{"id":2602,"date":"2016-08-18T21:25:32","date_gmt":"2016-08-19T01:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parenttraining.chip.uconn.edu\/?page_id=2602"},"modified":"2026-01-27T15:50:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T20:50:04","slug":"keep-a-food-diary","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/parenttraining.chip.uconn.edu\/index.php\/keep-a-food-diary\/","title":{"rendered":"Keep A Food Diary"},"content":{"rendered":"

While you\u2019re working on making mealtimes more pleasant, focus on your child\u2019s eating habits to better understand what he likes. You should do this before you start trying to expand the foods he will eat.<\/p>\n

What information will you need? What should you keep track of, before you get started? We suggest that you keep a food diary for at least a week or two. Do this before you start to work on expanding the foods your child will eat. Keeping a food diary means that at each meal and snack, you write down everything your child eats, and about how much. You also write down the things he refuses. For example, you might write that for breakfast on a certain day, he ate: a cup of cheerios with half a glass of milk (about 4 oz.) and half of an apple cut up. Or you might write that for lunch on a certain day, he ate a sandwich with two pieces of whole wheat bread, one slice of bologna, and two slices of cheese. Or one jar of baby applesauce and one-half cup of rice baby food. You should also write down any foods that your child refuses. For example, you might write that he refused avocado, rice pudding and cherry yogurt.<\/p>\n

Keeping a food diary will help you to see if there are any patterns in which your child will and won’t eat.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here is an example of a typical page from a food diary:<\/p>\n

\"food<\/a><\/p>\n

Look for Patterns In Your Child’s Eating Habits\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Keeping a food diary like this will help you to see if there are any patterns in what your child will and won\u2019t eat. For example, some children refuse foods with specific textures. This might be things that are crunchy and hard, or things that are mushy and soft. Some children refuse foods that are hot or cold, liking food at room temperature. Some children like foods with strong flavors, like salt or spice. Others will eat only bland foods without strong flavors, like rice, crackers or potatoes. Most children like sweet foods. Some children prefer salty treats, like potato chips, corn chips or popcorn. Many children have a strict set of rules about the foods they will and will not eat. Here are some examples that may or may not sound familiar to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Examples of \u201cRules\u201d about Food:<\/strong><\/p>\n