FEATURE/Sodexho Marriott Services Offers Tips to Help Parents Handle Finicky Children During Mealtime.

GAITHERSBURG, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE FEATURES)--Sept. 9, 1999--

so you plead with your child to just try the foods you prepare for dinner? Well if you're like millions of other parents, dinnertime can be a two-hour ordeal, often ending in tears.

Ev Beliveau, a registered dietician and coordinator of school nutrition and menu development for Sodexho Marriott Services, has these tips for parents of finicky eaters:

1. Have your child checked by a doctor. At times, an underlying

illness may cause your child not to eat.

2. Serve smaller servings. Large portions may be overwhelming

or unappetizing.

3. Serve vegetables as finger foods. Your children are more likely

to eat veggies if they're served as snacks with a variety of

low-fat dipping sauces.

4. Monitor your child's food intake. This is important information

you will need to share with your child's pediatrician if their

growth patterns begin to decline or they exhibit signs of a food

allergy.

5. Enlist your child's help at mealtime. Children are more likely to

eat meals they help create, so have them help you shop for

groceries, plan the menu and prepare dinner.

6. Expose children to new foods. This will make your child more

likely to try new foods as an adult. If they don't like a certain

food, serve it again and remind them that tastes change.

7. Don't cater to picky eaters. If your child doesn't eat the meal

you prepare and is hungry later, offer to fix leftovers or a

healthy snack. Don't prepare a special meal or give in to

demands.

8. Buy only foods you want your child to eat. Children are more

likely to eat foods they help choose. Do let them select from a

variety of health foods you offer.

9. Don't bribe your child to eat. Don't use food as a reward or

punishment. Instead, encourage your child to participate in

family mealtime and have them try a "no, thank you" or "try me"

bite, and then eat the rest of what they do like.

10. Make meals enjoyable and pleasant. Mealtime is a very social

time. Children who like talking with their family at the dinner

table are likely to eat with fewer complaints.

"Children need guidance when choosing their foods," said Beliveau. Parents can use the Food Guide Pyramid to increase the variety of healthy foods their children can choose from, and to ensure that these choices are representative of all food groups and contain the calories and nutrients needed for energy and proper growth. "And don't forget exercise," Beliveau added. "Because balancing good nutrition with exercise is essential to building a healthy mind and body," Beliveau added.

Sodexho Marriott School Services is a division of Sodexho Marriott Services, Inc. (NYSE: SDH), and is the largest provider of outsourced food services, grounds keeping, building operations and maintenance, and integrated facilities management to the schools industry. Sodexho Marriott serves approximately one million meals and cares for nearly 56 million square feet of schools each day.