How to expose your child to new food.
Do you fret over every meal you make, wondering if it's all going to end up in the bin, or if by some miracle, your children will decide it's worth eating?
Have you been advised on multiple occasions that children need to be exposed to foods over and over again before they develop a taste for them?
Do you wonder how many times a child has to try a food before they like it?
Some experts say 15-20 times, but to me the number doesn’t really matter. I have had Brussels sprouts on my plate hundreds of times and I still don’t like them. I have exposed my husband to tofu a million times and he still thinks its texture is too off putting.
What does matter though is that children are given the opportunity to interact with the food —to see it, touch it, smell it — before they make any decision.
Children often react poorly to new foods, and that’s really an inbuilt response.
Parents shouldn't fixate on the number of times that they introduce foods to children, even if it seems like very many. New foods are fun and exciting for some kids, but they can also be unappealing and strange for others.
Ok, we know that exposure is important but how do we expose our children to new food before both you and your child start to feel bored, frustrated and discouraged?
I would suggest that you pick one food and offer it regularly for at least two weeks. Make sure this food is something you like eating or are comfortable trying. Choose something that goes well with the meals you’ve planned for that week. Here are a few examples:
raw tomato
sweet corn (frozen or fresh)
mayo
natural yoghurt
cucumber
carrot
Go to the library and find books or magazines which are themed around or refer to your goal food. Read or just look at them together during the two week period. Research has found that if children look at books which contain pictures of food, they are more likely to enjoy eating it.
Watch YouTube videos about this food. These can be fun cartoons or films showing where the food comes from or how it’s made.
Go shopping together. Ask your child to look at the shelves, find the food you’ve picked and put it in the basket. How many varieties of this food can they find?
Ask your child to participate in washing, chopping, peeling or blending the goal food. Again, research shows that participating in hands-on cooking increases children’s preferences for fruit and veggies.
During the meal, have your child serve the food with her fingers, a serving spoon or a set of tongs.
Let your child play with food. I wrote about this last year. Have a look.
Guess what? Research shows that children enjoy the sensations of playing with and tasting fruit and veggies.
Ask your child to assist with cleaning up and scooping the leftovers into storage containers.
Prepare your food in a variety of ways. If your goal food is carrot, offer it grated, cooked and mashed, cut into sticks or into cubes. You don’t have to be too creative and spend ages preparing it.
Add a tiny portion of the goal food to your child’s lunch box along with her preferred foods.
If your child is ready to taste the food, ask her to rate different preparations, e.g. grated carrot vs. steamed carrot.
Remember that while “exposure” may sound scientific and complicated, it doesn’t have to be at all. It should be simple and organic. Try not to think about it too much. Just pick something and play with it for two weeks.
I would love to know how it goes. Email me on viola@peasnlove.co.uk or book your free consultation HERE.