Rosalee Brown

A reader wrote recently, "I am a good parent, I buy the food, prepare it with love and the kids will not eat. What must I do short of strangling them?".

The reader said, for example, that her two-year-old boy does not like milk or soy and does not like to eat early, but he loves fruits and will eat lunch and I presume all his other meals. The reader was distressed and I can share her pain because I have been there. As mothers/parents we have to be creative especially in the mornings when we are rushing and time is limited. Let's step back and try to take an objective view.

There are six Caribbean food groups, milk is only one food from 'the food from animals' group leaving many other options, 'yu see me', as is said on the streets, so choose another food from this group. As for soy, it is from the legumes group - peas, beans and nuts. If porridge is your thing in the morning, put some coconut milk from the fats and oils group. This is beneficial for your two-year-old and he should get his proteins elsewhere.

Hide the milk

Milk and Cookie

The reader said that her two-year-old loves fruits and I assume he will eat his vegetables and staples. If he is not allergic to milk or soy, then she should usurp her motherly authority and 'hide' the milk in foods such as the dough for fried dumplings and other food. Milk can also be disguised in soups, macaroni and cheese and other casseroles.

She can also allow her son to have his fruits early in the morning (as he now does) and then pack a sandwich, biscuit and cheese (another dairy) and let him have it later just before school starts, if that time suits him better.

Mom don't sweat provide, the options, ensure that other meals (beside breakfast) are balanced and very soon he will be 'eating you out of house and land' as he moves through this phase.

Parents any nutritious food can go for breakfast even leftover dinners. Young children eat small amounts, but eat very often, so ensure that snacks placed in the lunch kits or provided at school continue the healthy trend of breakfast. Snacks should be small, nutritious meals and not 'empty calories'.