“Health is wealth”, as the saying goes, providing healthy food to the child is the biggest concern of today’s mother. She wants her child to be the healthiest and savor good healthy diet. Her biggest concern is to feed attractive and tasty healthy food. When the child starts eating semi-solid/ solid food, it is her prime responsibility to develop taste buds for nutritious food. To avoid child’s diversion to junk food, a great amount of delicious nutritious food can be given with great variety of choice as per the season. When the child is given different foods, drinks in different styles with added attraction the child will be looking forward to his meals. The surprise factor makes him/her diverted to good food and the possibility of  asking for junk food may reduce.

Different foods which can be served are as like.

Milk and milk products:

Try to develop your child’s taste buds for milk products. Milk can be given in the form of custard with various flavors. It can be given hot or cold. If given cold can be made interesting with jelly cut into various shapes. The colorful presentation in a bowl will be so attractive that the child will not resist eating. One can serve easily digestible milk desserts like rice kheer, semolina kheer, sabudana kheer, lauki kheer. Kheers  may be given cold in summers and hot in winters. Daliya or wheat flakes and other whole grain cereals can be given in the breakfast. Alternatively brown bread soaked in milk can be given to give variety.

Milk can be made interesting by preparing milk shakes. Seasonal fruits can be blended and milk shakes can be given like chikoo, banana, strawberry, mango,vanilla, chocolate etc. 

If child has taste for curd, one can also give sweet lassi, salted lassi, banana curd. If the child is small mash the banana or otherwise add chopped banana to the sweetened curd.

Add a lot of fruits in the diet and cut them in fancy shapes and serve in beautiful bowls or glasses.

Soups vegetarian or non vegetarian thin soups can be given Seasonal vegetable soups, tomato soup, spinach soup, chicken clear soup, dal shorba are extremely nutritious and children enjoy it. Add very less quantity of refined flour and keep it thin to avoid making the dish bulky so that the child is able to eat his regular meal too. Soups should be served in soup bowl for adding eye appeal and delighting the child.

A great variety of khichdi   can be made from different variety of dals. Restrict to dals like malka masoor, moong dhuli and chilka urad and add seasonal vegetables like carrots, beans, lauki, spinach etc. for enhancing the nutritive value. A small quantity of butter can be added for improving taste.

Children love eating mashed potato with salt. If small amount of butter, a dash of pepper is added it adds to the taste. Mashed potato with mashed peas and beans ,  add to the eye appeal and nutrition.

Spinach puree with paneer is greatly relished by the child. Vegetables like lauki, tori cooked in mild tempering can be given with rice and dal. Children love to eat roti soaked in dal. Develop eating habits by giving regular food in different styles.

A variety can be added by preparing whole wheat pastas and wheat noodles with vegetables, cheese in tomato based sauce. Whole Wheat noodles can be prepared with a lot of vegetables to add variety.

Children if have a salty taste, upma with finely chopped vegetables can be given and it is a soft preparation also. Idli with mild sambar can also be added on the menu. Paneer lightly cooked with little salt can be given regularly to the child.Paneer steaks, paneer tikka; paneer pineapple sticks can be made and be given in Tiffin’s or as snacks.

Children should be given regularly juices like sweet lime juice, orange juice, pineapple juice etc to provide natural vitamin c. Freshly prepared juices are always better than packed/ tinned ones.

In summer season, for a change one can give chuskis which can be easily prepared with syrups like kala khatta, strawberry, rose, orange; khus etc.One can add natural fruit syrups instead of artificial syrups. .

The list is endless.

However while you are serving,  give him/her the food in different glasses, baby plates, spoons with kiddy cartoons, some different stirrers which act as a attractive package to the child to enjoy his/her meal. Different shapes, cuts of food with smiley faces, wedges etc also makes food interesting. Also while child is given to eat, you could play some interesting music or make him/her sit in a kid’s chair. Each day if made interesting the child will not show tantrums while eating and hence will go a long way to develop his/her eating habit