October 4, 2011 A New Approach to Teaching Tots to Try New Foods
Next time you want your picky eater to branch out and taste something new, try something radical.
Don’t ask your child to eat the food. No matter what. Not even if your tot seems to like what he’s tasted.
- Simply offer your child a pea-size taste of the new food.
- Ask him to tell you what he thinks.
- Move on.
I know you want to teach your toddler to eat healthy foods. Sometimes, though, parents scare kids off.
- "Try it. If you don't like it you don't have to eat it." Translation?
- "If you do like it, you are going to have to eat it."
Trying new foods shouldn't mean having to eat them too.
It takes a mental mindshift to create a safe zone for toddlers to try new foods. After all, the ultimate goal is actual food consumption. But that's down the road.
Some kids don't want to eat what they've tasted even when they like it. (They're in a control struggle, they want to razz you, they're not in the mood.)
Some kids don't even want to swallow something they've tasted even when they like it. These kids prefer to spit. Read Why Some Kids Should Spit.
It's hard to believe, but asking kids to eat new foods is a sublte form of pressure. And lots of kids rebel.
Research shows that pressuring kids to eat doesn't work.
When parents pressure kids to eat more they end up eating less.
In one recent study, researchers found that children whose mothers pressured them to eat fruits and vegetables at age 1 ate fewer fruits and vegetables at age 2. Even when pressure seemed to work at first, it produced only short-term gains. By age 2, pressure ultimately failed.
Admittedly, the researchers in this study were examining stronger kinds of pressure such as making children clean their plates and trying to get kids to eat even when they say they're not hungry. Still, even moderate pressure can backfire if your toddler is extremely resistant to trying new foods.
Remember, pressure comes in many guises and, like beauty, is always in the eyes of the beholder.
When researchers evaluate how to transform disliking into liking they ask children to taste but not to eat.
In a school-based study in Louisiana, for instance, elementary school children were asked to taste and rate 4 fruits twice a week for 4 weeks. Next, they were asked to taste and rate 4 vegetables twice a week for 4 weeks. The kids were allowed to spit, to swallow or not to taste at all. No one was asked to eat a thing.
All the kids—even those who started the program disliking the fruits and vegetables—improved their liking for all items after 8 weeks (and some quite a bit sooner than that).
You can achieve the same results. Just start acting like a researcher and expose your tot to plenty of tastings. He'll come around to eating after awhile.
For tips on how to get started read Unleash Your Toddler's Inner Food Critic! and Nix the Negativity.
~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~
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Sources:
Lakkakula, A., J. Geaghan, W.-P. Wong, M. Zanovec, S. Pierce, and G. Tuuri. 2011. “A Cafeteria-Based Tasting Program Increased Liking of Fruits and Vegetables By Lower, Middle and Upper Elementary School-Age Children.” Appetite 57: 299-302
Gregory, J. E., S. J. Paxton, and A. M. Brozovic. 2011. “Maternal Feeding Practices Predict Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Young Children. Results of a 12-Month Longitudinal Study.” Appetite 57: 167-72.
Reader Comments (4)
Hi Dina,
Apologies for my previously submitted comment - I'd obviously had a bad day & was frustrated with my toddler's eating. I totally understand your decision to filter it.
We're finally making some progress though! Today, he played one-one for lunch with his canteloupe, pastrami & kidney beans - so well, that he had to have 3rds of each of these foods! (He refused to touch the tortilla, tomatoes, white beans or watermelon though, but hey, I'll take 3 out of 7 when every option is fairly healthy).
And then, because he was eating those 3 foods so well, I showed him & told him how sometimes we eat 2 foods together, and I put a small piece of pastrami on a kidney bean then ate it. He thought this was HILARIOUS and ate one. After a few of these, I put the TINIEST morsel of tortilla on a kidney bean. He ate that too, so I put a slightly bigger piece of tortilla on the next bean... eventually he was eating bites that were more tortilla than beans!! And all this after declaring at the start of the meal that "I don't like that. It's yucky" about the tortillas!
And it's all thanks to your wonderful blog! Previously, I would never have thought about the fact we have to TEACH our kids to eat 2 foods together (but it seems so obvious now!!), and that it's a good way of eating something we don't like so much (along with the "washing it down" technique mentioned by another commenter on a previous post). Maybe this will help him to try some of the "one-pot" meals that I make.
Thanks again for all your wonderful advice - I've told ALL my friends about your blog & have been sharing some of your techniques.
Cheers, Emma
Emma,
I didn't filter your comment. You wrote it on a different page. Indeed, I answered it!
I'm glad you are having more success now. It sounds like you are doing a wonderful job. Keep up the good work.
And thanks for the kind words about my blog!
Dina
Oh, thanks! My bad... baby-brain syndrome is obviously still going strong! (that, and the "notify me of follow-up comments via email" thing doesn't seem to be working?)
Apologies anyway though... it was long-winded and written with the frustration & exasperation that only the mom of a picky toddler can have!! Haha - you must be used to dealing with that tone!! : )
I'm feeling much better about things now, and just need to remember that its a marathon, not a sprint on those days when I'm pulling my hair out.
Thanks again... Emma
Emma,
No apologies. I enjoy reading about other parents' experiences.
Dina