My six year old has always been a picky eater. 

But I fear it’s getting worse.

If it were up to her, she’d have nothing but cereal and milk for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

And on many occasions, she has.

At least she’s eating something, I tell myself. 

And someday it will get better.

Someday she will want to sit at the dinner table and eat what I’ve prepared.

I’m not the greatest cook, I’ll admit. But I wish it were just that. Her list of once-loved foods is dwindling down to just a few. 

She doesn’t even want her beloved pizza anymore. 

It’s getting to the point where I can count on one hand the amount of items my daughter is ok with consuming, leaving me to wonder what vital nutrients she might be missing and whether there is more to her picky eating than I realize.

According to one recent study, there could be.

Last July, the Journal of Pediatrics published a study that showed kids with moderate to severe levels of selective eating (“SE” as in picky eating) could be dealing with issues of anxiety, depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and that if the picky eating becomes worse, it could be an indication of worsening mental health issues.

I’ve often wondered if my daughter’s ADHD had anything to do with her picky eating and the authors of the study caution doctors to keep a look out for symptoms of abnormal selective eating in their child patients. 

“SE associated with impairment in function should now be diagnosed as avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, an eating disorder that encapsulates maladaptive food restriction, which is new to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition.”

That tells me enough to bring up the topic with the doctor at our next visit.

And what about any nutrients my daughter might be missing due to her selective eating? Should I be concerned? My daughter is on the skinny side, but her energy levels seem normal. But what about any long term consequences of not eating a well rounded diet?

I probably should mention as this point, that I am a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and have tried EVERYTHING to get my daughter to eat healthy. She’s like the princess in the childhood fairytale, the Princess and the Pea. She’s so sensitive and so attuned, that I can’t fool her with the least bit of anything remotely healthy in her food. Sprinkle some nutritional yeast on her popcorn and she will throw the bowl in your face; try and hide some zucchini in a double fudge chocolate muffin and she’ll sniff it out from miles away; blend some cauliflower into mashed potatoes and she won’t come near me for weeks.

So I give in and pour her another bowl of cereal.

Which makes this next story all the more painful.

One morning, as I was preparing her favourite meal, one of the cat treats got into her bowl by accident and when it hit her mouth, she wailed and spent the next hour gagging (as any one of us would I guess). But knowing how sensitive she is to taste, I can only imagine what horrors befell her tastebuds. 

On the upside, she ate a pint of strawberries as I told her they would work in removing the awful after taste.

And they finally did, thank god.

Not that I’m recommending you slip a cat treat into your picky child’s cereal the next time you’d like them to receive their daily recommended amount of vitamin C, but I have to admit, I did do a little happy dance that day. 

What Kind of Nutrition Do School-Aged Children Need?

What I learned in nutrition school was that though physical growth is slower in kids aged four to twelve, mental growth is happening a rapid rate, making receiving the proper nutrients all the more important.

According to Staying Healthy with Nutrition, children ages four to eight require 75 mg of vitamin C daily along with many more vitamins and minerals.

There’s about 7.1 mg of vitamin C in a medium sized strawberry.

How do I get my daughter to fulfill her daily nutrient requirements to strengthen a mind already affected by mental health issues? (Note: Moms that sell vitamins, DO NOT CONTACT ME.) She won’t even take vitamin gummies that taste like candy. She just knows they are loaded with fruits and vegetables.

Even though, as I’ve said, I’ve tried everything, sometimes, my efforts do pay off and I take my wins where I can. Here’s a list of what I do that might help you if you’re facing a similar situation:

Five Top Tips to Get My Picky Eater (and maybe yours) to Eat Fruits and Veggies

1. Put it out and back off.

I really should do this everyday, but you know... parenting. But when I do remember, it usually always results in at least one item being consumed. I’m talking about your classic fruit and veggie tray. I bought a round fruit and veggie plastic tupperware with a snap lid from Walmart for $10 and it’s great because I can cut up some colourful veggies, throw them in the tupperware, snap the lid on and keep it in the fridge for the week. If I remember to do this, I will take it out after school each day and leave it on the kitchen table. I put it out and then I back off. I don’t say a word and low and behold I’ll see my daughter, on her own, (I think that’s the key - empower her), come over and grab a couple pepper slices and carrot sticks.

2. Zero in on what they like.

My daughter likes strawberries and broccoli so that’s what I offer her and sometimes she surprises me with a “sure, I’ll have some” response. I’ll offer her other fruits and veggies but she always comes back to those two so I always make sure to have them on hand for those rare times she has a craving.

3. Play games.

Not head games, but imaginary games and if she’s in the mood, sometimes it works. We have this thing where I’ll come over to where she’s sitting with some orange slices and pretend to be the voices of the oranges competing with each other over who gets to be eaten first. “Me! Me! Pick me! I bet she’ll pick me first!” I say in a variety of impressions. She seems to like this on occasion and play along and eat some.

4. Tell the neighbours.

Monkey see, monkey do. I found that if my daughter goes over her friends’ houses, she’ll eat the fruit and veggies their parents put out and do so happily. So I happily inform my neighbours and other parents that if they could put out fruit and veggies at snack time whenever my daughter is over, I’d really appreciate it since that might be the only time she gets healthy food in her that week. 

5. Bribe. Bribe. Bribe.

The experts say not to do it, but when all else fails, I resort to bribing. “Eat a few of these and I'll let you stay on the computer longer.” It’s not like it works all the time, but if it does, I’m happy to reward her with a treat for some health eating. Don’t we do that for ourselves after all?

Bottom line, you know your child best and what works. And I'm curious, what does work for you?

Patricia Tomasi is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post Canada. Visit her website at www.outoftheblueppd.com.