You are at your pediatrician’s office for a well-visit, and the doctor asks you to describe your toddler’s diet. You want to say they eat a variety of healthy foods, but in reality, your child refuses to look at anything green or remotely healthy and is hooked on pizza, chicken nuggets, and mac and cheese. Does this sound familiar? Don’t worry — you’re not alone, and we’re here to help! Let’s work together to find creative ways to get more fruits and vegetables into your picky eater.
Better Tricks for Better Eating Habits
You may have heard about ways to sneak healthy options into foods your child already likes, such as zucchini in muffins and blended broccoli into spaghetti sauce. While this is a great way to increase fruit and vegetable intake, there may be more long-term benefits in helping your child learn to want to eat these foods.
To help your child learn to eat healthy foods, here are some creative strategies for how to deal with picky eaters:
Lead by Example
Is it possible to eat at the same time as your child? If so, when you’re taking a bite of broccoli, offer your child a piece from your plate. For some reason, children tend to find food from someone else’s plate more appetizing.
Get Creative
Does your child love a certain animal or dinosaurs? Try labeling green foods as dinosaur food. Allow them to have a dinosaur at the table with them, who they can also “feed” the vegetables to. This makes mealtime exciting, and they don’t want their favorite animal to go hungry!
Make It Feel Special
Act as though eating fruits and vegetables is a very special thing to experience (because it is!). For instance, if your child is asking for a snack before dinner, explain to them that normally you wouldn’t let them have a snack that close to dinner, but they are very lucky to be offered these celery sticks with peanut butter or carrots with ranch, and they shouldn’t pass up this opportunity.
Give Them Control
Kids love to be the one in control. If they’re asking for a snack, give them a few options of only healthy foods. Aren’t they lucky to be getting big enough to be able to choose the snack rather than being told what snack they are getting? Having a variety of textures and temperatures with these options can also help. For example, they get to choose between an apple with peanut butter, raspberries in yogurt, bell pepper with hummus, or blueberries on a small waffle.
Chef-Inspired Healthy Foods for Families
Chef Robbie Jester has appeared on a number of cooking shows and challenges, and he helps kids by creating family-friendly recipes that taste good, look appealing, and hit the nutritional mark. Whether you’re packing a picnic lunch on-the-go, or you want to try a no-bake recipe where your kiddo can play sous chef — and you get to share something sweet at the end — here are two fun and nutritious creations to try at home from the Nemours Children’s “Face the Taste” challenge.
- Pickle and Turkey Pinwheels: Cute and portable, they’re packed with protein, fiber, and essential nutrients.
- Avocado Mousse: It’s so chocolatey, you can’t even believe it’s avocado. It’s sure to pass almost any picky eater test.
And if your child is ready to graduate, try this recipe that uses (gulp!) Brussels sprouts.
Patience, Pediatricians, and Extra Vitamins Help
We know how stressful it can be to want to feed your child healthy foods, but they simply refuse them. You are doing a great job by looking into creative options, and you can have plenty of fun with it yourself. Keep in mind that this season of parenting and childhood is temporary. Most children grow out of picky eating and go on to love many different and nutrient-dense foods. Picky eating disorder is rare and as a formal diagnosis it is referred to as avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID); it’s usually related to other medical conditions.
While working through this very common picky eating phase, be sure to talk to your pediatrician about having your child on a daily multivitamin to help make up for any areas where nutrients or vitamins may be lacking.
Written by: Anna Lackey, DO, a second-year pediatrics resident at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware
