involve them 1 Involve them in the preparation of a meal, for example, get them to help you gather ingredients, put a salad together, give them easy tasks like stirring cake mixture, or licking the bowl clean afterwards!

The need to know... 2 Tell them what they�re eating

Snacks 3 Snacks are meals � small meals to fill a gap before lunch and dinner. To avoid life-long bad habits and possible weight problems later, get your child into the habit of sitting at the table or in the highchair or pram to eat.

Nutrition 4 Try to make each snack as nutritious as possible just in case they have no desire to eat their main meals.

Taste Buds 5 Give them whatever�s going to sophisticate their taste buds early � you may have to modify the adult meal (i.e. remove the chilli) but it will save you time and avoid the pitfall of making different meals every night.

Sit down 6 Try to sit down and eat something with them.

Relax 7 Don�t get uptight when they don�t eat, they�ll usually eat at the next meal when they�re hungry again. An average child won�t starve itself to death.

Things to avoid 8 Avoid egg whites, nuts and strawberries before your child has turned 12 months � they are high-risk allergens.

Protein 9 When they�re ready to eat protein (approx 9 months) introduce fish into their diet. It�s packed full of nutrients and will help develop brain and nerve function. Avoid shellfish in the first 2 years.

Keep them interested 10 If they get bored eating something they loved for a week, take it away and reintroduce it again a few weeks later.

Something different 11 Try different cooking methods and flavouring.

Easy to eat 12 Think about how to prepare foods that kids can handle easily or is fun to eat I.e. mini burgers, spaghetti, baby bocconcini

Packaged foods 13 There�s no escaping the lollies and chips and other packaged products your child will be subjected to, but try to minimize the amount of processed sugar in the diet early on in their life � once hooked it�s hard to get them off it.