This episode is for anyone out there whose child really isn’t keen on fish and is looking for ways to encourage them to explore and maybe accept more fish in their diet. I have called the episode how to get my child to eat fish, because that is a question that gets searched a lot online, but I need to start the episode by putting in two caveats.

Firstly, we don’t get our kids to eat anything. Pressure to eat, sneaking foods in without permission and trickery or bribery all are proven to have the opposite effect long term. What we can do is provide opportunities for our kids to safely explore or come into contact with foods they are not sure about so they can build their familiarity. So most of these ideas are going to be about ways to put fish in front of your child in non pressured ways to build up their confidence, but we have to remember that it’s ok if they don’t eat the fish, the end goal is not the bite of fish, but instead the feeling of safety and curiosity when fish is on the table.

The second caveat is that no one has to eat fish. Vegetarians and vegans can have incredibly healthy well balanced diets with no fish in them, I will link in the shownotes to a couple of episodes about plant based eating and about supplements for children which goes into that in more detail. But your child can get all the nutrients they need from other foods if you’re thoughtful about it. So if your child never decides they like fish, or they have a genuine and lasting aversion, or your family doesn’t eat much of it, you don’t have to force this issue and you can make up for it in other ways. Nothing should ever be forced or pressured.

But this episode assumes that you’re a household that eats fish and that you want to find some child friendly ways to give your child chances to try fish so they can join in with more fishy family meals. So on that basis here are some ideas, I will link to some recipes in the shownotes too of some of these examples but they are more to help you think about starting points so you can meet your child whereever they are at right now.

Links in this episode:

Food chaining episode: https://thefoodies.org/ffk75

Plant based diets: https://thefoodies.org/ffk64

Supplements for kids: https://thefoodies.org/ffk77

Links for recipes are in the shownotes at https://thefoodies.org/ffk83

Music "Happy Days" by Simon Folwar via Uppbeat