Editor's Note: Recently, the media has put a great deal of attention on the food that children eat.  From news reports to television shows, you can't help put see it everywhere.  However, if you're the parent of a "picky" eater, you may feel overwhelmed because your child wants nothing to do with these foods.  It is for all of those parents, that we've invited Carolyn Vaughn, RD, LDN, a clinical nutritionist at Le Bonheur Children's, to share some advice for parents with picky eaters.  If you missed part one, click here to read it.

by Carolyn Vaughn, RD, LDN
Clinical Nutritionist

Kids want to please their parents and they like attention; use these natural tendencies to shape their behavior.  For instance, when your child doesn’t like something, just ignore it; making a big deal out of it teaches them that not liking food gets them attention.  It begins to define them the more you draw attention to it. 

Additionally, speak in terms of expectancy.  Try saying, “You just don’t like it yet.  You just aren’t old enough.”  Kids want to feel big and using this wording suggests to them that someday they will.  Now they have a motivation for liking it because you have attached the idea of being older with liking the new food. 

When kids try new foods, give them permission to just lick, put it in the mouth and politely spit it back out in a napkin, or putting in mouth and swallowing.  These are all tastes that are not necessarily associated with eating.  They will be much more likely to try a new food if they know they don’t have to eat it. 

When they do try a new food, praise them.  When my daughter was a toddler and tried a new food, I would do the “you tried a new food” dance.  She would laugh so much and would try a new food just to watch me make a fool out of myself.  Now I realize this isn’t for everyone, but at 8 years old, she is in the habit of trying new foods even without the dance. 

Do not cook a meal based on what you know your child will eat.  Give what you want them to have.  If they don’t eat it, that’s okay.  Children do not starve themselves.  Just don’t let them munch on a snack within another 3 hours.  Hunger is a big motivator to try new food.  Make sure that next snack is a healthy alternative to the meal food. 

The goal is to develop a child who wants to try and like a variety of foods.  If you can achieve that, the variety will take care of itself.

About the author:  Carolyn Vaughn has worked at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center as a clinical nutritionist for 15 years and is passionate about preventative nutritional care in children.  Prior to working at Le Bonheur Children's, she worked at Baptist Memorial Hospital's HeathPlex Nutrition Center providing nutritional counseling for adults and children and conducting weight management classes.  She is a mother of two children ages 3 and 8 who love to eat and eat well.