I'm hungry! I'm not hungry! I hate that! Can I have a snack? Food is at the center of many arguments. Most often parents and children are operating under separate agendas when it comes to food. We can do many things to stop the problems and make mealtime more pleasant.

1. Three Square Meals?

Children bum up a lot of energy in activity and growing. They really need to re-fuel every two to three hours. Sticking to a three meal schedule sometimes puts five or more hours between meals. Hungry kids are fussy kids! It's good to plan snacks between meals. It's even better to create a "snack cabinet" full of healthy choices and let the kids eat when they're hungry. If this idea is new to your family be prepared for the kids to overdo it at first. Eventually they will learn to listen to their body signals.

2. When's Dinner?

A great way to encourage your kids to eat dinner is to move the dinner hour to an earlier time. Usually, kids are hungry right after school. If you can move dinner to four o'clock the kids will eat! If you don't want to eat that early, don't. Feed the children separately and let them join you at the table later for conversation and dessert. An alternate choice is to serve an appetizer or part of the meal early to tide them over until dinner time. It's good to try and make your dinner time family time Insha Allah this will help build unity in the family.

3. Yuk!

Do you have a picky eater? Instead of fighting over every meal make a few small changes. Keep in mind that most kids avoid anything that looks different or too complex. They tend to like simple, familiar foods. So, try and make simple things and gradually introduce new foods to your child. Also implement the manners: of if the Prophet was even food he never refuse it but if he wanted it he would eat it and if he didn't want it he would leave it, without making a bad comment about it. If you let your child practice phrases horrible words to describe foods that they don't like or want to eat, it mostly likely that they will do it outside of the home. Also if it's the only food you have explain this is what Allah has provided for you to eat today, so we should be grateful to Him for it. Because he could have written: Today, we will not have any provision. Encourage gratefulness to Allah for whatever it is He has provided for him/her, no matter how little/what it is. Don't expect your child to clear his plate, or to like everything you serve, especially younger children. On the other hand, don't turn into Chef of the Day. "You may eat what's on your plate, or you may not eat or offer toast" Once the novelty wears off your child won't eat toast every night or like to stay hunger! Insha Allah sometimes we have to stick to our comments in order for things to work

4. Relax!

The more focus and attention you place on food, the more of a battle ground it will become. Your job is to offer healthy choices for meals and snacks, not to monitor every single bite! Add a daily vitamin for good measure. And as long as your child's height and weight are in the normal range - stop the worry. And trust in Allah that everything will be okay Insha Allah.