Is the old ‘starving kids in Africa’ bit, a good way to get the kids to eat their dinner?

The way my mother gave that line (it was China back then) , she made the point that it was a luxury to be able to say "I don't want food" and I ought to appreciate our position in the world, compared to others who have so little. I would say that her approach was effective -- maybe not so much in getting me to eat my spinach, but in communicating that larger appreciation.

As for being too full for the entree but hungry for dessert, there is actually a biological rationale for that: hunger and appetite are associated with two different areas of the brain.

I go for the economic argument. That spaghetti costs x amount . . if you don't eat it that's wasted labour and your daddy is minutes closer to his grave for no particular reason 😩

My father used angry intimidation to get me to eat Campbell's pea soup for lunch. He sat there across from me, while I was in tears, and gagging, and made me eat every nasty drop. He had a very scary "WAR" face, and he used it to scare me into behaving.

It never worked for me to get me to eat liver. I never swallowed one bite of it. My aunt told me one time to stick out my tongue and she put a bite of liver on it. My tongue came right back out and I yelled “Dirty Meat!”.

It's a perfect way to instill guilt in them for having something kids in Africa do not.
Setting them up for self sabotage in their later years.

My parents never used that one. They always said I looked like somebody who didn't want any dessert. Personally, I can think of a smartаss response to that now as an adult. "Well, you can send them this sһit, because I won't eat it."