Children are naturally picky eaters, especially when they are growing up, as they are asserting their independence by choosing what to like and dislike in their food, and are naturally apprehensive of new foods. As many options you present to them, only your child is responsible for what they finally eat. Hence, it can be a lot of work for parents to learn how to deal with picky eaters. This can often be a frustrating experience for parents, but several strategies have been tried and tested by experts and parents alike, and have proven to be useful.
In this article, we shall be discussing some of those strategies for picky eaters and how to coax them into trying new things.
Proven Strategies for Feeding Picky Eaters
- Be Patient With Your Picky Eater: Be patient! Try introducing new items one at a time, with other familiar items that you know your child will eat. Coax them into gradually accepting and learning to try the new items you serve, as kids will be less apprehensive of a new food once it has been served a few times. This process takes time, so don't lose hope!
- Be Creative With Recipes and Presentation: Kids often get put off by certain shapes and textures of food, so try to alter that! Introduce greens by adding some to a smoothie, and cut fruits and vegetables into fun shapes to keep your kids interested. You can even appealingly present vegetables as a part of burgers, pastas, and pizzas. You can even make these recipes healthier by using flatbreads like tortillas or roti as a base for pizzas, instead of pizza bread. You can even make these rotis with several healthy flours to ensure that your child gets a balanced and nutritious diet while being very delicious!
- Stick to the Rotation Rule: Always get your child into the habit of eating different food each day, to ensure that they remain open about a varied and diverse diet. Getting them habituated to the same food daily may make them more inclined to be less accepting of other foods, which could pose certain problems. Furthermore, you can always just alternate their meals to avoid repetition consciously
- Be a Food Role Model for Your Child: Before picking out healthy food for picky eaters in your family, look at your food habits first. Children often tend to mirror the behavior and eating habits of those around them, and if you eat healthy, chances are you will be a role model for your child.
- Allow Your Children to Play With Food: This sounds like the opposite of what we have always been told, but it works! Getting your picky eaters to accept new foods is not just about them eating, but them familiarising themselves with it. Let them play with the food you are trying to introduce, and understand what it is. They will automatically be more inclined to try and eat it the next time you serve that.
- Get Your Kids Involved in Meal Planning and Cooking: This ensures that your children can exercise their choice over what they put in the food. You are teaching them a valuable life skill, as well as helping them understand what goes in their meals and how it is fun and interesting, rather than intimidating. Additionally, take the kids shopping to let them pick out produce to get them excited about cooking and eating meals.
- Encourage Eating With Friends: When organizing and making meals for picky eaters in your household, try to get them to sit and eat with their friends, particularly those who are more experimental with their foods. This will motivate and influence your kids to try out new foods, that they may not try on their own.
- Pay Attention to Your Child's Taste and Texture Preferences: Understanding what textures and tastes your child prefers will help you gauge how to present new foods to them in the future. For example, if they prefer crunchy food, then you can try introducing vegetables in their raw form, and if they prefer softer food, then you can present vegetables either boiled or pureed.
- Record Your Picky Eater's Progress: Record whenever your picky eater tries a new food and likes it! This will help you remind them later about their previous liking of the food, and help them grow accustomed to consuming it regularly.
Learning what to feed picky eaters and how to get them to accept new food can be a long journey, but parents need to just be patient and gradually try to adapt their kids to a more diverse diet by using some smart techniques, some tact, and a lot of love!
