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Mistake #4: Pressuring kids to eat certain foods
If you want your child to, say, eat his spinach, the best thing you can do is back off. “The job of the parent is to get the food to the plate, not the food into the kid,” explains Johnson. That means no reminders to eat or taste the food, silly eating games, nutrition lectures or threats to withhold treats. Even incentives such as cheerleading, praising and bribing are counterproductive. “As long as you do your job of providing a variety of healthy foods, your child will do her job of eating and growing,” adds Johnson. “It might not look the way you want it to. She might refuse to eat her carrots and only eat her noodles, for example. But you’re never going to force her into being a carrot lover. Instead, keep serving them and eat them in front of her, and you may be surprised—one day, she may enjoy them!”