Reduce Picky Eating with Repeated Exposures!
Struggling with picky eating behaviors? Repeated exposures work!
Have you heard the research about the average number of times it takes being exposed to a new food before a person will accept it? We used to think the number is around 8-10 but new research suggests the average number is closer to 20! And that’s neutral exposures, not exposures where the kiddo is being cajoled, pressured, poked, prodded to guilted into trying the food. For picky eaters, that number may be even higher.
As a pediatric dietitian, I hear so often from parents who tell me that after having put all this time into serving their kiddos a particular veggie or other new food they’ve worked hard to prepare, they get incredibly frustrated when no one eats it, so they decide never to make it again, because what’s the point if no one will eat it? I hope to convince you that there is indeed a point! Let me start by explaining first what I mean by “exposure.”
An example of an exposure does include tasting a food, BUT exposures also include:
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
giving it to the dog!
Playing with food is another a great way to expose kids to new foods without pressure. 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, add up to a greater likelihood that they'll accept it.⠀⠀
Example of a 17-month old boy playing with food to help reduce picky eating behaviors. Thank you this fabulous fellow’s wonderful parents for granting permission to share!
You never know which exposure will do the trick – whether on the 8th, 45th or 2000th exposure, they’ll suddenly appreciate the flavor of Brussels sprouts, but actually eating the food isn’t the only benefit of exposures. In fact, they may never even grow to like a food while living at home with you and exposing them still provides a benefit!
There is a study that looked at which foods were preferred by college students -- the study 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 received meal to meal. They also normalize healthy foods and imprint your kids with a template for how and what to eat later in life.
If you are struggling with fussy eaters, grab my FREE guide to reducing picky eating, or better yet, sign up for my online course for parents, called Solve Picky Eating.
And if you’re getting ready to start your baby on solids, or if your baby has recently begun his or her feeding journey and you need guidance on food sizing, balanced baby meals, introducing the top allergenic foods, and making sure baby is getting the important nutrients needed for growth and development during infancy, check out my new online course for parents, based on my best-selling book which will walk you through the whole process of starting solids using a baby-led approach.
Bottom line, repeatedly exposing your kiddos to different foods without pressure is a key strategy that goes a long way toward establishing in them a lifelong healthy relationship with food. Wishing you all the best on your parenting and feeding journey…