How to get fussy eaters eating more nutritious foods!
What is fussy eating?
Fussy eating or picky eating is an “umbrella term” for a broad range of eating characteristics in children. Parents are often very worried about their children when they won’t eat the nutritious foods that they are given, instead wanting a limited variety of their “safe” foods. Common frustrations of parents with fussy eaters include:
their child’s lack of variety, living on the “white diet”
food refusal - refusing foods given to them and also refusing healthy meals that they previously ate
no appetite, poor volume of food consumed, lack of nutritious foods.
What is fussy eating caused by?
Fussy eating can be caused by many factors and it’s really important to firstly identify the underlying cause of the fussy eating to then be able to fix it. Some common causes of fussy eating include:
Experience with food - will affect their willingness to try new nutritious foods.
Developmental Stage - stages such as teething and the development of autonomy play a significant role in feeding.
Tiredness - can influence their desire to eat
Lack of feeding structure/routine - will impact appetite and therefore intake
Feeding Environment - one of the biggest influences on a child’s eating habits!
Sensory Food Sensitivities - a common cause of food aversion that relates to difficulties with a variety of senses - taste, touch, sight and even sound.
Parental Influence - will definitely influence your child’s intake of nutritious foods.
Nutrient Deficiency - affects well being and appetite / willingness to eat.
Other medical issues such as reflux, constipation, medications, chewing and swallowing difficulty can all influence a child’s desire to eat and how much/what is eaten.
Past Experiences - a child’s willingness to try new nutritious food will be based on past experiences, which is why it is SO important to set up a positive feeding environment.
To learn more about the underlying causes of Fussy Eating and how to fix it, check out my free training - Decoding Fussy Eating [[click here to learn more]]
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The mum guilt…when they don’t eat the nutritious foods.
I know first hand how stressful it can be as a parent to have a fussy eater and have battles every single damn mealtime. As a mum it makes you feel overwhelmed, confused, frustrated and often crushes our confidence. Many mums I work with also feel huge “mum guilt” and worry about their child not eating nutritious foods. They worry that their child won’t be getting everything they need to thrive. They worry about deficiency.
And I get why - 20% of young kids don’t meet their iron requirement. 40% of kids don’t get enough fibre - which is so important for gut and immune health
Picky eaters often love all the white foods ..and it’s damn hard to change this! They love the crackers, biscuits, bread, chips, yoghurt and milk. Whilst some of these are nutritious foods, the main issue is that they often lack some of the nutrients they need such as iron, zinc and other vitamins.
Do fussy eaters grow out of it?
Fussy eating is a long game. We can definitely get them eating better very quickly, when
We understand WHY they are fussy
Set up the correct “FIX” and create an effective feeding environment (which is exactly what I teach in my fussy eater program - The 3 week feeding kids reset).
Competent eaters take years to develop and this is completely OK. Children don’t need to be eating a complete range of all the fruit and vegetables by age 8, but they do need to at least be eating some different colours (important from a nutritional perspective).
I encourage parents to look at the big picture and remember that over their first 18 years, children learn a lot about all different aspects of life and food is no different – it takes time.
Do parents’ own eating behaviours play a role in a child’s eating behaviours?
Absolutely! It’s crucial that good role modelling occurs with the whole family. We as parents need to eat with our children as much as possible and by doing so, we teach them how to enjoy healthy wholesome food. When children see the rest of the family happily enjoying nutritious foods, it builds familiarity and trust in that food. For this reason, they are much more likely to trust the food and want to eat it too!
How do we manage food refusal at the table with our picky eater?
If your child is in this situation, don’t force the issue as this will only make things worse. Include a variety of healthy meals on their plate – some foods that you know they will accept (safe foods) and others that you want them to try (put a smaller amount on the plate).
Keep offering a wide variety of foods, eat with them, remain non-judgemental (ie no food wars) and try to respect that they have taste preferences just like us (most of us didn’t like coffee or wine the first 10 times we tried it!)
How many times do fussy eaters need to be exposed to new foods before they may like them?
When introducing new foods, research shows that it may take up to 10-15 attempts before they accept the nutritious foods. The research also tells us that we often give up after 2 food refusals! I know that I’ve been guilty of doing this in the past – labelling my daughter as not liking something after she’s refused it only a few times.
It’s so easy to get disheartened, fed up and stop offering the food after the first few times, but don’t give up!! Have a break from it for a while (for everyone’s sake!) but always try to come back to it a few weeks later. Resilience is the key!
Top 5 tips for parents with fussy eaters to get them eating more nutritious foods.
1. Offer them healthy foods throughout the day. Young children have small tummies; therefore, snacks can provide up to 50% of their nutrition. Dinner is only one fifth or sixth of their day, so if they don’t eat all their vegies at dinner, it’s no big deal if they have eaten them in other meals and snacks.
2. Serve meals earlier rather than later. Tired, distracted or anxious children eat poorly.
3. Keep snack times consistent (and given them a good 2 hours in between) rather than a smorgasbord of food on offer all day.
4. Eat together at the table and remove as many distractions from eating as possible
5. Limit their milk intake to 1 cup per day
Top 5 tips to getting fussy eaters to eat their vegetables
1. Eat them yourself! Showing them that you enjoy them on a regularly basis will make all the difference (we are their teachers in life!)
2. Incorporate them into snacks – ie grate zucchini /carrot into muffins or have chopped veg as snacks to dip into pesto/hommus dip. Use fruit to blend with yoghurt/milk into smoothies or tip the mixture into plastic moulds to make frozen ice blocks. ** check out my healthy snack recipes at www.nourishwithkarina.com/kids-recipes
3. Make it fun - make the food appealing to children, remember their whole world revolves around having fun
4. Get them involved in food preparation – picking herbs, rinsing lettuce, cracking eggs, mixing food in a bowl, chopping veggies (safely).
5. Try not to make too much of a fuss if they don’t eat them, keep mealtimes positive, do a pop quiz (psst - I’ve got pop quizzes and cheat sheets on ways to talk about food inside my fussy eater program)
Note: Hiding pureed veg in food is fine, but also make sure you give them pieces of vegetables to eat on a daily basis.
Questions from Parents of Picky Eaters:
My son will eat fruit, veggies and other foods in day-care that he refuses to eat healthy meals at home. I just can’t get him to eat the foods that I know he eats at day-care when he is home. I am confused and need help!
This is a very common occurrence, you are not alone! Peer influence will mean children eat things in the centre that they won’t eat at home. Don’t make a fuss about it at the table as this will only worsen the situation.
Food refusal is one of the best ways that young children can attract your attention. They know this and will use food refusal to “push your buttons”. The plan is: offer the food, remain calm, practise good role modelling and talk about something else. If it’s not eaten, just remove the food without fuss and try again next time!
My daughter used to eat vegetables and fruit as a toddler but now gradually, at age 7, she has reduced the foods that she eats to mainly chicken, bread, spaghetti bolognese, pizza. There is a complete meltdown every meal/snack if vegetables or fruit are involved. I am so exhausted. She has two younger siblings and now they are beginning to copy her behaviour and I can’t have all three of them do this.
You need to preserve your energy/mental health as a busy mum!! Don’t enter into food wars with your daughter -food is not up for discussion!! We as parents have the role to teach children what is healthy and good for their bodies.
It’s our job to provide a few healthy meals and it’s their job to decide which option they want and how much of it they want to eat. My advice would be to offer all of your children the choice of two healthy snacks and get them to choose. If they don’t choose either option, then nothing else is offered and they go hungry until the next meal. Your seven year old will soon start eating healthier foods if nothing else is on offer. You can check out my 60 healthy snacks list HERE
My 3 year old is refusing to eat dinner at night. He has eaten well during the day and is not sick. Then in the middle of the night he wakes up ravenous. When he wakes crying I give him milk. How can I get him to eat his dinner and break this cycle?
I would first check to make sure that you were giving him Dinner early enough – is he becoming too tired to eat a proper meal?.... try a 4:30-5pm dinner (if this is practically possible). In addition offer him a dairy and fruit based supper eg fruit and yoghurt or custard which will hopefully help to sustain him overnight.
It certainly is a tough one, especially when you are sleep deprived and you just want a “quick fix”. When he cries out overnight, instead of milk, give him water…..or start with very diluted milk and quickly move him over to water. If he realises that all that he will get when he wakes up is water, he may be less inclined! It may be a bit of short term pain, for long term gain. :)
I need healthy quick and easy meals for my family because I work and I find it really hard to get my son to eat anything other than pasta!
I totally hear you! I would always encourage you to keep one of his favourite foods on the plate (safe food), but also encourage you to include some of the nutritious foods that you are eating on his plate or on a side learning plate. I have quick easy food ideas and recipes for picky eaters on my website HERE. I also have a 50 healthy kids recipe E-book for sale HERE.
References:
The Australian Infant Feeding Study - Summary and Recommendations, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9612114/
Dietary Fibre Intake in Children - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10145308/
Childhood picky eating and it’s relationship to nutrition - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6316224/
Fussy Eating Amongst children and their parents - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8308294/
Picky Eating in Children - Causes and Consequences - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6398579/