Think about how you’re serving your meals. If you’re plating up meals for your child, try presenting them with very small portions and allow them to come back for more if they want or need it. By serving smaller portions, anything that isn’t put on the plates can be stored in the fridge or freezer for another meal.

Another great way to serve meals is to allow your children to help themselves. 

When I suggest this to parents, there’s sometimes a concern that they’ll take too much and get carried away. And that can happen when you first serve this way or with very young children but it does get better as they get used to it. 

Young children may need some support getting the right amount on the spoon and to their plate and all children will benefit from some gentle discussion around how to serve themselves.

Talk to your children about considering how much they can eat and only taking that amount to help them to learn control. 

It’s useful for them to regularly hear that it’s good to start with a small amount and that they can always go back for more once they’ve finished and if they can eat it.

Remind them that the food is for all to share.

Talk to them in a calm way about how food waste makes you feel and the impact wasting food has so that they learn to understand why it’s important to you.