How to Encourage Picky Eaters to Try New Foods

Tips to Introduce Different Foods into Meals for Children

Oct 19, 2009

It can be difficult to ensure that your children are healthy while eating foods they enjoy. Adding some fun to meals can reduce your stress while your kids try new foods.

It is a constant joy to experience all of your child’s accomplishments. In the early years, mealtimes can offer many of these opportunities. From the first bites until the time your child can feed herself -- these experiences can be exciting. But as your child grows, mealtimes can lose some of the joy and become a time of frustration and worry.

This is because children will often develop a few favorites and begin to avoid new foods. While this is normal, there are a few tips to bring some excitement back into mealtime while encouraging picky eater to try new foods. Being a picky eater is not a problem and being a discriminate eater can be a positive attribute as long as the child receives the appropriate amount of daily nutrition.

These tips are not meant to change a child's preferences, only to ease the introduction of and improve the attitude towards new foods, particularly from the ages of two to six.

Start New Foods Early

Because of possible food allergies, it is important to wait to try many new foods. It is important to follow the instructions of doctors, but variety is possible before the child is two years old. A great time to start is while pregnant. Remember that the child eats what her mother eats. Eating a wide range of fruits and vegetables begins a strong foundation for your child after she is born.

Bring Fun into Meal Prep

Using meal prep can be fun and help to ease new foods into a child’s diet. Talk about the food, let the child hold it, and help prepare the food in some way. Mixing ingredients by hand is a great activity to share and makes the new food fun. By making the interactions enjoyable, it is possible to remove a lot of the doubt or fear that could come with trying a new food.

Set a Healthy Example

If the parents don’t like a particular food, it might not be available in the house. Avoiding foods can make introducing new foods to children more difficult at older ages. What the parents eat plays a role in what the children will eat. If the parents are willing to try a new food (or ones they dislike) there is a better chance that the children will eat the food.

Siblings and Peers are Also Good Examples

Another source of information comes from siblings and peers. An older brother or sister that tries the new food may help ease the experience for the younger child. Having a small meal or party with the child’s friends is another good method to introducing a new food. One adventurous child can encourage everyone to try the new food with only a little adult support, if needed at all.

Combining a favorite food with a new food can also be very effective. Broccoli on pizza, mushrooms on a burger, zucchini on spaghetti and sauce are just a few examples. The only limit is your willingness and imagination.

Remember to have fun. Enjoy the meal, the conversations, and the time with your child. Meals are the time to relax from your day. Adding fun into the preparation of meals can help increase the food variety for the children. Using these tips will help add the interest in food needed to explore new taste sensations in the future.

The copyright of the article How to Encourage Picky Eaters to Try New Foods in Balancing Meals is owned by Christopher Clayton. Permission to republish How to Encourage Picky Eaters to Try New Foods in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.