Here we don't stress over it either. I have some very picky eaters and others that would literally eat me out of house and home. I do tend to 'cave' some afternoons though and offer a little something before snack for those who refused to eat any lunch (only healthy choices though) and only because I would hate to think someone was going hungry. Our dr. has always told us, kids eat when they are hungry and to never make food/eating a battle as it only leads to major eating issues later in life. I had one Mom who said her child would only eat hot dogs and that I was to serve it everyday or else he wouldn't eat. Well...I DON'T serve hot dogs ever to my daycare kiddos so her child quickly learned to at least try new foods or go hungry (he was 4 when he came to me). She was shocked at all the 'new' foods he WOULD eat and ask for seconds of. Sometimes I think its the parents always giving in because they don't want to battle with their child after not seeing them all day/week etc.

I also don't force anyone to eat anything. They are encouraged to try but if they outright refuse then the issue is dropped. We have a time limit also. We don't sit at the table for hours waiting for little "D" to finish their meal. When everyone else is finished lunch/snack time is over. I stay away from most processed foods and usually give larger portions of the fruits and veggies. I only have one at the moment who would sit there for hours with her mouth clamped shut lol.

One trick I found with a little guy I used to have was to make meal time 'fun' per se. We had lots of picnics (lunch outside is always the best, or we would make a picnic in the playroom) He would eat way more when he wasn't confined to the chair at the table. I also use cutters to make the food shaped like things too and he would eat more that way too. If his sandwich was shaped like an airplane he would eat the whole thing. If it was just cut up wouldn't touch it.