No matter how many years pass, I will never forget a moment from my youth—watching my grandmother and my aunt try, with endless patience, to get my three-year-old cousin to eat. Every attempt failed; he simply refused. The few foods he would touch—bananas, grapes, bread with butter and honey, and eggs—were eaten with effort. Yet somehow, he was a perfectly healthy child, though much underweight for his age, which worried his mother.
One day, I asked my grandmother to pack me some of the roast chicken and potatoes she had just cooked, along with a salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, and feta cheese. She looked at me in surprise and said, “You just ate. Are you still hungry? … Oh, I see—you want to take food for the poor kids.”
I told her, “No, it’s for my cousin. I’m taking him to the park, and I want to try to feed him.” My grandmother burst out laughing. “You know very well there’s no way you’ll get him to eat that!” I was too young to argue, so I just said, “I’m going to try anyway.”
At the park, I tried everything to tire him out, hoping it would open his appetite. But it didn’t work. We went back to the playground, and I kept thinking about how I could get him to eat.
A few minutes later, a family arrived with two children—and that gave me an idea. I approached their mom and explained the problem with my cousin. I asked if it would be okay for her children to sit with us and share the food. She was more than happy to let us do it, saying that although she had just fed her children, they never said no to extra food.
What happened next was priceless. My little cousin came to sit with me and the other children, his eyes wide as he looked at the open Tupperware. They started picking at the food, and one of the older children shouted with his mouth full, “This is delicious!” My cousin sat next to me, grabbed a big piece of chicken, popped it in his mouth, and then copied the older child’s dramatic shout.
From that day on, his eating improved—but not nearly as much as when I took him to the park. Whenever it was time to eat, I would say, “Let’s see if we can find some other children to share your food with.”
Some might not agree with this approach, but it raises an interesting question: Is it better to let a child explore and decide what’s good or bad for them, or should we make sure, no matter what, that they get proper nutrition?
I often hear moms saying that they never force their kids to eat, while others complain, “My child doesn’t eat anything healthy.” I’ve even listened to some of them mention that their children start the day with pizza, cereals, biscuits, white bread and jam, or other unhealthy foods.
Every child is different, and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Sometimes, a little creativity—like turning mealtime into a shared or playful experience—can make all the difference. The key is to guide them gently while keeping meals enjoyable, so they develop healthy habits without feeling forced. After all, a happy child at the table is more likely to grow into a healthy eater.
Faithful Yours
Rori
