How do you get an 8 year old to eat healthy when she has only ate junk food?

Question

we are careing for my 8 yr old cousin who we found out has only ate Fast food, those bags of flavored noodles, and tons of candy nearly all her life( no Joking eather). We CAN NOT get her to try anything new, she sits there with her mouth clamped shut and just stairs at the food or at the person asking her to try it. She has litterly sat HOURS refuseing to try anything new. and if she dose try it she will immiatly say she dose not like it. I don't know what to do we are refuseing to feed her junk food as a meal. we have a rule at our home real food before junk food, if you eat good healthy food all day you get a sweet after dinner. What should we do she is so stubborn, we want her to eat healthy so she'll be healthy.

Answer 1

You can't just stick a plate of veggies in front of a kid who has never ate them.  You have to gradually progress.  Try veggies with low fat cheddar cheese or low-cal ranch dressing.  Try celery covered in peanut butter (tons of fiber and protein) with raisons on top.  It's made to look like ants on a log!  Have banana and apple slices with no sugar added chocolate pudding or a some cool whip.  The trick is to make healthy food taste good.  No kid will turn down bananas and chocolate pudding!

Answer 2

Jessica Seinfeld has a book called, "Deceptively Delicious". It tells how to hide vegetables in foods so that kids will eat them. It can be a start toward teaching them to eat them by telling them they've been eating them all along anyway.

Answer 3

You feed her only healthy food until she caves.  She won't let herself go hungry.  Try feeding her fun and tasty health foods like mac & cheese, sloppy joes, sweet potato pie, etc.

Answer 4

We had two foster daughters who were 4 and 6 who used to live with us.  They came from a similar situation.  They did not know what vegetables were.  No joke they couldn't even name basic veggies when they saw them!  THey came to us with rotten brown teeth that had to be removed.  So anyway we sort of detoxed them first.  FOr several weeks they didn't get any sugary foods.  We got flavored water for them.  Capri sun makes a flavored water called roaring waters.  We just called it juice and they were fine with it.  After several weeks we started letting them have one treat in the evening after dinner.  We filled a bowl with things they liked and if they ate their dinner they got to pick from the bowl.  If they didn't eat well then we got to pick their snack.  If they hadn't eaten their veggies at dinner then they could have carrots sticks and dip for snack.  THey were with us for 3 months.  The older one at first wouldn't eat any veggies, by the time she left would say she loved veggies and ate most all of them!  The younger one wasn't as far along as the older one however she did learn some valuable things about eatting healthy while in our care.  At Christmas I told her she could have another cookie and she told me she didn't need another one she had already had too much sugar!    Good luck!

Answer 5

Try slowly weaning her onto healthier food.

Make homemade chicken nuggets or burgers instead of McDonald's/burger king.

Make pasta with chicken and broccoli with alfredo sauce.

If she eats well at dinner let her have a homemade brownie (with veggies hidden in them)

And try to get her to take a multivitamin-maybe the ones that are gummy bears.

Answer 6

she is waging a battle of wills and kids can be incredibly

stubborn.  hang in there.  remember that you are doing the

right thing and you will eventually see progress.  it will not

be quick; it will not be easy;  it will be worth the effort when

you see her developing healthy appetites.

bless you for doing the right thing by the child.  too many

do not care enough to take the trouble, then wonder how

so many kids go off the tracks.  you are good people.

Answer 7

I agree with Beth, she wont starve. If she misses a meal or 2, so be it, she will be fine unless she has some kind of health issue. But I doubt she does. Our daughter got stubborn like that a long time ago, she did not eat for a couple of meals, but once she got hungry enough she was willing to try whatever we put on the table! Well, almost anything, she still hates peas and she is 16! LOL, but I cant complain about that.

Just serve her whatever you are serving the rest of the family and dont bring it up. If she asks for something else, just tell her not until after a healthy meal. When everyone else is done eating, ask her if she is finished, if so and she didnt eat, just clear the table and go on with your normal day. Excuse her from the table, sitting there all day wont make her eat. Let her run around and get hungry. If she asks for something before its time for the next meal, either give her what she didnt eat, or just tell her what time the next meal is and let her know she will have to wait. She will get over it, unless she is only there for a short visit. In that case you will have to re train her every time she stays with you! LOL, thats no fun.

Good luck, she may be pretty grouchy when she gets hungry.

Answer 8

Please don't listen to the people who say you should "hide" mashed vegetables in other foods. That won't help you, or her, at all. Firstly, because if you cook a vegetable to the point that it can be mashed, then smash it up and cook it into something else, all of the nutrients have been beaten out of the vegetable and you wasted whole bunch of time for nothing. Secondly, hiding vegetables in other foods just reinforces the idea that vegetables are yucky and need to be disguised in order to be palatable.

If you want to actually help the kid, this is what you need to do: give her the things you want her to eat, and nothing else. It may seem cruel at first, but no child will let herself starve; when she's hungry enough, she'll eat, no matter what you put in front of her. Make her healthy dinners with vegetables, and say, "you don't have to eat what's on your plate, but what's on your plate is all that's being served." And then you need to follow through. To avoid her sneaking junk food and desserts, remove ALL the chips, candy, snacks, sodas, etc from your house. She can't eat what isn't there. (It may be a bummer that the rest of your family has to miss out on dessert because of this brat, but it may also put pressure on her to behave). She will cave eventually, if you are consistent and firm.

If you have time, try teaching her about nutrition, and try to get her interested in preparing food--kids always love to eat things they make themselves. Also, there are a few things you can try to make vegetables seem more desirable. Dipping sauces work for most kids. Serve up some plain vegetables with a dallop of ranch dressing, ketchup, barbeque sauce, whatever. Chances are that will catch her interest and make her warm up to vegetables more quickly.

In addition, perhaps you could make healthier versions of the things she's used to--hamburgers are healthy if you make them with lean meat. You could also try giving her things like chicken strips, spaghetti, tacos, and the occasional pizza.

In the end, the key is to be firm. Don't cave in to any of her demands, and she will eventually come around. Kids can be very stubborn, so you'll just have to lay down the law and be consistent in order to change her behavior. Good luck!

Answer 9

TALK TO HER ABOUT OBESITY, so she'll understand why she shouldn't eat so much junk food.

Try giving her things like sugared strawberries and banana pancakes with a hint of vanilla. Give her healthy but yummy snacks.

Here are some foods that are good:

Low fat muffins

Flavored yogurt like Yoplait Yogurt

Pretzels

Light microwave popcorn

If she's craving for something like chocolate, try giving her a healthier alternative. One alternative for chocolate is hot chocolate.

Here are some more healthy alternatives:

Sour cream=Salsa

Frozen yougurt=Ice cream

Corn chips=Baked tortilla chips

White bread=Whole grain bread

Don't eat fatty acids for dessert. Instead, why not try those sugared strawberries I suggested earlier?

Here are some great desserts:

Sugared strawberries

Sugared bananas

Plain strawberries

Low fat mini pizzas

Here are some unusual but good tasting snacks:

Ants on a log — Spread peanut butter on celery sticks and top with raisins.

Banana ice — Peel several very ripe bananas, break them into 1-inch pieces, and freeze the pieces in a sealed plastic bag. Just before serving, whirl the pieces in the blender with a small amount of water or juice. Serve right away. Add berries for a different flavor or top with fruit or nuts.

Healthy ice pops — Freeze fresh, unsweetened 100% juice in ice pop molds or ice cube trays.

Low-fat pita and hummus — Warm a pita in the oven on low, then cut it into small triangles. Dip it in a tasty, low-fat hummus. Hummus is available in yummy flavors like garlic and spicy red pepper.

Happy trails mix — Combine 1 cup whole-grain toasted oat cereal with 1/4 cup chopped walnuts and 1/4 cup dried cranberries for a healthy trail mix.

I hope I helped!

Answer 10

First of all bravo to you for not giving in and having healthy meals. I havent tried anything in it but Ive heard great things about Jessica Seinfield's cookbook where you mix fruit and/or veggie purees in "junk" food. Is she seeing a therapist? I hope so, it would have to help. Try to find healthy versions of her favorite foods and let her help make them. Kraftfoods.com has some great ideas, let her look with you and pick things out to try.

Answer 11

you should only go slowly trying to get her to eat better stuff and eventually she will learn to like it, and try to feed her stuff that looks like stuff she likes but a healthier version