Getting Protein in Child’s Diet

If you are a lucky parent, you’ve got a child who will eat most anything you put in front of them, or at the very least they will try most things and eat a good variety of foods. For the rest of us that are stuck with picky eaters, that’s how it goes. For whatever reason, kids are all over the place in terms of what they like and what they don’t. Trying to feed a picky eater can be a real challenge sometimes - you may have to get creative.

Just because you feed your child a variety of foods when they’re younger doesn’t mean that they’ll grow up as a good eater. Generally, younger kids will at least try a large variety of foods and may eat a lot of different foods. However, at some point they’ll start to become very picky about what foods they like and don’t like. While they may have gladly eaten a food before, they will suddenly go nowhere near that food now. Kids taste buds are constantly changing, and they may have had a negative experience with a specific food. Whatever the case may be, they no longer like some foods they used to.

Of course, the foods that they no longer like are generally the healthiest choices. They still like pizza, chips, and all of the other unhealthy junk food. Vegetables, meats, and fruits are no longer an option though. Generally, kids will still like a food or two from each of these areas, but it will be quite limited.

In order to help your child get enough protein, you may have to get creative. This means that you may be trying some new recipes and mixing things together that you hadn’t previously thought of. Below is a list of several ideas that you can try that may or may not work for you depending on what your child will actually eat.

• Cream cheese, cottage cheese, ricotta, or other dairy based products. These items are generally higher in protein and are a good way to get it into your child’s diet. Spreading cream cheese on a bagel, adding a little pudding to cottage cheese, or mixing ricotta with a little sugar may be ways that your child will eat these items. You can also pair them with fruit if there’s a fruit that your child likes.
• Greek yogurt is one of the best options for a protein packed snack. You can mix many different things with greek yogurt - fruit, a natural sweetener, or even just eat it plain. Ultimately, greek yogurt is a great option if your child will eat it.
• Protein powder mixed in with other foods. You don’t need to mix a ton of protein powder into a meal to add a bit of protein. Trying to add a full scoop of protein powder is often a great way for your child to not enjoy the food at all. Adding a tablespoon of unflavored protein powder to mashed potatoes, or adding vanilla flavored protein powder to yogurt are a couple of ways to mix it in. Make sure you try this out before giving it to your child though because unmixed/dry protein powder can sometimes make things too worse, especially if you add too much.

• Protein based shakes. There are a ton of options out there for protein powder shakes - one of our favorites is a banana peanut butter spinach shake. You may have to find a recipe that your child likes, but it could be really easy for them to enjoy as well. You could also buy pre-made protein drinks at the store if that’s what your child will drink.

Getting protein in your child’s diet can definitely be challenging when they’re a picky eater. However, it doesn’t have to be impossible. Also, you’re not trying to get them tons and tons of protein. If you’re truly concerned about their protein intake, then make sure you talk to your doctor about how much they really need.

Picky eaters are common among children. Do your best to help them try new things and at some point they may start to enjoy more foods. Until then, finding unique ways to get them enough protein may be your only choice.