Describe the Main Considerations in Presenting Food to Young Children

Presentation of food:

There are many ways in which food can be made more attractive to children, particularly if they are fussy eaters. Some ideas include:

- Making food into pictures such as faces, boats or castles

- Cutting food, such as sandwiches, into interesting shapes

- Involving children in the preparation of their food as this may encourage them to eat it.

- Making the food look colourful by adding different coloured vegetables. For example poached chicken with mashed potato and cauliflower is all white and will not look very attractive to children, whereas poached chicken with peas, carrots and potato wedges will be more appealing.

- Giving children variety to encourage them to eat as always having the same foods will be boring and not encourage them if they are fussy eaters

- Making sure food is moist and not too dry

- Putting small portions on the plate as too much food will automatically put children off but they can always have more.

- Not forcing children to always finish everything on their plate- this can also put them off eating

- Encouraging children to use cutlery- for young children, you may need to cut up the food for them and then encourage them firstly to use a spoon and later progress to a knife and fork.

Social aspects:

Eating is a social occasion and children should be encouraged to enjoy meal times. Eating with the family at the table encourages children to develop good social habits which will mean that when they eat with others they will have established manners. Eating together also encourages conversation and communication in the family. This is an important part of eating. Food is also an important of culture and many cultures celebrate using food and drink.

Personal preferences:

Food choices:

There are many reasons why people choose the food they eat. For young children, the food they eat is influenced by the food offered by their parents, their own likes and dislikes, advertising on children’s TV and peer group...