Be persistent with children who are reluctant to try new foods

HAS the word ‘yuck’ ruined more than one family mealtime?

If you’re a parent, you’ve probably heard it — and every unprintable variation of it — several times because children are not shy when it comes to telling you exactly what they think of your attempt to serve up icky new food.

Four in five Irish parents say they find it hard to get their children to eat up at mealtimes, while nearly a quarter resort to bribery to get through dinnertime, according to a poll conducted by the Irish Heart Foundation as part of its ‘healthy meals without the drama’ campaign.