Fussy Eating

OLAMIDE is my son and I am in a position to confess that he has never given me any cause for concern as a youngster in his growing up years, except in one department.

When it comes to choosing what he wants to eat at any point in time, he becomes quite fuzzy and choosy. What you think he should like, like the other members of the family, never catches his fancy.

Our dining table is always a war zone trying to get our “baby” to at least sample what the mother has laboured to provide. Many times, we won the war after persuasion; some other times, we lost the battle.

How can somebody prefer to have garri when he has plates of assorted and sumptuous varieties of food in his presence? Honestly, it beats me hollow.

Finicky eating is fast becoming a problem with a lot of people, especially, ill-advised ladies, who desire to have a body like that of Genevieve Nnaji (not knowing what the elegant lady has done to achieve the feat).

And it is, indeed, very worrisome when you know that these people go out of their ways to contrive the situation.

Our pets also show the same trait. More or less, however, they are motivated to do this by their environment, even though there can be a natural tendency to want to skip an occasional meal without suffering anything worse than hunger pangs.

At other times, it can be a question of palatability of the meal provided.

I am very concerned with this development, as a lot of pet owners inundate me with it these days.

So, the matter is: What foot are we really putting wrongly? Whichever one it is, the following can proffer some answers.
Do you beg your dog?

Sometimes, some owners carry the love of their pet too far to an extent that they beg them to eat.

If I were a dog or cat and my owner got on his hands and knees and begged me to eat, I would simply realise the entertainment value of the scene and could always look forward to it before eating. I would begin to delay my feeding until I am begged.

So, instead of pleading, just put down his food and walk away. He will learn to eat without the drama.
Limit the table time

When a pet knows that the food is always available anytime he wants it, he feels there is no need to rush and then chooses when to take his/her bites.

It has been found that most finicky eaters usually have food available all the time.

However, when you change the rhythm and limit food presence to about an hour, he/she soon realises that it is either you eat or go hungry for a while.
Scrap the scrap

Human foods can be very delicious treats to pets and most of the time they look forward to eating them.