Very few people have children that spring at the chance to eat any food at any time. We don’t usually see toddlers snacking on kale and lettuce!
At Gowrie NSW, we understand the challenges of having a fussy eater. With over 84 years of experience in early childhood education and partnering with families, we know how to create happy, healthy lives for all children, even the picky ones! That's why our Early Education and Care Centres and OOSH Programs provide meals and snacks that meet children’s nutrient needs, focusing on growth, development, and making mealtimes enjoyable.
Our Gowrie NSW cooks’ network recently teamed up with The Biting Truth to revamp our children's menu. We've boosted the inclusion of whole foods and reviewed dietary guidelines for children aged 0-5 years. This initiative is designed to benefit even the fussiest eaters. Our menu caters to children’s allergies and includes seasonal substitutes, making it versatile and appealing. Feedback from our centres across NSW shows that children are not only enjoying the variety but also exploring new foods.
It's natural to worry
As a parent, it is your natural instinct to worry about your child. Add to the mix your child refusing and avoiding certain foods - this can be a pretty big source of stress. It’s important to know that fussy eating is a normal, common part of childhood. Choosing what to eat, what is safe, enjoyable and familiar, is part of a child’s development.
Dealing with a fussy child can be stressful, so let's break down how to help your child discover and explore foods, and maintain your own sanity!
Firstly - Understanding Your Child's Fussy Eating
Despite how common fussy eating is, it is still pretty difficult to deal with - and can lead to anxiety, tension and stress surrounding meal times.
It’s common for your child to like one food one day, and refuse it another. It’s also common for your child to eat less or more, day to day. Frustrating and confusing for sure, we get it - but at the same time this is very, very normal.
Your child can be sensitive to certain smells, tastes and textures, which can cause avoidance of particular foods and food groups.
Your child’s fussy eating can also be caused by:
- Anxiety around trying new foods
- Early feeding difficulties
- General disinterest in food
- Late introduction of lumpy foods in feeding
- Negative feeding experiences - choking, difficulty swallowing
- Being neurodivergent
- Neurodevelopmental disorders
Managing this stage of development can be tough, but there are strategies and methods that can be implemented, to help your child make some progress.
Have Regular Family Meals
Having family meals at around the same time everyday can create a positive experience for your child, to look forward to and enjoy the safety of family. By having a predictable routine, your child can learn to build healthier habits, and be encouraged to eat what others are eating.
Seeing an older sibling eating a particular food that your little one has an aversion to, may encourage them to try some. Younger siblings look up to their older ones, modelling their behaviour - lean on this!
Start Small - Offer Small Amounts of New Foods
Introducing your child to different flavours, textures and sensations on a regular basis can help pre existing fussiness from progressing. By starting small, with regular introduction of variety, your child can learn that food is safe.
Plating up a full meal of unfamiliar food can be overwhelming for your child! This meal with different smells, flavours and textures, can cause aversion and anxiety.Instead, start with familiar meals, and smaller portions of new foods on the side.
Start with foods that aren’t too different to their safe foods - this may look like:
- Adding a small amount of a different fruit to a fruit salad
- Offering bite sized portions with safe foods as the main
- Allowing them to see the preparation and cooking
- Offering a new food of a similar texture and consistency to a safe food
Did you know that a new food needs to be introduced 13 (yes, thirteen) times before it is accepted readily?
Make Food Fun - Get Involved!
Children often have sensitivities to colours, textures and flavours of food.
No child looks at a bowl of green leafy veg, or a meat stew and thinks that it looks appetising - with time, familiarity with these flavours can be created into positive associations.
Food can be made fun! It can be made into a positive, enjoyable experience - encouraging play, connection, and learning.
Involving your child in the cooking process can create a routine to look forward to. It makes a big difference to let them help in food preparation. This can look like:
- Cutting the vegetables together
- Peeling the potatoes (safely - with guidance!)
- Baking muffins together
- Cutting foods into fun shapes
- Organising into different colours
This creates fun, food as play, and excitement about eating something they have helped prepare.
Avoid Pressuring
There's nothing helpful about making threats about finishing their plate.
Telling your child that they remain at the table until the plate is clean just creates negative associations with meal times, and you don’t want their relationship with food to be built from a traumatic experience. Validate that. Understand that for your child, food may not be safe. Food may not be their friend.
Pressuring them, and showing frustration does not help them discover that food is their friend. It can’t stem from fear of mum and dad getting angry.
Tell Them About All The Fun Stuff
Avoid using good/bad language about food. Instead, teach them the positives around certain foods - which can encourage them to try something new.
Conversations around this might look like:
- ‘This yoghurt is full of goodness, which can help give you strong and healthy bones’
- ‘This chicken is great protein, for your muscles to grow’
- ‘This fruit is full of vitamins to help you get better when you are sick’
- ‘Fish is for your brain to work, and your eyes to be strong to see in the dark’
You will make much more progress by fostering and nurturing positive associations with food - and show that food is more than something that can cause anxiety for them.
Will They Just ‘Grow Out of It?’
Sometimes, fussy eating isn’t something your child just ‘grows out of’.
If your child has a persistent aversion to food, which is delaying their growth and development - it is important to look for support.
This may look like:
- Arguments around meal times
- Sensory discomfort with food
- Complete refusal of many foods
- Refusing to eat due to a fear of a negative consequence - vomiting, choking
- Disinterest in foods
If your child is experiencing these symptoms, they could be signs that they are experiencing an eating disorder called avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID).
Children with ARFID are highly selective eaters, which can lead to delays in growth and development. Despite this, it’s important to remember that this is not a common diagnosis, and many children who are picky eaters do not have this eating disorder.
Your child being a picky eater is not an immediate sign of an eating disorder. Again, it is a common part of a child's growth and development!
Only a health professional can make this diagnosis, so seek support if you are concerned.
Finding Support
If you are worried about your child's picky eating, reaching out for support can be helpful for both you and your child.
Chatting to your child’s educator, or seeing your GP/paediatrician can be a great first step in organising referrals and a plan going forward.
A paediatric dietitian and child psychologist can work together to help your child mend their relationship with food. They can encourage your little one to practise healthy eating habits, and break down any fear they have towards particular foods.
Ultimately - It Can Be Managed
Don’t freak out! For so many, this is just a phase. It is a normal, human part of growth and development. By implementing these strategies, you can help your child build a varied, diverse diet. You can help your child build healthy habits around food and eating.
