Increasing the variety of different foods in your child’s diet can take time. You should remember that this is not a short term goal of increasing the nutritional intake but more a long term aim to help them have a healthy attitude to new foods.
Children can be very fixed in their food choices and this can make it difficult for them to try new things. This is especially true with pre-school children. It can also be very hard for older children to try new foods when they are used to eating the same foods which they may consider ‘safe’. It is very important not to ‘trick’ your child; otherwise, they are unlikely to trust food. This is about building a good relationship with foods.
How to choose the new food to try?
Choosing where to start with new foods can be challenging. You can ask your child if there is anything that they would like to try for example, a friend’s favourite food, a dish in a favourite restaurant or a type of food they see other people have regularly. You could also take them to the supermarket and choose one or two new foods that they would like to try. Often children may not come up with suggestions themselves and this is where it can be helpful to try food linking.
Food linking is where you take a food that the child likes and make small changes in shape, texture or flavour to broaden the choices. By making these changes slowly and predictably it can help the child feel more confident in trying new things.
Some examples and suggestions are listed below:
| The food a child eats comfortably | Suggested things to try |
|---|---|
| The food a child eats comfortably Yogurt |
Suggested things to try
• Same flavour yogurt of a different brand • Custard pots and jelly in pots • Squeezy yogurts • Yogurt spooned out into a bowl and add a topping e.g. sprinkles/chocolate buttons/raisins/desiccated coconut • Freeze the yogurt and try it as an ice-cream once they like ice cream you can also try sorbets • Natural yogurt which you can then add savoury flavours to e.g. curry powder, garlic, mint • Mix fruit puree into the yogurt – start with a very small amount e.g. ¼ teaspoon and increase gradually |
| The food a child eats comfortably Crisps |
Suggested things to try
• Same brand but a different flavour • Same flavour different brand • Different consistency of crisp e.g. a stick like crisp, bite and dissolve crisp, a wave shaped crisp, • Savoury flavoured crackers • Breadsticks • Flavoured nuts (for children over the age of five) • Very crispy bacon• |
| The food a child eats comfortably Chips |
Suggested things to try
• A different shaped chip e.g. curly fries, thick cut, thin cut • Cooked potato in a different form e.g. waffle, smiley face, letter shape, croquettes • Potato wedges From this you can try potato in different forms – roast potatoes, jacket potatoes, mashed potato |
| The food a child eats comfortably Bread |
Suggested things to try
• Same type e.g. white bread but different brand/thickness, slice size • Rolls • Pitta bread/English muffins/bagel • Brioche/croissant • Pizza base or add toppings to the accepted bread to make ‘pizza’ |
| The food a child eats comfortably One type of fruit |
Suggested things to try
• Cut it into different shapes/sized pieces • Try it in different forms e.g. mashed/pureed/cooked/dried • Use it in a smoothie and then add other fruits to it • Cook it into biscuits/cakes/puddings |
It is important to remember that this can all take a long time and that repeated exposures to food are needed for the child to become more familiar and comfortable with it.
The following are some ideas that can help when trying new foods:
Family choices
Remember that this is not all about the child and as a family you can lead by example. You can visit the supermarket and choose a food that is new to you all or retry a food that you are less keen on to show the child that you too are open to trying new things. Think about how you feel if you are given an unfamiliar or disliked food – this can help you understand how it might make your child feel.
Using a serving plate
Have the main meal and side dishes in serving bowls on the table and encourage family members to help themselves. If your child is not keen on having the food on their own plate ask them to serve the other family members or have a small portion on a plate beside theirs.
Touch, kiss, lick, bite
Take the focus away from eating the new food and encourage the child to become more familiar with it by getting closer to eating it. You can use a sticker chart to encourage your child to touch the food initially, then work towards putting it in their mouth by kissing it, licking it and finally biting it. See separate hand-out on the use of rewards.
Reactions to trying foods
If your child is exploring the new food or beginning to try tasting it, it is important to think about how your reaction might influence them. Be encouraging but matter of fact whatever their reaction. Let them spit the food into a bowl if necessary and ask the child to think about the food in other ways. For example, to describe the colour of the food, or whether it was sweet or savoury, smooth or lumpy, wet or dry etc.
Talking about and looking at progress
You can use a scrap book to cut out pictures from magazines/papers of foods that you would like to try or foods that have been tried. You can add photos of your child trying some foods and write down any comments about it they may have. Add in some pictures of foods they already like and enjoy as well.
Remember that this can feel very challenging to the child and family and can take a long time. Progress can be slow so try not to do too many things at once. Choose one or two foods or techniques to try and stick with these for a few weeks and be led by the child. We would be happy to talk you through these techniques in more detail or if you need guidance on how to move forward.
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