The lovely Jo from Franjos Kitchen has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to food and nutrition for adults and children- she is an experienced naturopath, nutritionist and wellness consultant. After our little ones start eating solids, we can struggle with fussy eaters or fresh meal ideas to maintain a nutritious and well balanced diet. Jo has shared with us some of her top tips she uses with her three children Matilda, and twins Florence and Charles for meal times.

Key things to keep in mind:

• When considering the nutritional profile of your child’s diet, consider the day as ‘whole’ rather than getting caught up with each individual meal. For example if your child lacks nutrients in their breakfast, but eats a good lunch or dinner, then you don’t need to worry too much about breakfast.
• Remember, some days you are not as hungry as others. Your child is going to be the same. They will often make up for poor eating days the day after.
• Get your child involved. Get them in the kitchen, get them dirty with healthy cake mixture, allow them to watch you chopping vegetables, get them to pop some vegetables in to the saucepan, give them bits and pieces to try as you are cooking, get them excited about what goes on in the kitchen. Let them get messy. 
• Make meal times ‘relaxed’. If your child doesn’t want to eat what you have made for them, as painful as it is, let it go. Try not to make the experience negative by pressuring them to ‘eat’ exactly what you want them to eat all the time. Obviously don’t just give up after the first knockback, but don’t push for an extended period of time as this may cause issues in the long run. If they would rather eat a banana, that’s OK. Make sure you do continue to offer again and again on other occasions though, you need to train their taste buds and give them variety.
• Eat your meals with your toddler if you can. As well as being lovely to set aside time as a family, this can also help to create great habits and imitation at the dinner table.
• Discuss what you are eating. What color is that carrot? What vegetable is that? How many peas do you have? “Let’s go out to the garden and grab some parsley, and chop it up to pop on our stew”… this kind of thing.
• If your child is underweight and it is affecting their health such as energy levels and immune system, then we would recommend seeing your doctor. They may check their iron and zinc status as these are commonly deficient in children with poor appetite and zinc in particular with immune deficiencies.
• Try to only have ‘healthy food’ in the house. Bake with them healthy cakes, loaves and smoothies and make these things ‘special’. When you are out at parties and friend’s places let them go a bit. Remember the 80:20 rule - life is all about balance and experience.

A few healthy foods and snacks I always have on hand:

• Squeezies - we refer to our little pouches of organic vegetables and fruit as squeezies. Make sure to check for sugar content
• Hummus, tahini or dip
• Brown rice noodles
• Frozen bolognaise sauce
• Organic eggs
• Pre-made pumpkin, potato, peas, broccoli mash
• ‘Sprinkles’ – ground mix of linseeds and chia seeds
• Organic corn cakes/rice cakes
• Nut and seed protein balls in the freezer 
• Franjo's Kinder Biscuits

Liquids:

• Water (always a drink bottle around the house or when on the go)
• A little ‘green juice’ of chlorella and vitamin c most days for extra nutrition, immune and overall health
• Milk, or rice/nut milk

Thanks for all the tips, Jo! It can be a little stressful when your little one isn’t eating, so these reminders to relax and ideas to encourage children (and the whole family!) to enjoy food are really helpful. Nb xx