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How to make food interesting for a fussy eater?

Dr Vidya Gupta
Consultant Paediatrician & Neonatologist,
Indraprastha Apollo Hospital,
New Delhi

Q: My daughter is an extremely fussy eater and tends to have regular bouts of cough and cold. She is about to be three but looks like a two-year-old. She is extremely thin and looks frail all the time. Please suggest me a vegetarian weight gain diet chart for her and tips so that she can gain weight and look like her age. Please help.

A:Her weight and height are within the acceptable range. If she is a fussy eater we need to make her food more interesting. Try bite sized foods she can pick up and eat herself like small bits of paneer, french fries or small pieces of soyabean nuggets. Try and fix meal times, 3 meals a day and no food for at least 3 hours before meal times. Try offering a dessert at the end of the meal as often children look forward to eating something sweet if that is what they enjoy. You can make food more nutritious by adding cooked dal and paneer or soya flour to the dough when you make rotis. Rice can be made interesting also by adding a variety of flavours.