toledoblade.com --

Last month while traveling, I needed a quick breakfast. I looked for an airport kiosk that was selling milk, but there was none to be found. What do parents do when traveling with children? I wondered about the limited beverages options for children too young to drink coffee, energy drinks, and soft drinks.

If they can't find milk, they drink water.

Last summer, Mintel Menu Insights, which tracks restaurant menu trends, reported that the average kids' menu doesn't offer enough variety or healthy food even as parents, kids, and chefs request better options. When analyzing kids' menus from 2005 to the present, it was noted that the same foods are repeated year after year. Chicken fingers account for 10 per cent of kids' menu items, followed by grilled cheese sandwiches, mac & cheese, and burgers. But children are open to fruits, veggies, and healthier versions of standard fare. Parents can order a la carte for kids and build a better meal.

In My Two-Year-Old Eats Octopus: Raising Children Who Love to Eat Everything author Nancy Tringali Piho (Bull Publishing, $16.95) presents the idea that just about any child can be taught to prefer healthful, fresh "real" foods, over more standard American "kid fare."

Mrs. Piho, who has two small children, has spent her entire professional career in the food industry. She saw the disparity between what children eat and what people think they should eat.

She thinks that breast feeding infants is part of the big picture. "Looking back, I've watched his little palate develop," she said of her 2 1/2-year-old. "Monnell [Chemical Senses Center] conducted studies that things like breast milk influence a baby's palate." The mother's diet is the first stage in the long process of how humans learn about new dietary flavors.

What we feed infants and the flavors we expose them to in their earlier days influence food acceptance patterns when they are toddlers and young children.

Mrs. Piho interviewed more than 60 chefs, all of whom had children.

Chef Bob Waggoner of Charleston Grill in Charleston, S.C., shared the first foods he used to prepare for his daughter. For vegetables such as carrots, zucchini, or sugar snap peas, saute a washed handful on the stove with a little bit of olive oil. Add a tablespoon or two of water or chicken stock and cook until veggies are soft, about five to seven minutes. Let them cool and transfer to a blender or food processor to puree adding more water or chicken stock as needed.

During the toddler years, lay the groundwork for an adventuresome palate. You don't want too many sauced dishes because the textures are too similar. Prepare meals as a whole with foods that complement each other. Pair a taste of a strong-flavored vegetable with a mild starch. Soon the child will learn that foods have different flavors, some of which he or she likes better than others.

There will be culinary rough spots. Escort the toddler through this as quickly as possible with encouragement. What and how you say it, and what others say, can make all the difference in the world when it comes to kids eating well, she writes.

Some parents use the "two bites required" rule. Not every meal will be the child's favorite, but he or she will learn to try foods and eventually grow to like many.

Cut down on the use of added condiments such as ketchup, which add unnecessary sugars and calories and may have flavors that mask the taste of the food. Preschoolers usually like cinnamon toast, fresh salsa in place of ketchup, and even chopped fresh herbs to add flavor to foods.

Soon you'll be going to all types of restaurants with your child. But that still doesn't solve the problem of finding milk in airports.

Kathie Smith is The Blade's food editor.

Contact her at:
food@theblade.com
or 419-724-6155.