can distract him while eating.

• Involve your little one in processing food, from buying, cleaning, cooking, to serving it at the dinner table. This can make him more appetizing and curious about the food he makes.