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Picky Eaters Are
Healthy Kids
By Beth Cline
Recently, I overheard a parent in a grocery store
explain her child’s picky eating habits to a friend.
Among a long list of specific foods the child would
not eat was anything squishy, any foods that had
touched on the plate and a new aversion to red foods
including but not limited to tomatoes, strawberries,
ketchup, beets, and even red Kool-Aid or Jell-O. She
went on to explain that the child would only eat
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on whole wheat
bread with the crust removed and cut in half
diagonally. To many parents, the habits of this
picky eater may sound familiar.
Picky eating can be perfectly normal behavior in
young children. In the first year of life, babies
eat and grow rapidly. Then, as their growth begins
to slow, so does their appetite. This means as
little as one meal and one snack a day may be plenty
filling for little stomachs. Children are more
sensitive to tastes- preferring sweet and mild to
bitter, spicy or sour flavors. Temperature and
texture of foods may also cause children’s
pickiness. Frozen foods tend to be embraced; hot
foods are shunned, and moist foods are better
received than dry ones.
Unless the child loses weight or stops gaining
weight over a drawn out period of time, picky eaters
are getting enough calories. Concerns about a
child’s nutritional diversity and caloric intake can
be addressed by simply making a list of foods the
child enjoys. Many parents are surprised to find the
list is longer, and more varied, than expected.
Dealing with picky eating is a matter of creativity
and patience. Every parent of a finicky eater is
bound to get frustrated at one point or another.
Here are some things to remember when dealing with a
picky child:
• Buy, prepare and offer healthy foods.
• If a child refuses to eat, don’t push or
punish them. It will only turn them off of a
particular food or food group even more.
• Avoid bribing children with one food to get
them to eat another. This reinforces that one
food is better than the other (i.e. if they down
the broccoli, they will get to enjoy a dessert).
• Children are learning to respond to their
body’s signals for hunger and fullness. Allow
them to eat when they are hungry, even if it is
not at a designated meal or snack time. When
they are full, do not force them to clean their
plates- this will only lead to overeating and
put them at risk for childhood obesity.
• Set an example. If the parent tries a new
food, or enjoys healthful ones, the child is
more likely to emulate that action.
• Don’t offer a special or separate meal to
picky eaters. Offer them a variety at each meal,
and if they are hungry enough, they will find
something to eat. If not, offer them healthy
snack options at a later time.
Many children use eating as a way of expressing
independence. They can’t control most aspects of
their lives, but they can control what they put in
their mouth. Allow them to exert this control by
asking for their input on meals and snacks. However,
help them make decisions in a controlled manner.
Instead of asking an open-ended question about what
they would like for a snack, try giving children a
choice between two healthy foods (would you like a
carrot sticks or a banana?). Here are some other
ideas for helping children make healthy choices:
• Allow children to help with the shopping and
dinner preparation. While they may not be able
to readily identify a food they like, it is
easier to point it out in the store or
refrigerator.
• Have a ‘new food night’ each week. Rotate
which family member chooses the new food for
everyone to try.
• Offer foods repeatedly over time. One study
suggests a child must be exposed to a new food
as many as 15 times before they will be willing
to try it.
• For children who won’t readily put anything
healthy on their plate, insist they take one
bite of a new food, and if they don’t like it,
praise their willingness to try a new thing and
move on.
• Make food fun by using cookie cutters to
create fun shapes for sandwiches.
• Give some new kid-friendly recipes a try, like
this one, recommended by Sunkist:
o Citrus Yogurt Sundaes
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8 oz. lowfat vanilla yogurt
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1 tsp. freshly grated Sunkist® orange
peel
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1 tsp. freshly grated Sunkist®
grapefruit peel
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2 Sunkist® grapefruit, peeled and
sectioned
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2 Sunkist® oranges, peeled and cut into
half-cartwheel slices
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2 bananas, sliced
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1 cup blueberries, strawberries,
raspberries, or seedless grapes
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¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
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1 tsp. sugar
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To make one portion: Combine the yogurt,
orange and grapefruit peels; cover and
chill. In a large bowl, combine all the
remaining ingredients; cover and chill.
To serve, spoon fruit mixture into
individual dessert dishes and top with
the yogurt. Makes 6 servings.
Remember for most children, picky eating is a phase
and they will grow out of it. Whether it’s a
new-found dislike for foods of a certain color, or a
specific meal a child just won’t touch, the best
thing parents can do is offer a child healthy
choices.
Articles in the Healthy Kids Series are presented by
the Marine Corps Marathon Healthy Kids Fun Run to be
held on Saturday, October 28, 2006. The one-mile run
welcomes children ages 6-13. Registration is now
open at
www.marinemarathon.com . Beth Cline is the
Public Relations Coordinator for the Marine Corps
Marathon. No federal or Marine Corps endorsement
implied.
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