Even the most nutritious meal won't do any good if a child won't eat it.
Some children are picky eaters. The more variety a child has, the healthier they will tend to eat.
There are ways to get even the pickiest eaters to eat healthier.
If your child refuses one food from a food group, try another from the same food group. Try it many times. They 6 times is the minimum for trying new foods.
This is one example and we have many more for your picky eater. Listen as Autumn Kumlien, RD offers up great tips to get your little ones and bigger ones to try a wide variety of foods!
Selected Podcast
Do You Have a Picky Eater? Tips to Get Your Little Ones to Eat New Foods
Featured Speaker:
Autumn Kumlien, RD
Autumn Kumlien, BS RDN CD, is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with Stoughton Hospital, with over 12 years of experience as a clinical dietitian, consultant dietitian, and instructor of nutrition at the college level. Autumn received a BS degree in Dietetics and a BS degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2002. She completed a Didactic Internship at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in May of 2003. A mother of a 7 year old daughter and 2 year old son, she finds many opportunities to get her children to eat more fruits and vegetables! Transcription:
Do You Have a Picky Eater? Tips to Get Your Little Ones to Eat New Foods
Melanie Cole (Host): Do you have a picky eater? Have you thought of everything to try and get your child to eat healthy foods? Well, we have a lot of tips that you probably haven’t thought of. My guest today is Autumn Kumlien. She’s a registered dietitian/nutritionist at Stoughton Hospital. Welcome to the show, Autumn. Tell us about picky eaters. What are we supposed to do if you have a child that just won’t eat their vegetables?
Autumn Kumlien (Guest): Okay. Well, basically, being a picky eater, that can be quite a natural state for young children. It’s an instinctive desire for sweet and salty foods, where we have kind of an instinctive aversion to sour and bitter taste. I think that’s left over from caveman days so they wouldn’t go wander off and nibble on poisonous plants and berries. So, totally not their fault, but we need to find ways to get these picky eaters to eat more fruits and vegetables. There’s lots of things you can do. One of the biggest things to do is patience. A lot of times, parents will try different fruits and vegetables, and at the first introduction, the child turns their nose up and they clearly show that they’re not interested, do not like it, and then the parent never shows them that food again or serves that food again. The child has never experienced it as their taste buds have been changing and seeing that introduction more than once. Studies show that it can take up to a dozen introductions of the same exact food before a child will accept that new food. So being really conscious of that and being patient and just showing it in many different ways, presenting it in different ways in which they might enjoy it. Also, being careful of statements that you make of when they’re trying different foods not being a reward system. So, not saying, “Well, if you eat all your vegetables, you’re going to get dessert.” That associates with overeating. You want to make sure that you give them opportunity and options. It’s parents’ responsibility to buy the food, cook the food, serve the food, and serve regular meals and have healthy options available, but it’s the child’s decision and it’s their goal and job to choose how much and when they’re going to eat. A lot of parents get really nervous with that when the kids go on food jags and they only want to eat one food for a very long period of time and they eat it for a long period of time until one day they won’t eat it any longer at all. You shouldn’t get too nervous about that. It will work itself out. But while you are having them enjoy the food that they typically are always requesting, you want to be introducing some of these other foods, fruits and vegetables that maybe they are less familiar with to get them to try them. Those are just some quick ones right away to think about. Another thing is leading by example. Children are not going to eat fruits and vegetables if you are not showing them that you’re eating them. They’re very into copycatting, and they like to follow what parents do, especially toddlers. Toddlers are very busy. They don’t want to sit very long. So you need to make sure that there’s a lot of their familiar foods as well as introduction of a new food in with that familiar food to get them to eat that new food. Other things is spending time with them, having them help you pick out the fruits and vegetables in the grocery store if they’re able. A little bit older than a toddler, they might be able to even help you in the kitchen with the food preparation. So when children are involved in the picking of the food and the cooking of the food, they are more apt to try the food.
Melanie: I think that’s a great point, Autumn. Really, if you get your children involved in planting the seeds in the garden, helping you pull those vegetables from the garden or choose them at the grocery store and then say, “Let’s prepare this together,” they’re more likely to try that. So it’s so important that you point out parents as role models because I bet as a registered dietitian/nutritionist, you see parents who say, “They won’t eat this,” but that parent themselves don’t like those.
Autumn: Yes, very true.
Melanie: So the parents have to be that really, really good role model. Give us some more.
Autumn: Okay. A lot of times we do have these picky eaters and we need to think about making them more adventuresome. Even trying new restaurants and different restaurants can turn your picky eater into more of a foodie and getting them to experience other than just your traditional Mexican and Italian cuisine but trying other foods out there that they maybe have never experienced. Then keeping in mind, children’s taste buds, they change all the time. One thing we use in our house is try it because today might be the day you like it. Then they try it, and if they still don’t like it, that’s okay, we’ll try it again another time. Maybe we’ll try it cooked first as raw or try a vegetable with a dip instead of just plain. There’s different ways to get them interested that way. Other things to get picky eaters more involved in eating and eating more appropriately is to make their meals and their foods toddler-friendly. We think about putting them in a big high chair and their feet are dangling and they might not be the most comfortable, but bringing things down to their level, having a small table and chairs, having plates and cups and silverware that is more kid-friendly their size for their little small hands. Doing those types of things, turning down TV and loud music and loud conversation, because especially toddlers, they’re very distracted by all of that, and so they’ll spend less time eating. If it’s quieter, they will tend to eat more. Other things are make it interesting, make it fun. You can use cookie cutters to cut almost anything into fun shapes and try to vary the color to make sure that you have not just one color scheme on their plate but that you have multiple color schemes on there to keep them interested. Some other things that you can do has to do with parents trying to hide food, hide vegetables in the cooking to get children to eat it. The question is: is that a good thing to do or not? Well, it can be beneficial to give them some extra stuff, but they also need to see that food in its true form, because if it’s always hidden, they really haven’t gotten an opportunity to explore that food and learn what it really tastes like and to become familiar with it. It’s okay to sneak carrot shreds into your meatloaf or into your tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce, but serving it as well on the side and trying some of those sweeter ones initially then carrots and sweet potatoes are usually more accepted by children because of the sweet taste that they have. So, not always hiding it but also encouraging them in the other ways of seeing the real food.
Melanie: Autumn, what do you say to parents who say, “Well, I make a separate meal because they just won’t eat the lasagna that I make” or, “They only like their noodles plain—no butter, no olive oil on them—so I just make them a separate meal that I make everybody else”? What do you tell those parents?
Autumn: Okay, that’s something that I always caution against doing. It’s kind of a big red flag there. You don’t want to be a short order cook. If children are hungry enough, they will eat. And I think a lot of parents freak out before they should in terms of thinking that, “Oh, if I don’t feed them what they really want, then they’re gonna go hungry.” Well, they won’t. Eventually, they will give in and realize that there are other foods that they like. It’s presenting again maybe an option that they do really enjoy, like a vegetable or fruit that they do enjoy, along with something that’s new—so, there’s a familiar food with that new food—but not setting yourself up for having expectation that they’re always going to want you to prepare a second meal for them. If they’re hungry enough, they will eat. Just making the eating environment very pleasant for them and relaxed so that they are more apt to try. And don’t be afraid. They’re not going to starve.
Melanie: Do we let our kids say “yuck”? Or if they look at somebody else’s food -- our school had a policy, “Don’t yuck my yum.” Don’t say that another kid’s food looks yucky to you. If you’re sitting at the dinner table and your child turns their nose up or makes some comment, do we put up with that?
Autumn: I would say probably not, but I would try to encourage the child to come up with another maybe more descriptive word. What about it either does look appealing? Maybe be more on the positive. What looks appealing about that food? Or more specifically, since you haven’t tasted it, what do you think you dislike about it, and maybe talk about that. And find out that well, I don’t like cooked vegetables. Well, okay, maybe they like it raw. But yeah, it’s not a good idea to do that. And I think that’s a very good policy, don’t yuck someone else’s yum. I’ve not heard of that, but I think that’s important to realize that people have different tastes and different food preferences and that’s okay. We all don’t have to eat the same things, and all our taste buds are different in terms of what we enjoy.
Melanie: It’s great advice. In just the last minute, Autumn, if you would, give your best advice to parents with picky eaters and getting those kids really to try a wide variety of foods because research does show that the wider variety, the healthier choices that children are more likely to make and take into their adulthood. Give your best advice on why they should come to Stoughton Hospital for some good nutrition advice.
Autumn: Well, I think it’s very important to get the colors. Think about the rainbow when you are planning your meals or your kids’ meals, not staying with one color, making it very drab, but very colorful. We know no two fruits and vegetables have the same nutrients, so we need to get variety out there, whether it be fresh and frozen or cooked or raw, however you’re going to choose to eat it. But getting it variety all the time. Studies do show that kids do pretty well. They may not look on a day-to-day basis like they do, but over a week’s time, usually their intake is pretty good, especially some of our toddlers. But it’s trying to encourage them to get that variety. Think about the plate model, their plate divided into four. You’ve got your fruits and vegetables and you’ve got your grain and you’ve got your meat. They’re getting all those major food groups and a side of milk or dairy products as well and getting all that nutrition because again, they’re not going to get it all from one food store, so they need to really vary it up and make sure that they’re exploring and trying different foods that they maybe never had before as well as with their comfort food.
Melanie: Thank you so much for such great information. You’re listening to Stoughton Hospital Health Talk. For more information, you can go to stoughtonhospital.com. That’s stoughtonhospital.com. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks for listening.
Do You Have a Picky Eater? Tips to Get Your Little Ones to Eat New Foods
Melanie Cole (Host): Do you have a picky eater? Have you thought of everything to try and get your child to eat healthy foods? Well, we have a lot of tips that you probably haven’t thought of. My guest today is Autumn Kumlien. She’s a registered dietitian/nutritionist at Stoughton Hospital. Welcome to the show, Autumn. Tell us about picky eaters. What are we supposed to do if you have a child that just won’t eat their vegetables?
Autumn Kumlien (Guest): Okay. Well, basically, being a picky eater, that can be quite a natural state for young children. It’s an instinctive desire for sweet and salty foods, where we have kind of an instinctive aversion to sour and bitter taste. I think that’s left over from caveman days so they wouldn’t go wander off and nibble on poisonous plants and berries. So, totally not their fault, but we need to find ways to get these picky eaters to eat more fruits and vegetables. There’s lots of things you can do. One of the biggest things to do is patience. A lot of times, parents will try different fruits and vegetables, and at the first introduction, the child turns their nose up and they clearly show that they’re not interested, do not like it, and then the parent never shows them that food again or serves that food again. The child has never experienced it as their taste buds have been changing and seeing that introduction more than once. Studies show that it can take up to a dozen introductions of the same exact food before a child will accept that new food. So being really conscious of that and being patient and just showing it in many different ways, presenting it in different ways in which they might enjoy it. Also, being careful of statements that you make of when they’re trying different foods not being a reward system. So, not saying, “Well, if you eat all your vegetables, you’re going to get dessert.” That associates with overeating. You want to make sure that you give them opportunity and options. It’s parents’ responsibility to buy the food, cook the food, serve the food, and serve regular meals and have healthy options available, but it’s the child’s decision and it’s their goal and job to choose how much and when they’re going to eat. A lot of parents get really nervous with that when the kids go on food jags and they only want to eat one food for a very long period of time and they eat it for a long period of time until one day they won’t eat it any longer at all. You shouldn’t get too nervous about that. It will work itself out. But while you are having them enjoy the food that they typically are always requesting, you want to be introducing some of these other foods, fruits and vegetables that maybe they are less familiar with to get them to try them. Those are just some quick ones right away to think about. Another thing is leading by example. Children are not going to eat fruits and vegetables if you are not showing them that you’re eating them. They’re very into copycatting, and they like to follow what parents do, especially toddlers. Toddlers are very busy. They don’t want to sit very long. So you need to make sure that there’s a lot of their familiar foods as well as introduction of a new food in with that familiar food to get them to eat that new food. Other things is spending time with them, having them help you pick out the fruits and vegetables in the grocery store if they’re able. A little bit older than a toddler, they might be able to even help you in the kitchen with the food preparation. So when children are involved in the picking of the food and the cooking of the food, they are more apt to try the food.
Melanie: I think that’s a great point, Autumn. Really, if you get your children involved in planting the seeds in the garden, helping you pull those vegetables from the garden or choose them at the grocery store and then say, “Let’s prepare this together,” they’re more likely to try that. So it’s so important that you point out parents as role models because I bet as a registered dietitian/nutritionist, you see parents who say, “They won’t eat this,” but that parent themselves don’t like those.
Autumn: Yes, very true.
Melanie: So the parents have to be that really, really good role model. Give us some more.
Autumn: Okay. A lot of times we do have these picky eaters and we need to think about making them more adventuresome. Even trying new restaurants and different restaurants can turn your picky eater into more of a foodie and getting them to experience other than just your traditional Mexican and Italian cuisine but trying other foods out there that they maybe have never experienced. Then keeping in mind, children’s taste buds, they change all the time. One thing we use in our house is try it because today might be the day you like it. Then they try it, and if they still don’t like it, that’s okay, we’ll try it again another time. Maybe we’ll try it cooked first as raw or try a vegetable with a dip instead of just plain. There’s different ways to get them interested that way. Other things to get picky eaters more involved in eating and eating more appropriately is to make their meals and their foods toddler-friendly. We think about putting them in a big high chair and their feet are dangling and they might not be the most comfortable, but bringing things down to their level, having a small table and chairs, having plates and cups and silverware that is more kid-friendly their size for their little small hands. Doing those types of things, turning down TV and loud music and loud conversation, because especially toddlers, they’re very distracted by all of that, and so they’ll spend less time eating. If it’s quieter, they will tend to eat more. Other things are make it interesting, make it fun. You can use cookie cutters to cut almost anything into fun shapes and try to vary the color to make sure that you have not just one color scheme on their plate but that you have multiple color schemes on there to keep them interested. Some other things that you can do has to do with parents trying to hide food, hide vegetables in the cooking to get children to eat it. The question is: is that a good thing to do or not? Well, it can be beneficial to give them some extra stuff, but they also need to see that food in its true form, because if it’s always hidden, they really haven’t gotten an opportunity to explore that food and learn what it really tastes like and to become familiar with it. It’s okay to sneak carrot shreds into your meatloaf or into your tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce, but serving it as well on the side and trying some of those sweeter ones initially then carrots and sweet potatoes are usually more accepted by children because of the sweet taste that they have. So, not always hiding it but also encouraging them in the other ways of seeing the real food.
Melanie: Autumn, what do you say to parents who say, “Well, I make a separate meal because they just won’t eat the lasagna that I make” or, “They only like their noodles plain—no butter, no olive oil on them—so I just make them a separate meal that I make everybody else”? What do you tell those parents?
Autumn: Okay, that’s something that I always caution against doing. It’s kind of a big red flag there. You don’t want to be a short order cook. If children are hungry enough, they will eat. And I think a lot of parents freak out before they should in terms of thinking that, “Oh, if I don’t feed them what they really want, then they’re gonna go hungry.” Well, they won’t. Eventually, they will give in and realize that there are other foods that they like. It’s presenting again maybe an option that they do really enjoy, like a vegetable or fruit that they do enjoy, along with something that’s new—so, there’s a familiar food with that new food—but not setting yourself up for having expectation that they’re always going to want you to prepare a second meal for them. If they’re hungry enough, they will eat. Just making the eating environment very pleasant for them and relaxed so that they are more apt to try. And don’t be afraid. They’re not going to starve.
Melanie: Do we let our kids say “yuck”? Or if they look at somebody else’s food -- our school had a policy, “Don’t yuck my yum.” Don’t say that another kid’s food looks yucky to you. If you’re sitting at the dinner table and your child turns their nose up or makes some comment, do we put up with that?
Autumn: I would say probably not, but I would try to encourage the child to come up with another maybe more descriptive word. What about it either does look appealing? Maybe be more on the positive. What looks appealing about that food? Or more specifically, since you haven’t tasted it, what do you think you dislike about it, and maybe talk about that. And find out that well, I don’t like cooked vegetables. Well, okay, maybe they like it raw. But yeah, it’s not a good idea to do that. And I think that’s a very good policy, don’t yuck someone else’s yum. I’ve not heard of that, but I think that’s important to realize that people have different tastes and different food preferences and that’s okay. We all don’t have to eat the same things, and all our taste buds are different in terms of what we enjoy.
Melanie: It’s great advice. In just the last minute, Autumn, if you would, give your best advice to parents with picky eaters and getting those kids really to try a wide variety of foods because research does show that the wider variety, the healthier choices that children are more likely to make and take into their adulthood. Give your best advice on why they should come to Stoughton Hospital for some good nutrition advice.
Autumn: Well, I think it’s very important to get the colors. Think about the rainbow when you are planning your meals or your kids’ meals, not staying with one color, making it very drab, but very colorful. We know no two fruits and vegetables have the same nutrients, so we need to get variety out there, whether it be fresh and frozen or cooked or raw, however you’re going to choose to eat it. But getting it variety all the time. Studies do show that kids do pretty well. They may not look on a day-to-day basis like they do, but over a week’s time, usually their intake is pretty good, especially some of our toddlers. But it’s trying to encourage them to get that variety. Think about the plate model, their plate divided into four. You’ve got your fruits and vegetables and you’ve got your grain and you’ve got your meat. They’re getting all those major food groups and a side of milk or dairy products as well and getting all that nutrition because again, they’re not going to get it all from one food store, so they need to really vary it up and make sure that they’re exploring and trying different foods that they maybe never had before as well as with their comfort food.
Melanie: Thank you so much for such great information. You’re listening to Stoughton Hospital Health Talk. For more information, you can go to stoughtonhospital.com. That’s stoughtonhospital.com. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks for listening.