How to Get a Picky Eater to Try New Foods

At my house, dinner often looks like grass-fed rib eye, grilled to medium rare with salt and pepper, and broccoli roasted with avocado oil and cooked ‘til crispy. It’s satisfying, satiating, and metabolically in line with the way I like to eat.

Dinner probably looks fairly similar at your place too. Only while grilling up your perfect cut of steak, you might also be firing up a big pot of mac ‘n cheese or popping some dino nuggets and waffle fries into the oven for the picky eaters in your household. Especially if your kids are used to conventional, Standard American Diet type fare.

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Aren’t Kids Supposed to Eat Kid Food?

This is a question I get a lot from my health coaching clients. And my answer typically sounds something like, “only if you want them to become part of the growing epidemic of folks struggling with obesity and type 2 diabeteshttps://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/involvement-in-home-meal-preparation-is-associated-with-food-preference-and-selfefficacy-among-canadian-children/C4347E7475C945893A82B19E5F93CC90‘>³ showed that children who were involved with food prep were more likely to make healthy choices at mealtime.

In the study, one-third of the kids surveyed said they helped their mom and dad up to 3 times per week, while one-quarter of them helped about once a month, and 12.4% didn’t help at all.

While the frequency of involvement differed (3 times per week vs once a month), the result was the same. Kids who helped their parents in the kitchen were more interested in eating healthy foods like vegetables than their non-helping peers.The data also showed that kids who participated in meal prep were more confident about the importance of making healthier food choices for themselves.

Does that mean that once you start cooking together they’re going to be begging for an extra serving of kale salad before bed? No. But they might start asking for full fat yogurt instead of ice cream. Or enjoying roasted chicken instead of the processed nugget variety.

My How-to Guide for Getting Picky Eaters to Eat

So, how do you do it? Check out these 9 strategies for turning a picky eater’s habits around. These are the same tips I use with my health coaching clients to make mealtime less stressful. Give them a try — I’m confident they’ll work for you too.

1. Don’t force it

No one likes to be pressured into trying new things, especially if they’re someone who already has a preconceived aversion to it. It might be tempting to force-feed your family, after all you are the parent, but there’s a good chance it will backfire. Studies show that kids who have a history of being pressured to eat continued to dislike those foods long into adulthood.https://eetonderzoek.nl/wp-content/uploads/publikaties/havermans_en_jansen_appetite2007.pdf‘>⁵ Dips and sauces are a great way to combine an unfamiliar food with something kids know and love.

5. Walk the talk

I’m assuming that you’re well-versed in the benefits of the Primal lifestyle, but if you’re doing more talking than walking, your kids could be getting mixed messages. Notice the foods you keep in the house and what your meals look like. Be a positive role model whenever and wherever you can.

6. Avoid being too strict

It’s easy to go overboard in the all-non-Primal-foods-are-evil department, so you’ve decided every processed food is off-limits, you might want to back off a little. Make simple swaps like fresh fruit instead of juice or an occasional treat made with better-for-you ingredients.

7. Try new things

There’s a correlation between the number of new foods you feed your family and your picky eater’s willingness to eat them, so keep at it. Repetition and continuing to reintroduce foods (without force or frustration) has been linked to an increased liking of those foods.