Tips for Parents of Picky Eaters

If you are a parent with a picky eater, and I know that I have three of them at home, we've got a great discussion here. Today I've got Emily with me, who is one of our dietetics experts talking all about picky eating. Emily, I'm so glad to have you here because I know this is some information I need as a parent, and I know that a lot of our viewers will as well. Thanks for having me. Yeah, so let's talk about this. This is a struggle for a lot of parents. So kids like often just a couple healthy foods, it feels like, but not many. So what can I do if I have a picky eater at home, which I have a couple. Right, so if your kids do like some healthy food, that's great, and we really want to continue to encourage eating those healthy foods. So one way is to incorporate them into foods that they may already like. So if they really like those chocolate chip pancakes on Saturday mornings, maybe make blueberry pancakes or banana pancakes the next Saturday morning. That way you're starting to get those fruits that they may think that they like, but you're incorporating them with something that they know they like and they're comfortable with. Right, that's a great tip. So what about grocery shopping? How can that help make a kid a little less picky? So you really want to start to engage these kids as much as possible, and starting at the grocery store can really help with that. So letting them pick out the fruits and the vegetables that they want to eat during that meal or the specific meal that you're going to prepare. And then also when you get home, letting them stir, letting them mix, letting them help chop, or whatever it may be to help prepare that meal is a really good way to engage them because it's sort of that buy-in. And if they're into it and they're proud of it, or even naming the dish after them and making them proud of it, they're going to be a lot more willing to do it. That's a great tip. So what are some ways that I can get my cookie eater to eat at dinner time and to eat what I'm serving at dinner? Right, so a really good way to do this would be giving them choices. So don't just say, do you want broccoli for dinner? Because then you're giving them the option to say no. So maybe saying, okay, are we having spinach or broccoli tonight? Or are we having cauliflower or carrots tonight? And that way you're giving them the choice just automatically knowing that they're having vegetables. So it's just, which is it going to be? Right, I know sometimes if I'm preparing a vegetable that I really like and I know my kids don't like it, I have carrots as an option because carrots are one thing they will always eat. And so I'm like, hey, you don't want to have this vegetable dish, then you can have carrots if you're still having your vegetables. Right, and I know for me, my mom would always say, your eyes aren't going to be pretty if you don't eat your carrots. Just kind of giving them those little tips too. And if you have these nutrients, then good things will come. That's so great. Is it beneficial for them to try even just a small portion? Absolutely, so even small portions are going to have really big benefits. So with this, having a food that you like that you may not have tried before may be a really good way to just offer them a little teeny bit. So start by touching it and then smelling it and then putting it on the tip of their tongue and then just one bite for the first time. But then the second time, let's have three bites. And the third time, let's have five bites. And as soon as they have that bite, they can put it down, they don't have to have it anymore. But just slowly start incorporating it into specific meals or different mealtime dinners. That way, they will be more comfortable with trying it as the tongue goes on. Something that I have found that has been helpful with my kids is, I like to say the perfect bite is having everything on the plate all on one fork and so then I'm able to get them to have that little piece of cooked spinach in with the chicken that they already like. The chicken's at the front of the fork so they maybe don't even notice it, but then they get it and then they think, oh gosh, that wasn't so bad and I can do that again. And a lot of times that has worked for my kids as well. What are some other ways throughout the day that I can prevent picky eating? Right, so one way is to set a snack time and make it a routine. So kids obviously do really well with a routine. So if they know that they're getting a snack at 10.30 in the morning between breakfast and lunch and a snack at three o'clock in the afternoon between lunch and dinner, they know that that's the only time that they're getting a snack. So whatever they're giving, they're given, they're going to eat. And a really good way to start incorporating new foods with this is to have more than one food group with a snack. So we'll eat crackers with cheese or apples with peanut butter or celery with a dip or something like that may be a really good way to incorporate more than one food group into that snack. I love that idea. What about shapes and colors? How does that help picky eaters? So you really, it can be a fun game to play with younger children to really talk about the colors and how more colors on their plate is going to be a better plate to build because they get really interested into that. But also there's going to be more nutrient rich foods. So the foods that are more bland colored are not going to be as rich in nutrients. And then also it's really important to make the food fun. So maybe getting a cookie cutter and cutting specific foods into specific shapes or also thinking about finger foods because kids love finger foods. So small slices of fruit or sticks of vegetables or things like that where they can just pick it up and eat it and pop it right in their mouth. They're going to be fun for them. Open faced sandwiches can be another great way you can make a little smile face out of one kind of fruit and use fruit to make the eyes and that sort of thing as well. I remember my mom shaving carrots to make hair for our little open faced sandwiches and stuff like that. And we had ants on the wall. Absolutely. And celery with peanut butter and raisins. I still love that snack. What about last words? I know you've got some additional wisdom that you can share or. Yeah, sure. So the main thing is to just be a role model for these kids because most kids will learn so much by observational learning. And it's really important to show them that you're willing to try new foods as well. So if they see that you're not touching the cauliflower on your plate, guess what? They're not going to touch it either. So if you show them that you're willing to try these foods too that they think that they may not like, they may be more inclined to try it or just seeing other siblings try it or things like that may be really good ways to try to incorporate it more into the meal. This was great advice. Thank you so much for joining us today. Hope this was useful. See you soon. Bye-bye.