I know what my kids would do. They would take nothing but Jello, play with the ice cubes in their water glass for the remainder of their mealtime and then later they will lose their shit because they feel hungry.
I'm not surprised that they would, sounds like what most kids would do. That's why the buffet has to be curated, so that the easiest way out / path of least resistance isn't just "empty calories". So limit the offerings. And maybe use approaches like the Maya Method [0] to "trick" them into thinking what's commonly regarded as work or chores, to be fun. It's not easy, but it can at least be tried.
