Children's dislike for meat is a sign of our days. I don’t remember that during my childhood anyone had an aversion to him. There was a terrible shortage of meat back then, making it an expensive and desirable product. Now the situation has changed: an increasing number of parents complain that their children refuse it or eat it extremely reluctantly...
The child does not like meat
I’ll quote one of the mothers who consulted with me on this burning issue: “Do children have to eat meat? Is it possible to replace it with something? What to do if a child categorically refuses to eat meat dishes? And one more thing: “My youngest schoolgirl is an active and mobile child, the results of a recent medical examination showed that she is healthy, her height and weight are also appropriate for her age. He readily eats only vegetables and fruits, white bread, pasta, chocolate, cookies, and nuts. Everything else is under pressure or at times, i.e. It happens that you can eat for a week and ask for fish, chicken, etc. But this is so rare!”
Let's listen to the children's motivation: “When I was little, I refused to eat meat because I was too lazy to chew it for so long.” The girl is not alone in this; often children do not like the form, not the content, of food.
The benefits of animal food
Meat contains complete protein, which is easily digested and is the main building material of cells, iron in an optimal form for absorption and zinc. It is with proteins that growth and development are associated, they work as enzymes and hormones, special proteins - immunoglobulins - provide an immune response, that is, they recognize and neutralize objects foreign to us. Iron is necessary for hematopoiesis, it is an essential component of hemoglobin (the carrier of oxygen to cells), zinc is necessary for the formation and development of intellectual abilities.
Many of us know about these useful properties animal food, so the main cause of concern for parents whose children rarely or little, in their opinion, eat meat, is that the child will not receive something valuable and important.
I always say that if a child doesn’t eat something, don’t force it, don’t persuade it, don’t push it. And even more so, do not replace meat with surrogates, as long as the child eats at least something. I remember one mother of a one-and-a-half-year-old boy who, with tears in her eyes, complained that when it came to meat, her son only ate sausages and only while watching TV. It's amazing that such small man not only knows how to turn on the TV, but also buys sausages in the store himself.
A child who is reluctant to eat meat may like other animal products, such as milk and its derivatives, eggs, and occasionally consume small amounts of meat, poultry or fish. In this case, no problems with protein and iron should arise. Even if a child does not eat meat (fish, poultry) every day, but only from time to time or periodically, this does not mean that there is something wrong with him. Iron in the body accumulates in depots, and it takes several months for these reserves to be depleted. If your child is healthy and active, there is nothing to worry about.
Vegetarian child
Children who completely abstain from meat, fish and poultry should be offered other foods to make their diet more balanced:
- milk, dairy products and eggs;
- a wide selection of plant proteins from legumes, nuts and grain products, combinations and combinations of them in one dish or one meal, as is customary in traditional meat-free cuisines;
- Plant sources of iron (the same grains, legumes and nuts) should be eaten along with foods containing vitamin C for better absorption of iron.
When extra iron is needed
The absorption of iron, like other nutrients, is a purely individual matter. For some children, especially if we are talking about primary schoolchildren, teenagers in a period of intensive growth, girls with heavy menstruation, child athletes, it is better to do a blood test and consult with a doctor about additional iron in the form of supplements.
Parents should be wary if the child looks pale, lethargic, gets tired quickly, often gets colds, has a desire to eat something inedible, his skin looks dry and flaky, and the condition of his nails and hair worsens. Urgently see the doctor! A blood test will show whether the child is anemic. There are also indicators of the transport stock of iron, which reveal its hidden deficiency, i.e. depletion of stocks in the depot.
Nothing can be done about this; the child will have to take iron supplements, since it is impossible to restore it to its normal state with food alone.
Vegan child
In the practice of pediatricians in Western countries, where children from an early age are raised in the principles of vegetarianism and even veganism (strict vegetarianism, excluding any products of animal origin), the deficiency of iron, vitamins and microelements is compensated by their preparations.
Possible problem areas with veganism:
- low intake of iron and zinc;
- an insufficient amount individual essential (not synthesized in the body) amino acids;
- calcium deficiency due to exclusion of dairy products;
- lack of vitamin B12, which is found only in products of animal origin;
- vitamin D deficiency in conditions of insufficient insolation (lack of sunlight).
A doctor cannot recommend a vegan diet for a child because excluding one or more food groups from the diet can lead to deficiencies in a number of important nutrients. However, if the family has chosen such a nutritional system, the child needs the supervision of a pediatric nutritionist, special nutrition planning and, as a rule, the addition of vitamins and minerals to food.
Learn to give gifts
Explain that congratulations are a sign of love and respect. If a child cannot overcome embarrassment when he finds himself in an unusual role, turn the presentation of a gift into a carnival show. Transformation often helps children overcome shyness.
Does your little picky pick out pieces of meat from the soup and place them next to the plate? He spreads the cutlet all over the dish, and every meal turns into fights without rules? Let's try to start another game with simpler rules.
Why is meat healthy?
Meat contains proteins, and this is the main construction material for a growing organism. If there is not enough protein, the child's growth slows down. Meat is one of the main sources of iron, and it is involved in hematopoietic processes. Meat contains zinc and magnesium, potassium salts and phosphorus, B vitamins. Development depends on zinc fine motor skills and speech, attention and memory. Potassium is involved in the regulation of water, acid and electrolyte balance, in the functioning of the nervous system and blood pressure regulation, while phosphorus and magnesium are needed for the growth of bones and muscles. Without the proteins and nutrients found in meat, a child’s brain will not develop normally.
Without iron, a child may develop iron deficiency anemia and mental retardation, infectious diseases of the respiratory system and gastrointestinal tract may become more frequent, and without potassium, heart function will be disrupted and intestinal motor function will suffer. Phosphorus deficiency in children can lead to rickets, anemia, and poor appetite. Without B vitamins, a child becomes capricious, gets tired quickly, loses his appetite, and his stomach functions are disrupted.
But it is quite difficult for our body to digest meat, and it takes a long time to digest. That is, you still shouldn’t eat meat every day, but you don’t need to completely exclude it from your diet either.
Horse meat and turkey are especially good for children; they are practically hypoallergenic and do not contain large quantity fats, they contain all the useful substances, although they put less strain on the body. Veal used to be considered very healthy, but now doctors have come to the conclusion that the meat must be mature, so beef is still better.
Why does a child refuse meat and what to do about it?
Sometimes this happens when a baby switches from pureed meat to cutlets or boiled meat, which retains fiber. It needs to be chewed, but the child does not want to do this. The solution is simple - switch to meat soufflé or well-chopped meat. And when preparing soup, grind the meat in a blender so that it is almost undetectable. Remember that meat broths must be made with second water. The foam that forms during boiling must be skimmed off.
The child does not like a certain type of meat - only beef or only pork. Observe and experiment with different types of meat.
The baby does not like the taste of meat. Try to disguise it. Make pate not only from meat, but from meat and cheese. To do this, mix boiled meat with hard cheese, add to the resulting minced meat butter and mix all these ingredients thoroughly. You can hide meat in pancakes. Just don’t mix meat and potatoes; these two products don’t go together. Meat goes best with vegetables. The simplest recipe is to stew vegetables (both fresh vegetables and mixtures of frozen vegetables will suit you) with twisted boiled meat. You can make cutlets “with a surprise” by hiding the filling inside - an egg, carrots, green peas or anything else that your child likes. To draw attention away from the meat, make a unique breading that's delicious and crunchy, using corn flakes, oat flakes, or sesame seeds. Try putting the soufflé in a silicone mold - in the shape of a sun or a flower. Just try not to use molds with animals on them. We'll tell you why now.
Imagine that a child first watched a cartoon about Chicken Little Chicken, and then saw a chicken that his mother had just taken out of the oven. The fragile child's psyche could not withstand the shock, and the child, feeling sorry for the animals, stopped eating meat. All that is in your power is to prepare such food in which the outlines of a leg or a wing cannot be guessed, that is, we cut everything into small, very small pieces. Stop using the word “meat” and redirect the child’s attention with a game - tell him that you are going to visit Carlson, who loves meatballs, and this is his treat.
If there are no other reasons, then perhaps your child really does not need meat in the quantity in which you offer it. Just don't worry about his appetite and include legumes, eggs and all types of dairy products in his diet.
Does your child have a selective appetite and flatly refuses many foods, including meat? Do you consider this a serious problem and are you worried about his full development and well-being?
You shouldn’t rush to conclusions and label your child as “whimsical.” Perhaps, on an intuitive level, he is trying to maintain his health.
Reason #1. The body's inability to digest offered foods
The first reason hardly occurs to family members, but statistics show that modern children are too often exposed to food allergic reactions, as well as diseases like celiac disease (complete intolerance to wheat, rye and barley, as well as related products). And no one removed meat from the “risk zone,” especially considering the load it creates on the digestive organs. If there is a real problem, but you continue to insist on your baby eating foods that are “dangerous” for him, then the matter may end in a bunch of autoimmune diseases, liver inflammation, and in the worst case, cancerous tumors of the digestive organs.
Solution
If sometimes a child nevertheless agrees to eat a piece of meat, then watch to see if he develops a characteristic rash, if his stool is disrupted, or maybe he begins to “sniffle”? But the absence of these manifestations is not proof of the digestibility of the product, because a young body is quite strong and signs of intolerance may not appear immediately.
You shouldn’t wait, it’s better to go to a gastroenterologist and get the appropriate tests done to make sure your diet is safe.
If the fears were not in vain and there is any pathology, then the diet will solve the issue. A child can get protein from cottage cheese, fish, legumes, and even buckwheat porridge. However, when you are dining at the same table, it is better not to sit opposite with a huge steak while the baby is eating a salad. You need to be consistent in your actions.
Reason #2. Banal whim
The second reason is very banal: children are picky. This may be due to the fact that previously meat products were served on children's table in a ground form, and now they need to be chewed - and this is unusual. Or the meat dish does not look attractive enough for your child.
Solution
In this case, use your imagination and turn, for example, an ordinary cutlet into a smiling man. Or disguise the meat in the filling of rosy hot pancakes; another option is to prepare meat pate. And best of all, involve your child in preparing the dish. In this case, he simply cannot resist the temptation to taste his creation.
With the arrival of a child in a family, a lot changes; parents are constantly overwhelmed by real and imaginary problems. Either the baby refuses to breastfeed or passes it to the point of regurgitation, then as he grows up, he begins to be capricious and give preference to certain dishes. So, you can often hear complaints from mothers that the child does not eat meat. Of course, all parents know that meat products are absolutely necessary for a growing baby. They provide the body with a sufficient amount of protein, microelements and B vitamins. Meat dishes are also important for the normal development of the child and the prevention of anemia. Even in families that adhere to a vegetarian diet, children are fed protein foods.
Many nutritionists claim that animal protein can be replaced with protein of plant origin. This is true, but thanks to amino acids, animal proteins are absorbed by the body much better.
But what to do if the baby flatly refuses all meat products? Let's try to figure out why the child doesn't eat meat.
Often the problem lies in age characteristics crumbs, in the transition from ground food to food in full pieces, as well as in the unattractive form of meat dishes. First of all, watch your baby, you will probably find the reason for giving up meat yourself.
The child does not eat meat in infancy
A baby who is breastfeeding or artificial feeding, the first time meat can be offered at 7-8 months. Usually mothers grind meat products to the consistency of puree, and the child eats the new complementary foods with pleasure. But if the baby avoids eating such food, then postpone its introduction for some time. Perhaps the child does not eat meat because he simply does not like the unfamiliar taste. After a few days, offer your baby meat puree again. If he turns away from the dish again, try mixing the meat with porridge or vegetable stew.
With the appearance of a sufficient number of teeth, parents begin to offer their baby well-cooked meat, cut into pieces. Often the child refuses it: it was so nice to eat pureed food, but now he has to strain himself. In this case, it is better to return to ground meat again for a few days. For older children, you can steam the cutlets.
The child does not eat meat at an older age
The baby grows up, his taste preferences change. Just yesterday he happily ate tender rabbit meat, but today he refuses it. In this case, try offering your child any other type of meat: pork, veal, chicken or turkey.
Make the menu varied and the dishes attractive, because children primarily evaluate products visually. Use your imagination and improve your culinary arts. Today on the Internet you can find many recipes for meat dishes in original versions. And if the child does not eat meat, but prefers only a side dish, then an interestingly designed dish will certainly whet the baby’s appetite.
A lot depends on the form in which the dish is served. For example, minced meat can be used not only for making cutlets, but also for dumplings, stuffed peppers, casseroles, pancakes and pies. In this way, you will provide a nutritious meal, a varied menu, and also learn about your child’s preferences.
Many mothers involve their children in cooking, which stimulates the appetite and arouses interest in food. It’s so nice to eat your own homemade dumplings, a self-formed cutlet or a wrapped pancake.
Use a variety of methods to attract attention to meat products. But if all your efforts are frustrated by the child’s persistent reluctance to eat meat, the best thing you can do is to give up trying to feed the baby against his will.
What can you replace meat with?
The famous doctor Komarovsky says that if a child does not eat meat, it is not dangerous. After all, proteins of animal origin are found not only in it. The baby's menu should contain sufficient quantities of dairy products and fish, then you can do without meat. Dr. Komarovsky also notes that the absence of crumbs of animal proteins in the body is not a critical fact. However, if your child does not eat meat, then this is fraught with a deficiency of vitamin B12, folic acid, and iron in the body.
In such a situation, periodic checking of hemoglobin levels and occasional intake of iron supplements, folic acid and vitamin B12 are necessary. Careful monitoring is carried out only with complete vegetarianism. If the child receives animal proteins from other products (cottage cheese, cheeses, milk, eggs, fish, etc.), then mothers should not worry.
In addition, almost all the vitamins necessary for health are found in plant foods. Vegetables and fruits contain a lot of iron, potassium, magnesium and mineral salts. They contain almost the entire spectrum of chemical elements important for the body. Plant-based foods will strengthen the child’s immunity and protect the baby from diseases.
Just because a child doesn't eat meat today doesn't mean he won't want it in a few days, weeks, or months. Therefore, do not forget about meat dishes. Offer them to your baby from time to time, in case it happens that he wants to try them and ends up liking them. It is necessary to carefully monitor the development of the baby, because as they grow older, their tastes change.
Meat is a source of complete protein, which is necessary for children from an early age. Initially, children's needs are met through breast milk or adapted mixtures, but gradually, after 8 months, as a source of protein and many others useful substances the meat starts to come out.
Beginning of meat feeding
They offer meat from about 5-10 grams at a time, gradually (over the course of a year) increasing the portion of meat products to approximately 50-80 g. Gradually they switch from meat puree to meatballs, cutlets and pieces of boiled meat that need to be chewed. However, as the child grows and his diet expands, many parents are faced with the fact that the child refuses to eat meat.
If your child is allergic to meat
If you are allergic to meat, you will have to avoid eating it. However, this type of allergy is extremely rare and is usually caused by one type of meat, usually pork or chicken. All other types of meat are well tolerated by the child.
Sometimes in early age arises temporary meat intolerance, more precisely, its protein or some other components. In this case, there is no true reaction (allergy) to the product, there is a temporary deficiency of enzymes (means for digesting meat products), as a result of which, when eating meat and dishes made from it, discomfort occurs in the digestive system (bloating, constipation, flatulence). As we grow older, the digestion of animal proteins becomes normal.
In this condition, the amount of meat in the diet can be reduced, rather than completely removed from the diet.
If your parents are vegetarians
Some parents claim that their children initially became vegetarians, refusing to eat meat from the very beginning. early childhood. Giving up meat is one of the most pressing and debated issues among supporters and opponents of vegetarianism.
According to nutritionists involved in children's nutrition, eating or not eating meat is a conscious choice of adults. You should not make this choice for your child. IN childhood The body needs complete proteins, which can be fully obtained only from animal products - meat, milk, eggs and fish.
If he doesn't love and doesn't want
Why might children refuse meat? There are many reasons given.
- Meat, unlike many fruits, vegetables, and herbs, does not have a pleasant aroma, color or taste. IN baby food the meat is served boiled, stewed or steamed, in the form of cutlets, without spices and seasonings, which, compared to vegetable and fruit dishes, looks pale and not so bright in taste. Children's food interest is focused on those types of food that look more interesting and smell brighter.
- Children do not yet have a full set of teeth and it is more difficult for them to chew meat; even if they eat cutlets or meatballs, they need to put in more effort than when eating vegetables, cereals and other dishes. The meat has a fibrous structure, a special smell and taste, it is dense, it must first be chewed well, which children are often too lazy to do.
- Many children do not want to eat meat because they are impressionable and feel sorry for animals; when they learn that a cutlet is a former cow or chicken, children may be shocked, upset or excited. This is typical for children over two or three years old; children can already make logical conclusions, but their knowledge of the world is still limited; such information can become an incentive for them to change their diet.
Many children do not eat meat, abandoning it in favor of meat products - sausages, sausages, hamburgers. This is an inferior replacement for meat and its proteins, or rather, it is not a replacement at all. Children are “led” to taste enhancers, aroma stimulants, etc. harmful chemicals, such “meat” products do not bring any benefit. You should not offer your child sausages or hamburgers, just so that he will eat something meaty, this is fundamentally wrong!
What to do if your child does not eat meat
If a child does not eat meat under any pretext, does not tolerate it, or categorically refuses to introduce it, you should try to replace meat in the child’s diet with other products as fully as possible, at least temporarily. While you are getting acquainted and accustomed to meat dishes, you can partially replace meat proteins with fish, dairy products and legumes.
You shouldn’t make a tragedy out of a child’s refusal to eat meat. Offer, but do not force your child to eat meat, even if you are against vegetarianism and understand the nutritional benefits of meat proteins. With this approach, a temporary refusal of meat can then develop into a food interest in it. Worth offering different variants serving dishes with meat.
Do not force-feed your child; such feeding will instill an aversion to meat and can even give persistent neurotic (vomiting) reactions to any meat dishes. Just take a break from introducing your child to meat dishes, sit him down at the table and enjoy eating meat dishes in front of him. This will spur the child’s interest in such food.
When preparing and serving dishes, consider the age of children. First you need meat and vegetable dishes, then purely meat ones; as the chewing apparatus copes with chopping meat products, increase the size of the pieces.
Offer to your child different types meat - many do not like chicken breast because of its dryness, and beef because of its veins and toughness. Offer meat in the form of goulash, with gravy, boiled, in casseroles, in pies.
Sometimes it helps to disguise meat in other dishes, mixing it with vegetables and cereals.
Involve your child in preparing the dish, this will interest him in the process and the result of his work. Decorate the dish in an unusual and beautiful way - this move also helps develop a love for meat products.
And most importantly, do not make a tragedy out of the fact that a child temporarily does not eat meat at some stage of development. If he is healthy, cheerful and cheerful, grows and develops, then this is a temporary phenomenon.
Offer new meat dishes and don't insist. Many of those who did not eat meat as children grew up to eat all foods. And your little one will start too!
Photo - photobank Lori