Don’t stop offering new foods.
How many times do you think a child needs to be exposed to a new food before accepting it? 5, 10 or maybe 50?
I believe that it’s very individual and is infinitely variable. We just don’t know what impact things like temperament, food-anxiety or sensory sensitivity have on each child’s individual exposure to unfamiliar foods.
What actually is exposure?
It’s enabling your child to experience a wide range of foods. It doesn’t mean making them eat them, it doesn’t even mean making them try them. Just having them around is all that is required.
If you want to expose your child to an apple, eat it next to him, make an apple cake together or cut the apple into pieces and dip it in yoghurt or paint to make some fruit-prints. Every type of experience with this food is important.
So many parents have told me that after having put all this time into serving their kids a particular veg or other new food they’ve worked hard to prepare, they get incredibly frustrated when no one eats it. They decide never to make it again, because what’s the point if no one will eat it? Food waste feels horrible as well…
TRY FAMILY STYLE MEALS.
A great way to move beyond concerns about uneaten food is to use family style serving. This will enable you to get all of those valuable exposures in WITHOUT pressuring your child to eat. I have written about family style meals before here.
KEEP OFFERING!
Most young kids won’t eat food that they’re not familiar with.
Now I bet you’re going to tell me to tell me about your friend’s son who would happily munch on anything that his parents put on his plate? Well, he is an exception.
However, there is indeed a point to be made here.
If your children have turned their noses up at a food once, twice or even ten times, it doesn't mean they won’t eventually change their mind. Don’t give up. Don’t stop serving new food, in doing so you’re removing the opportunity of exposing the kids to it.
If your kids have gone off bananas recently, don’t take this fruit off the menu.
If your kids never touch eggs, continue putting a few pieces in front of them.
Without exposure, children will not be able to build trust and confidence in their ability to experience new food. They need to feel familiar and comfortable with it first.
And don’t forget to let kids play with food. Remember that they learn and experience the world through play.
Even if they don't take a single bite, opportunities to touch, smell, squish, see and feel a new food are valuable exposures that over time, increase the likelihood likelihood that they'll accept it.⠀⠀
Here are a few examples of exposure that doesn't include tasting a food:
seeing the food
touching it
smelling it
letting it hang out on the table
letting you put it on their plate⠀
watching someone else eat it
picking it up
licking it
A study that looked at which foods were preferred by college students found that the students preferred the same foods they had been exposed to as children, even if they hadn’t historically liked the food during childhood!
Repeated exposures add more value than simply serving as a delivery mechanism for nutrients from meal to meal. They also normalise all kinds of foods and imprint your kids with thehabit of eating a varied diet.
My 9 year old now eats foods that in the past I would never have imagined she would. Falafels are a good example here. There was something about the texture I think that put her off falafels, meat balls and veggie burgers for years. To be honest it did upset me as I love my falafels and found them such a handy, nutritious and delicious food. I never even tried to convince her to take a bite though. Over and over again she saw me enjoying them, saw them in front of her on the table, picnic blanket or in my wrap. She wasn’t exposed to them 10 or 15 times…. It took about 5 years of seeing them at least once a week…. Shortly after her 9th birthday she casually helped herself to a falafel during our lovely summer picnic in the park and has liked them ever since. You might laugh but it was a big victory for me: proof that what I was doing did eventually pay off.
Don’t forget: getting kids to try new foods is not your job.
This is definitely not what you are used to hearing, especially with all the current pressure on parents to get their kids to eat a perfect diet.
Why?
Children need to feel in control at mealtimes. When they feel in control, they are able to push themselves to explore and follow their natural curiosity about food.
Even if they take a bite just to get your approval or a sticker (or both), it won’t help them develop a healthy relationship with food
Serve new foods in tiny portions
When introducing new foods, smaller is better. Instead of starting with a whole portion, place a serving no bigger than a penny on your child’s plate. One pea, one slice of carrot, one tiny dollop of yoghurt is enough.
For some kids, the proximity of the food is too much. You can introduce a separate “learning plate” that your child can use to have sight of new foods. This can make the situation less stressful and help your child feel in control.
Remember, it’s important to continue always to serve at least one preferred food at mealtime.
One more thing… I believe that exposure is super important but please don’t expect that after ten or so times your kids will definitely eat something new. And don’t feel that you are doing something wrong if you have exposed your child to a new food a number of times and they still won’t even try it.
Some children experience serious food anxiety and we need to be very, very patient. Each child is different and every family has their own history. Exposure is crucial but please remember that your child’s refusal to try anything new is not a sign of bad parenting. Don’t beat yourself up for that.