You do not play with the food!

We live in a throw-away society, in which the things of daily life are often given little esteem. This also applies to food. Since eating habits and attitudes to eating are shaped in the first years of life, parents should give their child early respect and respect for the food.

Eating keeps us alive and ensures physical and mental well-being. Food can be comforting and people share meals together. In addition, it is a long way from seed or seedling to tomato or potato. Reason enough to treat all kinds of food with respect.

Where does my food come from?

In order for toddlers to get a connection to the food, it is good if they find out early from where the individual food actually comes from. Most of the time, children who live in the countryside find out about it, for example through their own garden or the kindergarten friend from the farm. City children must be specifically supplied with this information. This can take place through books or films. More impressive is when the children visit a farm or nursery or have the opportunity to harvest fruits grown on the balcony or on the window sill. Incidentally, the education should not stop at animal foods. Appreciation is especially important here, because an animal supplies the food or even dies for it. Parents do not have to worry about a baby getting a shock and no longer eating meat or refusing the milk. It only learns that these circumstances are also part of it and ensure that it is supplied with a large supply of food.

Food is not a toy

Very young children do not yet tell whether they are dealing with a toy or with food. They experiment with food as well as with everything else. By parental example and by hints on how to handle food, they learn that food has a special value. About one year, children want to do everything themselves. They experiment, try and practice - and also with food. Pay close attention to whether your child is just trying to learn the food by trying different methods of getting the porridge or carrots into your mouth, or whether it really plays with the food. This is easy to see if the focus is on food landing in the mouth or on the plate, shuffling it around on the table, or throwing it on the floor.

If you feel that your child is just playing around, you should admonish him, offer him food, feed him or show him how to get the food into his mouth with the spoon. Hitting parents here on the strings, because they misinterpret their child's actions, then in the worst case, a disturbed relationship to the food in the child can arise, which can manifest in discomfort, loss of appetite and later even in eating disorders.

Respectful meals

Not only food intake but also meals should be done with respect and appreciation. This is especially true when the whole family eats together:

• The meal is started together when everyone is sitting at the table.
• TV or radio will stay off during the meal.
• During the meal no difficult issues are discussed, the atmosphere is friendly and accommodating.
• About the food is not bitched, if it does not taste, you eat only a little.
• Sweets and sweet drinks are taboo before eating, so as not to spoil your appetite.
• Finally, the dining table is cleared together.
• Basically, children should also try unknown food at least. If they do not taste, they should not be forced to eat.

If something stays on the plate

For a long time it has been an indispensable law that the plate must be eaten empty. Today, however, this regulation is no longer current, as children unlearn long term, to listen to their inner needs, in this case to the satiety. It should become the rule at the dinner table that everyone opens up less than he believes he can manage. Cash on delivery is always allowed. Adults should also adhere to this rule because the same applies to everyone. This also applies to the amount that is cooked. Of course, nobody should stay hungry, but you should not cook too much unless the dish can be reheated or otherwise reused.

You play with food!

However, the fact that children should not play around with food does not preclude a playful approach to food. Especially children who eat very poorly can often be motivated. "A spoon for mom, a spoon for daddy" is one of the popular food games that work well for small children. The porridge arrives on the bucket as a roaring helicopter, or the raisins are laid out on the table as an edible snake, so that the child can pick them up like a little bird.

If food is treated with care and appreciation, there is considerable room for maneuver. For the intake of food should not be serious, but a joyful and sensually experienceable activity, in which not only the hunger of the body is satisfied, but also the well-being is increased.