Are you guilty of child abuse? With all the evidence supporting the healthy benefits of eating fish, it seems almost like abuse not to feed your children fish on a regular basis.
Okay, maybe you don’t like fish. But you’re an adult. You’re old enough to weigh the consequences of your decision (a pain free future or crippling arthritis – choose). But a child doesn’t have the capacity to make this choice. And, knowing all the complications that could arise, it’s inconsiderate on our part to make it for them.
Enough of the guilt trip. Let’s say for a moment that you’re willing to consider the possibility of doing something about the situation. How would you go about getting your kids to eat fish?
With four children of my own, I’ve learned through personal experience that kids learn in three ways -example, example and example. They tend to do what they see us doing (that is, until they become teenagers).
So, while they’re still young, the best thing you can do is to start eating fish yourself. (You probably already knew where this was going.) If you don’t like the fishy taste then you’re not buying fresh fish, not preparing it properly or you haven’t developed the taste yet. These things are easy to fix. Here’s how.
Fresh fish seldom tastes “fishy” – that is, in the traditional sense that people complain about. I mean, fish is fish and it doesn’t taste like chicken, but it doesn’t have to taste “fishy” either. Buy the freshest fish you can find and serve it as soon as possible.
Get yourself a fish cookbook and try various recipes until you find several your family really enjoys and then just stick with those.
Many people find that it’s easier to develop a taste for fish when you start with mild tasting fish first. Although fish like salmon have the highest omega 3 fatty acids, they also have the strongest flavor. Start eating white fish like grouper or sea bass and gradually work your way up to salmon. I promise it’ll go a lot easier for you and your family.
Introducing your children to fish as early as you can also makes a difference. We started giving our kids fish oil on a spoon when they were just 6 months old. They were soon chewing the capsules (by their own choice) and now fish is one of their favorite foods. When we go out to eat, the chances are 8 out of 10 that they’ll order fish.
Okay, so your kids are older and they’ve already developed a taste for TV dinners, pot pies and pizza. No problem. That is if you’re willing to use tough love. Basically you can follow some of the same suggestions I’ve given and make sure there are no other choices for dinner. Be firm. They’ll eat when they get hungry enough.
In order to help your children live a long happy healthy life, give these suggestions a try. Research shows that fish also improves a child’s behavior and mood, so there are added benefits for you too. Believe me, you’ll be glad you taught your kids to eat fish. And maybe some day they’ll even thank you for it!
Michael Byrd
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/how-to-get-your-kids-to-eat-fish-93718.html
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
What kind of fish/seafood will your kids eat?
Not a big fan myself, but looking for something healthier than fish sticks or shrimp scampi for them to get the omega3’s.
Not a big tunafish sandwich fan myself – so wont be making that. Looking for other suggestions of what we could try. Such as a milder one – thats not so "fishy"
My kids eat salmon (I wrap it in Phyllo) and calamari (they think it’s chicken).
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My daughter grew up eating all kinds of seafood from shrimp to escargot, She liked lobster and crab as well as scallops, shark, salmon, trout.
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fish sticks
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My daughter likes lobster and crab the most. She also likes shrimp, salmon, and orangetail. Good luck!
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My 5 year old daughter will eat any seafood and ask for more – fish, shrimp, crab, lobster — even oysters….
My 2 year old son – picky, picky eater… finally told him that fish sticks were "Crabby-sticks" that Spongebob made and he gobbled them up!
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boiled snow crab maybe? you pick the meat out depending on how old they are. just reg old sauteed fish in the pan with butter and lemon juice is good. crab cakes? maybe a shrimp pizza?
any fish that’s FRESH will not have that fishy smell, that said stick with thin white fish like flounder, tilapia, or basa. things like swordfish and tuna are too thick and fishy for me also.
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My kids, like me, eat just about all of it fresh, but won’t touch anything canned.
If you want something mild, anything flaky and white would be best – catfish, flounder, tilapia, snapper. Make sure to get filets, they are usually already off the skin and the skin is what makes it taste fishy. You can do all kinds of things with fish filets – fry it, broil it, grill it, basically anything we’ve tried with chicken we’ve also tried with fish, just adjusting the cooking times.
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Atlantic salmon and other fatty, preferably cold-water fish, including herring (both Atlantic and Pacific), sardines, Atlantic halibut, bluefish, tuna, and Atlantic mackerel.Surprisingly, venison and buffalo are both good sources of omega-3s .Canola oil, flaxseed, flaxseed oil, walnuts, and leafy green vegetables such as purslane are all good sources of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), the plant-based omega-3. A quarter-cup (1 ounce) of walnuts supplies about 2 grams of plant-based omega-3 fatty acids, slightly more than is found in 3 ounces of salmon. There are also omega-3 enriched eggs
My son is 11 months soon to be a yr and he eats salmon, tuna {not from a can he eats it grilled} and trout .He also eats shrimp anyway but breaded and loves crab, crawfish, squid, clams, oysters {fried} and even cuttlefish
Walnuts are also very high in Omega 3s as is flax seed
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My 2.5 year old loves the immitation crab meat! He is picky lately and on a whim had him try it, now every time we pass the seafood center at the market he asks for crabbie. It is made of mostly white fish and it is a little sweet, I think that is why he likes it. You can serve it cold, it maked a good finger food. Good luck.
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My girls love any and all seafood. In fact, they have rather expensive taste for lobster and crab. We are also big sushi eaters. I think they especially love it because it does not taste anything like seafood or raw fish. They have eaten it since they were very young.
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