How To Deal With a Picky Eater

If you have a picky eater on your hands and I know I do here are some tips for trying to get the little fussy one to eat.

First of all don't serve them snacks too close to dinner or lunchtime. Your mother probably practiced this rule with you too and for a good reason. A kid with a full stomach is not going to feel like eating. A picky eater will have even less motivation to eat if his or her tummy is full. Do not overfeed your child and he or she will want to gobble up everything on his or her plate. This does not mean starving the kid. However creating a slight sense of appetite is not going to hurt things.

You should also limit the amount of juice and milk that you give your child during and in between meals. Both juice and milk fills them up so they do not feel hungry. Whatever you do not give this picky eater carbonated or sugary drinks as that can make them act very trance. Coke and Pepsi are extremely bad because they contain caffeine.

If your child is served a different type of food than the rest of the family then the child could be jealous. Serve the child up a bite of what you are eating which is a 'reward' bite if they finish the other stuff on their plate. However do not use sugary foods like dessert as a reward. This can cause the child toga in weight and create an unhealthy expectation for your child each time you all sit down together to eat.

If your child is not cooperative then try to stay calm. If you yell, berate or get upset at your child then both of you will be too stressed to focus on eating. You do not want your child to develop a negative attitude towards food. Kids that are yelled at while eating end up being too skinny or too fat as the result of eating disorders they develop. Many become binge eaters who stuff themselves when others aren't watching so they will not be watched or criticized like they were when they were toddlers at the dinner table.

Another good trick is to play with the shape of the food. Get some heart or animal shaped cookie cutters and make them into fun shapes. Another tact is to make up a story using the food. Lots of kids can be encouraged to eat their food if they are allowed to play with it first.

If your kids won't eat what you serve them or will only eat just one type of food then try putting some protein with it. My little boy ate nothing but bananas and tomato soup for years. He was okay but in order to add to his protein uptake I often added peanut butter to the sliced up banana that he would often have for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I simply could not get him to eat anything else.

Yet another neat trick is to let them eat with a stack of measuring spoons. Kids enjoy this for some reason.

Physical Fitness for Teens

Physical fitness for teens is necessary as exercise is crucial for their physical, mental and psychological health. Despite this, people between the ages of thirteen and eighteen tend to be real slackers when it comes to exercising. It is hard to get them off the couch.  

There is another type of teenager that is too busy to exercise. Like adults they are always have an appointment, are on a cell phone or attending a meeting.  If the problem is not too many extracurricular activities or having to go to a part time job then it might simply be teenage malaise.

‘Many adolescents simply are not in the mood to exercise and prefer to surf the Internet and play video games. This of course can lead to a fat kid. Perhaps the best thing you can do for a child who goes 'What's the point?' when it comes to doing regular exercises or taking a walk is buy him or her a bicycle.

A bicycle makes perfect sense to an adolescent because it is does have a purpose, which is to transport the teenager from one place to another. Buying your child a bike that he or she likes will also encourage him or to ride. There is nothing like a brand new bike to encourage physical fitness for teens. Girls like old-fashioned roadsters and boys tend to like bikes that are capable of racing. Both sexes like the idea of a bike that they can bling out with various accessories such as stickers, bells, lights, baskets or ornament. 

You should also make swimming part of any plan for personal physical fitness for teens. Swimming is fun and it strengthens and elongates the body the same way Pilates does.  If your adolescent is shy about showing their body in public you can encourage participation in swimming by buying swimsuits or trunks that make your child look cool at the pool. Overweight girls who are sensitive about their appearance can also now buy swimsuits that have boy shorts and skirts, which offer more coverage. 

A kid that spends a lot of time on the couch watching television might be inspired by competitive sports. Enrolling your child sports team that meets and plays regularly is a good way for a kid to get exercise.  It also teaches skills like goal setting, teamwork and how to get along with other people. Gymnastics might also suit some individuals who are already demonstrating some level of athletic prowess. Competing in sports and gymnastics teaches your child an appreciation of the potential of their bodies to do great things. If your kid is a thrill seeker then you might have to come up with some more clever ways to excite him or her about the idea of exercise.  Some more offbeat and adventurous ideas for physical fitness for teens are rock climbing, surfing, skateboarding, rollerblading and hiking.  Adolescents that enjoy thrilling sports also might enjoy taking part in a biking trip that takes them out of town and involves camping and swimming. There are many parks in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom with extended bike trails that take you across a network of trails that intersect with cities.Â