Easy solutions for tiffin tantrums

You often find your little one bringing back home the tiffin box you had packed in the morning, without even eating a single bite. Food tantrum, especially ‘tiffin tantrum’ is common among kids.

And while thinking about remedies to tackle this can give you sleepless nights, a little planning in advance, can help you sort this. Below mentioned are some of the easy solutions to this:
• Plan a wholesome tiffin for your child. It should have cereal, fruits/vegetables or chicken/egg, and one of his/her favourite items. For eg, chicken sandwich and a small chocolate or vegetable idly and potato wafers. This way the tiffin is well balanced and has a little of what he/she should have and a little of what he/she wants to have.
• Involve your child in planning lunch box. You can give her/him three healthy lunch options and let her/him pick one.
• Evaluate the expectations about tiffin. If you are expecting your child to have the same healthy lunchbox filled with protein and vitamin, every single day of the week, throughout the month, there will be nothing less than a power struggle. Also, if your child wants to have only junks for tiffin, it is not going to work. Thus, have a discussion with your little one and set the expectation straight, right at the beginning.
• A little creativity can go a long way in packing the tiffin box. For example, how about a wrap with cheese spread and lots of veggies in it, or a mixed fruit salad with dollops of honey or whipped cream in it.
• Make sandwiches or muffins in shapes of smileys that appeal to your little one.
• Children enjoy helping adults in grocery shopping, selecting what goes in their lunch box, and preparing food. It's also a chance for you to teach them about the nutritional values of different foods and how to read food labels.
• Instead of one item, pack a variety of healthy snacks in tiffin including fruits, vegetables, and whole grain snacks.
• Ensure that the food you are packing for tiffin for your little one should be in bite size. -The writer is a Dietician at Columbia Asia Referral Hospital.

By Pavithra N Raj