"My kids won’t eat anything but chicken nuggets and chips"

Children are naturally fussy eaters. When you’re tired it’s all too easy to serve up a meal you know they’ll wolf down without any fuss. Before you know it, they’re surviving on a diet of chips, chicken nuggets and chocolate! Instead, why not:

• Sit down together and write a list of at least seven meals that they are happy to eat. Stick it on the fridge and look at it whenever you’re writing your shopping list.
• Encourage children to help plan family meals. Look at recipe books together and involve them in making shopping lists.
• Make mealtimes fun! Alphabetti Spaghetti, Funky Fish or Spaghetti Head, all now made with nutritious multigrain pasta, are a hit with children because they’re tasty and different. There’s no harm in them playing with their food if they’re also eating it! Continue the fun with fruit, try making shapes on plates with cut-up pieces of banana, orange or whatever you’ve got handy. A funny face always works a treat.
• Offer fussy eaters more variety, not less. Even if they refuse to eat half of it, they’ll still have a more varied diet than if you only serve up the same old meal day after day.
• Invite one of their friends round. Children are more likely to try out new things when they are eating with other people – so serve up something a little different for a change. Once your child sees a friend tucking in, they may join in too.
• Convenience foods aren’t necessarily bad for you. Always check the labels for ingredients, paying particular notice to levels of fat, sugar and salt and look out for reduced sugar and salt alternatives such as Heinz Reduced Sugar & Salt Baked Beans.