Aldo Zilli’s Top Ten Tips for Fussy Eaters

Having a child that’s a fussy eater can be a huge source of worry for parents as they need to ensure their child is eating all the right nutrients and goodness but want to avoid a power struggle every dinner time.

Celebrity chef, Aldo Zilli, is a father of three and so has had his own share of dealing with fussy eaters. He launched his organic baby food range, Baby Zilli, to help combat picky eating from a very early age by combining a diverse range of delicious ingredients in each convenient pouch. Each product in the Baby Zilli range has been created from a recipe Aldo used on his own children and so have been tried and tested on the real baby Zillis!

Aldo says: “Fussy eating is usually a phase children go through, and frustrating though it is, the key is to stay calm and use some of my practical tips below to help turn meal time battles into a fun and enjoyable experience for the family.”

Here are Aldo’s Top 10 Tips for Fussy Eaters…

1. First of all, it’s important to only buy the foods that you want your child to be eating. If there’s no junk food in the house – how can they eat it?

2. Giving the food exciting names helps to make children more interested in what they are eating. We’ve just launched some new flavours including Tutti Frutti and Zilli Greens, designed to make mealtimes fun. It sounds silly but sing songs, pretend you’re rocket launching the food into their mouths – whatever makes the concept of eating more enjoyable to your own child.

3. Serve up food in little portions on their plates and add more when each portion is finished – this makes the process so much more manageable to your child, as large portions are off-putting to fussy eaters.

4. Don’t try to coerce or bribe or plead with your child to eat. Even if you’re desperate for them to finish their food, remain calm and pretend you’re not interested, as making a fuss often has the opposite effect!

5. If the kitchen table has become your ‘battle ground’, change the scenery. Have some food in the playroom or with their tea set plates to make eating fun.

6. Share meal times with another child that is a good eater.  Don’t disapprove of your own child but throughout the whole meal praise all good eating, your child will see this and will naturally want to seek your approval too.

7. Be positive about food, excited by new ingredients and eager to try different flavours – your child will pick up on this enthusiasm and hopefully learn the same attitude. The Baby Zilli range is ‘good enough for mamma and papa to eat’ so try a spoonful here and there to lead by example.

8. Eat at the same time as your baby, again your child will be seeking your approval through you leading by example as they watch you eat and enjoy your food.

9. When they are old enough, encourage them to eat the food themselves, this further allows the children to be in control of their own diets and food habits. You will notice that they also want to be ‘grown up’ and eating what mummy and daddy are eating – don’t dumb down to them but allow them to try new flavours when they are older. I make ‘Baby Capuccinos’ when my children come and visit me in the restaurant now, this is just frothed milk but the kids feel they are really grown up by drinking them and take a positive interest in food.

10. I believe that from day one we can set the foundations for our children’s eating behaviour for the rest of their life. So make sure they try a diverse range of flavours and ingredients to give them a wide appreciation of food and a ‘taste education’ so they can appreciate good wholesome food as they grow.

Buon Appetito!