AU REVOIR FUSSY EATERS!

While it’s long been known French women don’t get fat, did you know their children are also connoisseurs, eating wholesome and nutritious foods.

Thanks to Marie-France Laval, an accomplished Counsellor, Dietitian and Nutritionist and mother of three, mums everywhere are learning the tools to combat fussy eating and create a home environment conducive to stress-free dinner tables and nutritiously filled tummies.

“In France children eat with the rest of the family and do not have special meals prepared just for them. Children are able to choose what and how much they eat from the food prepared. Mealtimes are punctuated with conversation between parents and children.  There is no pressure on the child to eat certain foods, or quantities of food” she said.

“In Australia, feeding often becomes a battleground for parents of children who display fussy eating behaviours. Instead of enjoying mealtimes as a family sharing well-prepared and nutritious foods and relishing each other’s company, mealtimes become stressful occasions. Parents worry that their children are not eating the right foods or enough food to stay healthy. Untreated fussy eating can lead to the child developing a poor relationship with food that can last a lifetime, and cause malnutrition in some extreme cases ”.

 “Since moving to Australia, I have become very conscious that Australian culture around food and eating is not conducive to developing healthy and nutritious eating habits in children who display classic signs of fussy eating. I believe early intervention and the application of professional assistance to introduce a new family culture around the preparation, service and eating of daily meals, can make an enormous difference to a child’s future.”

According to the Victorian Government website ‘Better Health Channel’ (www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au), eight out of ten Australian parents are concerned about their child’s eating habits. 

With levels of childhood obesity in Australia increasing at alarming rates, the need for children to form a healthy relationship with food, has never been more evident.

Eating habits are formed early in childhood and last a lifetime. To ensure a child understands their need for a variety of nutritious foods in the quantity their body needs for a healthy lifestyle, a good relationship with food and eating needs to be established as early as possible.

Drawing on her French heritage, Marie-France has created both in-home and online programs tailored specifically to assist parents of fussy eaters to change their child’s behaviours to ensure they eat a greater variety and more nutritious food so that mealtimes become a pleasure, rather than a battle. These programs:

• Educate parents on the long-term issues associated with fussy eating
• Provide practical solutions to combat behavioural issues towards food
• Enhance the enjoyment of meals for all family members
• Streamline meal and preparation time
• Improve cooking and eating skills

Marie-France said, “Every parent has the ability to transform the way their child views food, and through early intervention, the effects of a positive association with food will last a lifetime.”

Marie-France is available for speaking engagements, radio and television interviews, cooking demonstrations and counselling.