Picky eating is a common behavior, especially in childhood, but it can persist into adulthood, making dieting and maintaining a balanced diet a challenge. This article provides a comprehensive guide to understanding and addressing picky eating habits, offering practical tips and strategies for both children and adults to expand their diets and achieve their health goals.
Understanding Picky Eating
While there isn't a precise clinical definition, picky eating generally involves a limited range of accepted foods, a reluctance to try new foods, a dislike for many fruits and vegetables, and specific texture preferences. Picky eating is common in childhood, with many kids outgrowing it without health consequences. However, in some cases, it can become severe or continue into adulthood.
Potential Consequences of Picky Eating
Research indicates that picky eaters are more prone to inadequate intakes of micronutrients like iron and zinc, as well as fiber. They also tend to consume more snack foods and sweets. In severe cases, picky eating can lead to Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), an eating disorder that requires professional treatment. ARFID is characterized by avoiding so many foods that it results in improper growth, weight loss, or nutrient deficiencies.
Strategies for Picky Eaters
Whether you're a parent of a picky eater or an adult looking to expand your diet, several strategies can help.
For Kids
It can be incredibly stressful when your child is a picky eater and refuses the food you prepare for the family. Luckily, there are effective and evidence-based strategies to improve picky eating in children.
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Creating a Positive Mealtime Experience
One of the most important things is to avoid pressuring your child to eat and to focus on creating a positive mealtime experience. It may feel counter-intuitive, but the more you pressure your kid, the less they will be motivated to eat. It’s your job to decide when and what food to serve, and it’s your child’s job to decide if and how much they will eat. Encourage them by eating meals as a family and modeling healthy eating yourself. Serve one meal for everyone in the family - with no exceptions. But plan meals that include at least one thing that everyone likes.
Repeated Exposure
If your child denies a food multiple times, continue offering it on different occasions. Children sometimes need over 10-15 exposures before they accept a new food. Keep exposing your child to different foods. It can take up to 15 - 20 tries of a food before we decide if we like it. So keep putting the broccoli on your child’s plate, even if they won’t touch it. Repeated exposure and seeing parents and siblings eat a food can make it less scary to try. Ensure each meal and snack you offer has at least one of your child’s “safe” or accepted foods. Once your child starts eating, they are more likely to continue eating other foods on their plate. It’s important to be transparent about the ingredients in the meal and avoid sneaking or hiding vegetables in different recipes. This can cause children to become even more suspicious of new foods.
Mindful Snacking
Make sure your child is coming to the table hungry for meals. If they are snacking all day long, they may not be hungry enough to eat their meals. Limit mealtimes to 30 minutes or less. You may also need to limit your child’s intake of calorie-containing beverages between meals, like milk and juice. A picky eater can get into a cycle of filling up on snack foods so they’re not hungry at mealtimes. Limit snacks to 100 calories for children under 10. Some low-calorie options include string cheese, fruit, yogurt or nuts.
Giving a Sense of Control
Offer options to give kids a sense of control. By giving your child a choice between two or three healthy options at snack time, you can empower them to make good choices about food. “Your job as a parent is to serve your child foods you want them to eat. They get to decide what and how much to eat,” Reinier says.
Positive Reinforcement
Incentives are a good way to encourage your child to try new foods. You can use sticker charts to track their progress and allow them to earn rewards along the way. Positive reinforcement can be motivating for some kids.
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Involving Kids in Meal Preparation
Kids are more likely to taste a dish if they help plan or prepare it. Letting kids choose vegetables in the produce section or the frozen food aisle will empower them. Have them help you in the kitchen, too. Assign them age-appropriate tasks, such as stirring, chopping or measuring ingredients. If your child is old enough, have them help with grocery shopping and meal prep. A child may be more willing to try something they put thought and effort into making. With younger children, try cutting their food into fun shapes to get them excited to try it. Even the youngest can help by washing and sorting foods. Encourage your child to use 3 of their 5 senses (smell, touch, taste) as you prepare food.
Avoiding Pressure and Overloading
Pushing too hard. Forcing or threatening your child rarely works. In fact, it can backfire by creating negative food associations and making them dig in their heels further. Gentle pressure-free encouragement is a far better tactic. Letting kids graze. Some children prefer to nibble throughout the day instead of eating at set times. However, these kids end up taking in fewer calories each day and are less likely to be hungry at mealtimes. Overloading on fluids. If your child drinks too much water or milk between meals it may decrease their appetite. Make sure your child isn’t filling up on beverages, especially before meals. Serving too much food. As adults, we may overestimate how much food our child can consume. Seeing a large amount of food on their plate could be overwhelming for your child, so stick with smaller portion sizes for your picky eater.
For Adults
If you’re an adult with picky eating concerns, you aren’t alone. Many adults experience picky eating, and there are ways to expand the variety of your diet.
Identifying Motivation
First, think about your motivation for addressing picky eating. You may want to manage a diet-related health condition better. Or perhaps you want to have an easier time in social situations involving food. Find Motivation: It's a great place to start. Maybe your eating habits are causing tension in your relationships, or you want to set a better example for your kids. Research has found that when you think about how your behavior affects other people, you're much more likely to make changes that stick.
Experimenting with Recipes
Next, experiment with new recipes that interest you. Ideally, this should be done in a low-pressure environment, like with a supportive friend or family member, where there is no expectation to eat or finish your plate. A Non-Threatening Setting: A dinner party probably isn't the best time to branch out. Putting pressure on yourself to eat -- or being pressured by someone else -- can make it worse because that makes eating less enjoyable. Keep meals as stress-free and pleasant as possible. Try a new food when you're by yourself or with someone who's supportive and nonjudgmental.
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Seeking Professional Support
It may be helpful to work with a registered dietitian for support and to brainstorm ideas for new foods or recipes to try.
General Tips for Both Kids and Adults
Trying New Produce Raw
“There is no rule that says everything must be cooked,” says Jensen, who suggests trying new produce ingredients in their raw states first.
Getting Creative with Spices
When you are ready to turn up (or on) the heat, “get creative with spices (not salt!),” suggests Zeitlin. Instead of prepackaged spice blends, salad dressings, or marinades, make your own at home.
Exploring Different Cooking Methods
“Many times eating a vegetable cooked versus raw changes the taste profile,” says Zeitlin. “So if you don’t like raw broccoli, you may love roasted broccoli." Trying different preparation methods and flavors can be a great way to expand your palate and learn to love new foods. For example, if you dislike plain steamed broccoli, try roasted broccoli with olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic. Different cooking methods bring out different flavors. If you can't stand raw carrots, you could steam, sauté, or grill them instead. Roasting veggies -- especially squash and roots like beets, parsnips, and onions -- often makes them softer and sweeter.
Ordering Shared Plates
If you’re not ready to commit to a full meal, order shared plates or family-style meals.
Start Small
Don't overwhelm yourself with a plate full of new foods. Instead, serve familiar favorites along with one new food you're ready to try. Commit to just a few bites. Dietitian and feeding specialist Ellyn Satter calls this giving yourself "an out": If you don't like the new food, you'll still have something to eat.
Use Your Comfort Zone
Make a new food more appetizing by pairing it with something you enjoy. Top new foods with well-liked sauces or seasonings to help them seem less strange and unusual. For example, put breadcrumbs or bacon on Brussels sprouts.
Keep Trying
If parents keep offering an unfamiliar food, most kids will take a bite … eventually (it can take eight or more tries). As adults, we're not much different. Studies have shown that the more times we try a food, the more we may like it. Think of new foods as something you don't eat -- yet. Build up familiarity. Watch others eat it first. Cook with it. Place a bite in your mouth and take it out. You don't have to chew or swallow right away.
Family style
Share a meal together as a family as often as you can. This means no media distractions like TV or cell phones at mealtime. Use this time to model healthy eating. Serve one meal for the whole family and resist the urge to make another meal if your child refuses what you've served. This only encourages picky eating. Try to include at least one food your child likes with each meal and continue to provide a balanced meal, whether she eats it or not.
Make food fun.
Toddlers are especially open to trying foods arranged in eye-catching, creative ways. Make foods look irresistible by arranging them in fun, colorful shapes kids can recognize. Kids this age also tend to enjoy any food involving a dip. Finger foods are also usually a hit with toddlers. Cut solid foods into bite size pieces they can easily eat themselves, making sure the pieces are small enough to avoid the risk of choking.
Tiny chefs.
Some cooking tasks are perfect for toddlers (with lots of supervision, of course): sifting, stirring, counting ingredients, picking fresh herbs from a garden or windowsill, and “painting” on cooking oil with a pastry brush, to name a few.
Crossing bridges.
Once a food is accepted, use what nutritionists call "food bridges" to introduce others with similar color, flavor and texture to help expand variety in what your child will eat. If your child likes pumpkin pie, for example, try mashed sweet potatoes and then mashed carrots.
A fine pair.
Try serving unfamiliar foods, or flavors young children tend to dislike at first (sour and bitter), with familiar foods toddlers naturally prefer (sweet and salty). Pairing broccoli (bitter) with grated cheese (salty), for example, is a great combination for toddler taste buds.
Meal Plan Ideas for Picky Eaters
Below is a picky-eating meal plan with five days of healthy meal and snack ideas for adults and kids. For individualized guidance on appropriate portion sizes, talk with a registered dietitian. This meal plan is not intended to replace medical advice.
Day 1
- Breakfast: Greek yogurt pancakes with a side of blueberries.
- Lunch: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a side of baby carrots and ranch dressing. Note: Raw carrots can be a choking hazard for young children.
- Dinner: Baked broccoli mac n cheese.
- Snacks: Peanut butter energy balls made with peanut butter, dry old-fashioned oats, honey, and chocolate chips. Cheese with crackers.
Day 2
- Breakfast: Smoothie made with milk of choice, Greek yogurt, a splash of orange juice, and a tropical frozen fruit blend.
- Lunch: Homemade air fryer chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries with a side of apple slices.
- Dinner: Spaghetti and turkey meatballs with a mixture of regular pasta noodles and zucchini noodles.
- Snacks: Peanut butter granola. Chocolate mousse made with coconut milk, cocoa powder, maple syrup, and vanilla extract.
Day 3
- Breakfast: Zucchini fritters made with egg, shredded zucchini, breadcrumbs, and cheese.
- Lunch: English muffin pizzas with a side of baked carrot fries and grapes.
- Dinner: Chicken tacos with salsa, avocado slices, and black beans.
- Snacks: Popsicle made from blended strawberries, Greek yogurt, and a drizzle of honey. Apple slices with peanut butter. Note: Raw apples can be a choking hazard for young children.
Day 4
- Breakfast: Wrap with whole wheat tortilla, peanut butter, and a banana.
- Lunch: Snack lunch with deli meat, cheese stick, whole grain crackers, and a clementine.
- Dinner: Chili mac with whole wheat pasta, ground turkey, bell peppers, and cheese
- Snacks: Smoothie with Greek yogurt, blueberries, banana, and spinach. Trail mix with whole grain cereal, nuts, and dehydrated fruit. Note: Nuts can be a choking hazard for young children.
Day 5
- Breakfast: Banana bread muffin with a nut butter drizzle.
- Lunch: Quesadilla, refried beans, and air fryer breaded zucchini.
- Dinner: Baked potato with cheesy broccoli.
- Snacks: Frozen yogurt bark made with fruit and Greek yogurt. “Ants on a log” made with celery sticks, peanut butter, and raisins.
When to Seek Professional Help
While most cases of picky eating are not cause for concern, it’s important to recognize when professional help may be necessary.
Signs of Severe Picky Eating
Look for signs such as:
- Being extremely unwilling to taste any new food, even after having it on her plate multiple times.
- Extreme distress about food your child doesn’t prefer; for instance, she may avoid all bagels because she once found a seed on her bagel that she wasn’t expecting.
- Developing aversions to foods she used to eat.
Professionals Who Can Help
If you think your child is a severe picky eater, be sure to seek out a professional who has extensive experience treating the problem. Support is available for people experiencing severe picky eating. You can work with registered dietitians, psychologists, and feeding therapists specializing in this area. At CHOP, psychologists can help parents faced with this issue learn to use a method that rewards children for trying different foods and adding new options to their diet. If you're really struggling with certain textures or are prone to gagging, occupational therapy could be a solution. The therapist will help you chew and swallow more effectively and can suggest ways to get more comfortable with different types of food. You may consider an evaluation with a pediatric dietitian if you notice your child dropping foods they used to enjoy, becoming more limited in their diet, or displaying extreme behaviors (such as tantrums) at mealtimes. Reinier says the earlier you intervene, the better. If you address the issue when your child is 2 - 5 years old, you may be more successful than if your child is older and more set in their ways.