“I don’t want to be a freak about it, so that they just want to get their hands on it at all costs.”

I went to a five-year-old birthday party the other day and counted 12 out of 16 children under the age of seven drinking Coke.

When I insisted my son, also five, will be fine with juice, many parents asked me how I manage to get away with that at home with zero tantrums.

Simple. I don’t buy fizzy drinks.

I know right? It’s groundbreaking stuff. But it seems I’m not the only one who uses this simple philosophy to help combat my children consuming copious amounts of junk food and sugary drinks.

Speaking to People magazine, actress Jennifer Garner reveals she also abstains from buying unhealthy food to stop her children asking for it.

Tips for fussy eaters 110233 Tips for fussy eaters

"We don't have it in the house"

While she doesn’t completely ban it, the star reveals she is “pretty strict” when it comes to letting her children Violet, 12, Seraphina, 9, and Samuel, 6, eat junk food.

“I’m not worried so much about junk food, because we don’t have it in the house—although I don’t want to be a freak about it, so that they just want to get their hands on it at all costs,” she told the US publication.

Jen, also the co-founder of organic baby food range Once Upon A Farm, is passionate about giving our children the healthiest snacks.

“It’s more that you just want to make sure they’re getting a rainbow of flavors and of foods,” she adds.

Jen is passionate about all things children. Image: Getty

Convincing your children to eat healthy

I know, I know. Getting a child (particularly a preschooler) to eat a healthy variety of food is easier said than done, but Jen says, aside from just buying the good stuff, one thing did work on her own children.

“I think growing your own food helps,” she reveals. “When I was a kid, I didn’t like tomatoes, but then my mum grew cherry tomatoes, and if I picked them straight off the vine, they tasted so good.”

The same thing happened with her daughter Violet.

“My oldest didn’t like blueberries until we had blueberry bushes. Now in blueberry season we take colanders down every night and they bring their friends over and we pick,” she adds.

Do you have any tips and tricks for parents of fussy eaters? Share them in the comments – we’d love to hear them.