Fish is a healthy food, which provides necessary nutrients such as minerals and fatty acids of the Omega 3 series. It is also rich in protein and vitamins, but ... for many children these arguments do not have enough weight.
What can parents do to get our children to accept such valuable food? The thorns, an unattractive taste, and routine cooking and presentation, are the 'weapons' that the little ones wield in order to justify their rejection.
Who is right?
Childhood is a stage of life in which establishing a balanced diet and health becomes very important, bad habits can have repercussions on future health. It is a topic we have talked about before in Peques and Más.
As we grow we are able to overcome food prejudices, and our interest in (almost) unknown foods may increase. But Now that we are parents, we care that our children receive the necessary contributions.
However, forcing children to eat a certain food, the only thing we will achieve is to increase rejection, also imagine that someone will force you to eat something you don't like!
If we can understand why children don't like fish, on the one hand we can be more understanding, and on the other hand find the motivation to vary the way we prepare it.
The fish has thorns and if we do not remove them completely we are ensuring failure, but it also has scales that are not always washed, nor are they pleasant to the palate.
Change the way you prepare the fish!
I am not in favor of 'hide' food to hide the taste and 'eat' without knowing 'what they are eating'. If we mix abundantly sauces with fish crumbs, in an attempt that the child finally finishes the dish, in addition to being deceiving him, we also prevent them from learning (even slowly) appreciate the authentic taste of food.
And yet, we can strive to learn and innovate in our kitchen so that the whole family ends up discovering the virtues of fish, and even more ... because sure we are improving the taste and we all win.
You know We can prepare the roasted, stewed, fried, sauteed, boiled fish. And we can season with spices, lemon, bay leaf or aromatic herbs, how delicious, right?
It is not necessary for children to see funny dishes, but varied and with elements that give them another color: vegetables, legumes, hard boiled egg.
Another useful tip: whenever possible let them stay with you in the kitchen: while they chop the carrot or set the table, we can explain the benefits of fish in our health.
It is not the same to 'hide' than to take advantage of the fish for other better known dishes: pizza with mackerel, salad with whiting, cod croquettes. What is there to eat ?, soup with sautéed beans and hake, it is not so bad right?
Beware of intolerances
Sometimes the body warns us that something is not doing well, as parents we will know if a child does not eat fish because he does not like it or because he rejects it based on some previous experience or discomfort that produces. Intolerances and allergies are something very serious, we want children to consume fish, but not at the cost of health, and not at the cost of achieving the goal in a short time.
The consumption of fish is necessary for the diet, it is a protein food, which usually has less fat than meat. In addition, blue fish contains essential acids that are not present in any other type of food. I know that there is some controversy about the presence of mercury in marine organisms, so it is necessary to find a balance and inform us (the larger and fatty the animal, the more accumulated metal).
Nutritionists say that children should eat fish three or four times a week, Do we have it in our homes?. In addition to knowledge, we may need a lot of patience, although we certainly have it, especially if we set specific goals and not impossible to meet (example 'we have a child who rejects fish 100% and we want them to eat in two months your dish on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays', it won't work, sure).
