Meals should be relaxed family times when you enjoy nutritious food together. Picky eaters can ruin that, as you cojole or threaten them into trying foods you know are good for them, while they flex their toddler wills in defence of choices which can range from buttered noodles to, well, more buttered noodles. But it needn’t be that way. Try these strategies instead.
1. Don’t panic
Some picky eaters enjoy the attention it gets them, and many eat a relatively balanced diet if you monitor it over a week, says Durban dietitian Natalie Bowden. Keep a food diary. Chances are you’ll also find they are filling up on juice, milk and refined snacks between meals, curbing their appetite and making them less receptive to foods they don’t know. “Defining picky eating as a disorder requires a professional assessment, which may include 20 or fewer foods being eaten,” she says. It really becomes a problem only if these exclude a whole food group: fruit and vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, or healthy fats (nuts, avocado etc). If your child could be at risk, or is sickly or not growing as they should, ask your healthcare provider to recommend a psychology review and dietitian to assist with practical meal ideas and coping strategies.
2. Don’t force
Coaxing, bribing and threatening ups the ante in a child, creating tension around meal times. Rather control your child’s snacking and drinking between meals – give them water and fruit or wholesome snacks – wholegrain sandwiches, crackers with peanut butter, a boiled egg, and veggie sticks with hummus work well, says Bowden. At meals, make a selection of nutritious options available and let them choose. “Try to offer one new food at a time, alongside familiar foods you know they will eat.”
3. Start small
For some children, simply allowing a new food to be on their plate or touching the other foods is a step forward, Bowden says. “Ignore the new food and let them explore when they are ready – praise them if they try it, and completely ignore it if they leave the food untouched.” Keep presenting the food at meals: research at the University of Bedfordshire suggests it can take 15 tries before it becomes familiar enough to their taste buds for them to enjoy it.
4. Don’t pander to pickiness
Avoid placing added pressure on yourself by preparing separate meals (those buttered noodles!), as it simply prolongs the problem. Instead, work with what your picky eater likes, offering foods with similar flavours, textures or colours, to slowly stretch their food boundaries in what’s called “food chaining”.
5. Polish your presentation
Threading fresh fruit cubes and berries on skewers, cutting veggies into fun shapes or creating faces on bright plates, can add toddler appeal. “We eat with our eyes,” say nutritionists Liz Weiss and Janice Bissex, authors of No Whine With Dinner (E-book available at Takealot). Foods that are appealing to the eye make one salivate, encouraging us to try it.
6. Pack in the goodness
Slip maximum nutrition into whatever they already enjoy, says Bowden. Offer Parmesan with those buttered noodles, slip diced broccoli or peppers into spaghetti sauce, and grated zucchini or carrots into muffins – “this will help broaden their repertoire of familiar flavours”.
7. Create mini chefs
Encourage children to help when you’re cooking: The more familiar a child is with the texture, colour, smell and taste of different ingredients, the more likely they are to feel safe eating them, says Bowden. “This is a good opportunity for some messy play and exploration!”
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