Try A New Food: Are You Kidding?

Lisa Carroll

Parents often struggle with children to try new foods and eat the suggested servings of fruits and vegetables every day. If children are “picky” eaters, it can be difficult for parents to accept. There are times when parents are left feeling frustrated and children may not get the nutrients they need. Often parents reflect on their own food experiences and pass those on to their children. Eating habits learned as a child are related to eating habits grown ups have! Some parents pressure children to become members of the “Clean Plate Club,” believing an empty plate is a sign of a good-eater and healthy child. However, the “Clean Plate Club” may cause children to eat more and may lead to overweight children. The best way to work with “picky eaters” is to make eating and exposure to new foods a positive experience.

It can take several times for a child to learn they may like a certain food. Do not give up! Introduce new fruits or vegetables in different and fun ways, such as in soups, casseroles, broiled or steamed and at different times throughout the day. A child may not like cooked carrots, but serving the carrots raw with a veggie dip may change the way they view this colorful food. Be patient with children and do not pressure them, kids are more likely to enjoy foods when eating it is their choice. Let children help with grocery shopping by allowing them to choose a fruit or vegetable they would like to try.

Steering children away from fussy eating habits can be difficult, but with the right strategies, you can get even the pickiest eaters to try new foods! Before you know it, they will be asking for foods you never imagined they would eat!

• Be a good role model! Be sure to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and your kids will too. Your children learn from you first!
• Dust off your aprons! Cooking together, eating together, talking together and making mealtime a family activity encourages positive eating practices. Start good eating practices now and as an adult your child will eat well too!
• Encourage serve yourself! Encourage children to serve themselves, teaching them to serve small amounts first. Do not force children to eat more than they want. Remember – Smaller tummies means smaller meals!
• Make it available! Make sure the foods you want your child to eat are in reach and put foods you only serve sparingly away and out of sight. Also, let your kids be “produce pickers,” allowing them to help you at the grocery store.
• Serve milk with meals! Serving fat-free or low-fat milk helps kids grow strong and aids in bone and teeth development.

Having conversations about fruits and vegetables may increase the amount a child will eat. Try encouraging new and nutritious foods by telling children that milk helps make them strong or that eating their veggies can help them score the winning soccer goal. “Including a sense of fun, fantasy, and a challenge can also help capture kids’ attention and stimulate their motivation to learn” (Adams et al., 2008).

Try these fun phrases on your children to encourage consumption of low-fat or fat-free dairy products or fruits and veggies!

· Eat smart to play hard. Drink milk at meals.

· Fuel up with milk at meals. And soar through your day like a rocket ship.

· Snack like a super hero. Power up with fruit and yogurt.

· Eat smart to play hard. Eat fruits and veggies at meals and snacks.

· Fuel up with fruits and veggies. And soar through your day like a rocket ship.

. Retrieved December 29, 2009, from http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/corenutritionmessages/Files/Guidebook.pdf