Why picky eaters

If your child doesn't like or doesn't seem to be eating the foods that you have prepared for a meal or snack, it's okay. Avoid the temptation to return to the stove and cook foods that you know your child will eat. If your child refuses a meal or snack, there will be another one in a few hours and he or she should be able to wait until then. When children are hungry because they chose not to eat, they'll be more likely to eat what is offered next time.

Dessert does not need to be offered with every meal or even every day. When dessert is available, consider the following ideas:. When children are picky eaters, sometimes it is a response to controlling or pushy parents, or to bribery.

The battle over food can then lead to resistance and defiance from the child. Ultimately, it is the child's decision as to what to eat and whether or not to eat the foods you have provided. Sometimes, the child may eat very little or nothing at all, but he or she will make up the nutrition later that day or later in the week. It is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice of your child's doctor or other health care provider.

We encourage you to discuss any questions or concerns you may have with your child's provider. There are many ways to get fruits and vegetables into your child's diet. Read our tips and tricks, empower your child and get recipes. Establishing good eating habits requires effort from children and their parents. Read more about each of your responsibilities and what not to worry about. Is my child eating enough? How often should they have snacks? Get answers to pediatric nutrition FAQs and more.

Providing a pleasant mealtime atmosphere enables your child to focus on eating. Read our tips for making meals enjoyable, handling misbehavior and more. Patient Education A-Z. Share Responsibility As a parent, you have responsibilities for feeding your child. You control what, where and when food is provided. There may be a small subgroup of children in whom picky eating does not resolve who might be at risk of thinness during adolescence, or of developing an eating disorder or adult picky eating: these children need to be identified at an early age to enable support, monitoring and advice to be offered to parents.

Strategies for avoiding or ameliorating picky eating include repeated exposures to unfamiliar foods, parental modelling of eating fruit and vegetables and unfamiliar foods, and the creation of positive social experiences around mealtimes.

Abstract Picky eating is a common behaviour in early childhood. Publication types Research Support, Non-U. If your toddler refuses a meal, avoid fussing over it. If they ate a big breakfast or lunch , for example, they may not be interested in eating much the rest of the day.

Pressuring kids to eat, or punishing them if they don't, can make them actively dislike foods they may otherwise like. Break from bribes. Tempting as it may be, try not to bribe your children with treats for eating other foods.

This can make the "prize" food even more exciting, and the food you want them to try an unpleasant chore. It also can lead to nightly battles at the dinner table.

Try, try again. Just because a child refuses a food once, don't give up. Keep offering new foods and those your child didn't like before. Scheduled meals and limiting snacks can help ensure your child is hungry when a new food is introduced. Variety: the spice. Offer a variety of healthy foods, especially vegetables and fruits, and include higher protein foods like meat and deboned fish at least 2 times per week. Help your child explore new flavors and textures in food. Try adding different herbs and spices to simple meals to make them tastier.

To minimize waste, offer new foods in small amounts and wait at least a week or two before reintroducing the same food. 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.

Involve kids in meal planning. Put your toddler's growing interest in exercising control to good use. Let you child pick which fruit and vegetable to make for dinner or during visits to the grocery store or farmer's market.