As a Registered Nutritionist I work with parents to help ensure their children can eat a healthy balanced diet that is full of variety. Needless to say, this can be extremely challenging and stressful if their child is going through a bit of a picky eating stage. But one thing that can work wonders and even motivate very fussy children to eat is to introduce an element of reward for trying new foods. However, the golden rule that should always be followed is that the reward for eating should never be food-related. In other words, using a more carrot than stick approach but not literally. The simple reason why is because awarding a liked food as a prize for doing something difficult doesn’t work effectively nor does it foster a healthy attitude towards eating. But oddly enough, as soon as you become an adult this rule is positively flouted. Especially amongst runners because favourite foods are regularly used as incentives and rewards for doing something challenging.
