My boy's unhealthy meal choices

Like most moms, I have my share of hardships when it comes to feeding my child. Rap is still a picky eater even at age 10. In a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the most particular, my boy will get a perfect score. He’s afraid of trying new foods. Sadly, he being an only child makes me and my husband give in to his whims.


Rap doesn’t eat anything red and tomato-based. That means pizza, spaghetti, menudo, kaldereta, ketchup, and so on. No matter how many times I explain to him how he needs the lycopene from tomato, he still won’t have it. He doesn’t even like the smell of tomato sauce. How’s that for being fussy?

He’s not much of a veggie-eater too. The only time he will eat vegetables is when they’re fried. He will eat kangkong and spinach only when I cook them tempura-style. And how he loves fried meals! He can eat anything that’s fried everyday and it’s making me crazy. This is especially true during the time when he was still bringing home-cooked baon to school.

My boy is also a fan of instant noodles whether it be pancit canton or mami. I try to make it healthier by adding an egg. Of course, he can’t have eggs everyday unless I want him to have a heart attack by age 21, right? Plus, it’s a fact that instant noodles are loaded with preservatives. And just like any other kid, my boy loves junk food and soda. He now has an allowance and he saves money just so he can buy his favorite chichas. I’m just glad that junk food and soda are now prohibited in his school leaving him less places to buy junk food from.

I’m guilty of letting him have what he wants just to be sure that he eats his food. I tell you, he can starve himself just to avoid eating what he doesn’t want. He once skipped breakfast during an overnight Boy Scouts camping in school because the teachers served the hotdogs beside the eggs. By the way, my boy doesn’t eat hotdogs, too. He told me he’d rather starve than eat a “hotdog-marked fried egg.”

Such is my dilemma. I want Rap to have healthy food that will give him the daily recommended energy and nutrient intake (RENI) for kids his age but, at the same time, I don’t want to force him to eat what he doesn’t like. Obviously, my boy’s favorite foods are not healthy choices. I just wish that he’ll open himself up a little more to discovering new and more nutritious foods in time.

What are your kid’s favorite meals? Are they healthy choices? I would love to read about your story.


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