Overcoming picky eating in kids

Is your child a picky eater? Do you struggle with getting your kids to eat vegetables and greens? Picky eating is common in kids aged 2 – 5, but it’s an important time for growth and teaching healthy food habits, so it’s good to have some strategies up your sleeve.

In the last decade a number of studies have tested strategies to decrease picky eating in kids. A recent study conducted in Switzerland found the child’s eating enjoyment was a central factor in picky-eating behaviour. This study found involving the child in food-related activities increased their eating enjoyment as they felt part of the process. When the parent regularly took the child shopping in specialty grocers such as a fruit and vegetable markets and explained the foods they were purchasing, this decreased their child’s fear about unknown foods. By also involving the child in age-appropriate food preparation and cooking such as preparing vegetables (i.e. taking the ends of beans off with their hands, getting them to hand a capsicum) the study found this even further normalised foods.

Research conducted by Staffordshire University in England discovered a similar finding. They found a stressful meal encounter is unlikely to stimulate a positive response from the child, plus pressure to try a food in combination with negative language or threats often leads to prolonged food fussiness. However they found continually exposing a picky-eater to new foods whilst offering positive encouragement generally leads to acceptance by the child2. The research suggested that it may take up to 15 positive experiences with the food before the child accepts it into their normal diet.

However if the child is happy to try foods, but shows an aversion to particular flavours or textures of food, consistently seeing their parents, siblings and peers consuming and enjoying the food may be the key to change their picky eating behaviours2. Research shows that young children learn to accept new foods and flavours by observing significant others rather than linguistic reasoning.

Research by Pennsylvania University also examined the impact of social influences on picky eating. They conducted a study on children who displayed ‘picky’ eating tendencies. The researchers hypothesized that children are more likely to try new foods if their parents, siblings, teachers or peers are also consuming the food at the same time and are modelling positive acceptance and enjoyment of the food. The children in the study were given food coloured yellow, green or red, at the same time an adult model was either given the same food or different coloured food. The research found that the children accepted and ate more of the ‘novel’ food if the adult was also consuming the same food and speaking about it in positive regard; supporting the theory that social influences are an important instrument in promoting acceptance of unknown foods in young children.  

Based on the above research, practical tips for parents on how to combat food fussiness:

• Take your child food shopping to fruit & vegetable markets and explain different types of food as you go shopping with them.
• Get your child to help you prepare foods, especially vegetables. If they are young, sit them so they can watch you preparing foods and let them assist in some small way, for example helping push your chopped vegetables into a bowl or saucepan.
• Start a small vegetable patch or herb garden and get your child to help with planting and maintenance of the garden.
• Eat as many meals as possible with your children and try to always give your child the same meal as you are eating. Include a range of fresh seasonal foods vegetables in the meals to expose and normalise your child to a wide variety of foods.
• Encourage older children to express positive regard for foods they have accepted, to model positive eating behavior.
• Try not to consume too many unhealthy foods in front of your child or have unhealthy foods in your house. If it’s not in front of them, they are less likely to want it.
• If your child is still showing aversion to certain foods, continue to put a small amount of the food on their plate and show positive encouragement to eat the food. Always refrain from negative pressure and threats as this can be counter-productive. Show patience and acceptance and in most cases your child will end up consuming more vegetables, even if it takes up to 15 exposures of the food.

If you have applied all of the above and your child is still showing aversions to food, make an appointment to see a Nutritionist or Naturopath to check for any food intolerances, digestive enzyme insufficiencies or other underlying health condition.

References

1. Horst K, 2012, 'Overcoming picky eating. Eating enjoyment as a central aspect of children’s eating behaviours’, Appetite, vol. 58, pp. 567-574.
2. Dovey T, Staples P, Gibson E, Halford J, 2006, ‘Food neophobia and picky/fussy eating in children: A review’, Appetite, vol. 50, pp. 181-193.
3. Addessi E, Galloway A, Visalberghi E, Birch L, 2005, ‘Specific social influences on the acceptance of novel foods in 2-5 year old children’, Appetite, vol. 45, pp. 264-271.