The Research on Picky Eating

Practical, research-backed tips for preventing and managing picky eating and raising more adventurous eaters

Sep 29, 2022

Source: Vanessa Loring/Pexels

Research finds that up to 59% of children may be classified as “picky eaters” (meaning they eat a limited variety of foods and resist trying new foods). Picky eating is common throughout childhood but may be most common between the ages 1 to 4 years, peaking around age 2. Although picky eating is a cause of significant parent frustration and concern, research shows that picky eating is unlikely to impact overall growth or nutrition. However, picky eating may in rare cases cause vitamin deficiencies and digestive problems, and may lead to a long-term pattern of picky eating. If you are concerned that your child’s picky eating may more extreme than most children, consult with your pediatrician and/or a registered dietitian as soon as possible.

Yet, even knowing that picky eating is a normal developmental stage and that it is unlikely to have a negative long-term impact, many of us parents worry about our children’s eating habits and want to encourage them to eat a larger variety of food as well as more nutrient-dense foods. So is there anything we can do as parents? How do we address picky eating (according to research)?

Do NOT pressure your kids to eat more or “healthier” food and instead allow them to decide what and how much they eat

During mealtimes, do not pressure your children to eat more or “healthier” food. Research consistently finds that pressuring children to eat will likely have the opposite result. Specifically, research finds that pressure from adults to eat more or eat certain foods during mealtime is associated with more picky eating in children. In addition, the more frequently children are pressured to eat by adults, the less they tend to eat overall (and this effect seems to be worse when children are pressured to eat at home more frequently). This finding suggests that children become more resistant to pressure when it is used more often. Another study found that children who are pressured to eat actually eat fewer fruits and vegetables and more snacks with low levels of nutrients. Finally, college students report that they continue to dislike and avoid the foods that they were pressured to eat as a child, suggesting that pressure from parents may even have a long-term impact.

Research also suggests that parents tend to be more likely to pressure children to eat when they have anxiety about their child eating too little and do not have confidence in their child’s ability to regulate their own eating. So to avoid falling into this common “trap,” remind yourself that most children will eat when they are hungry and that your pressure will only make the situation worse. If you are concerned about your child’s growth or nutrient intake though, consult with your pediatrician and/or a registered dietitian.

TRANSLATION: Teach children to notice their own sensations of hunger and “fullness” and ask them to respond to these feelings instead of your pressure or the goal of a “clean plate.” Keep serving less preferred food (even if they don’t eat it) and keep the climate at meals relaxed and happy. Research finds that this approach is associated with less picky eating.

2. Keep exposing children to different types of food

Often parents of picky eaters end up serving the same meals and snacks over and over again because they get sick of their child not eating the food that they serve. However, research suggests that this practice may make your child become even pickier. Instead, parents should repeatedly expose children to many different foods, even foods that have been refused in the past. For example, one experiment found that when children were randomly assigned to tasting a vegetable that they claimed to dislike every day for 14 days, they showed increased liking and eating of the vegetable when compared to children who did not have to taste the vegetable.

Yet, you do not even have to make your child taste the food in order to have this effect. Another study found that just offering toddlers a new vegetable (eight times in this study) increased liking and eating of the vegetable. Research even finds that parents who simply buy a greater variety of fruits and vegetables are more likely to have children who will try a greater variety of fruits and vegetables. Repeated exposure to foods even seems to work for infants. In addition, research finds that even reading books about different fruits and vegetables may increase children’s willingness to look at, taste, and eat new vegetables.

TRANSLATION: For young children, familiarity is very important for liking. So even if your child won’t taste the food, simply seeing the food or learning more about the food may increase their willingness to try it.

Do not use food as a reward

It is very common for parents to offer M&M’s as a reward for successful toilet training, a lollipop for tolerating a vaccine, a cake pop for “good behavior” in a store, or perhaps most commonly dessert as reward for eating a “healthy dinner”. In fact, research finds that most parents (2 out of 3 parents) report using food as a reward.

However, research finds that when parents use food as a reward, children are more likely to show picky eating and emotional overeating. When you give children a preferred food as a reward for eating a non-preferred food, children begin to see the preferred food (usually something high in sugar and low in nutrients) as more desirable and the non-preferred food (usually something that is nutrient-dense) as less desirable.

TRANSLATION: Instead of using food to reward children for “good behavior,” use verbal praise, attention, non-verbal gestures (high-fives), small objects (such as stickers), or tokens/points that add up to earn a larger reward. Be careful about using even non-food rewards to reward children for eating non-preferred food since this still sends the message that the non-preferred food is less desirable and puts more pressure on children to eat.

Pair foods children already like with foods that are new or not preferred

Research finds that pairing a new food with a familiar or favorite food may increase your child’s likelihood to try and even like new foods. Scientists call this “flavor-flavor” learning, meaning pairing a new flavor with an already preferred flavor helps children learn to like the new flavor.

So how exactly do you do this?

Serve your child new foods with foods they already like: One study found that, when brussels sprouts (a new and bitter taste) were served with cream cheese (a familiar and preferred taste for young children), children reported that they liked Brussels sprouts more. The children then also consumed more Brussels sprouts even when served without the cream cheese.
Use dips: One study exposed children to one type of dip until it became familiar to them. They were then given a new type of chip and asked how willing they would be to taste it with the familiar dip versus with an unfamiliar dip. The children were more willing to taste the new kind of chip with the familiar dip than with the unfamiliar dip. Similarly, you could increase your child’s likelihood to try a new dip if you pair it with a familiar chip.
Add some spice: Research finds that adding a small amount of salt or nutmeg may increase a child’s eating of unfamiliar vegetables. Other spices/flavors to try may include: cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, citrus, cardamom, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast.
Sweeten up a new flavor: Adding a little bit of sweetness with small amounts of sugar, honey, or syrup may help your child learn to like new flavors and won’t necessarily mean you will always have to sweeten the food. For example, young children do not typically like grapefruit juice due to the bitter taste. However, when researchers mixed grapefruit juice with sugar, children liked the grapefruit juice more and even continued to like it without sugar for weeks after the experiment. Another study found that, when researchers gave kids sweetened vegetables, the kids then showed increased liking of vegetables even in their raw, unsweetened versions.

Eat with your child and model eating a variety of food

Research finds that children tend to eat a greater variety foods when they see others doing it. When children see another person eating and enjoying a food, they are more likely to try it. Parents in particular seem to have a strong impact on children. For example, one study found that when parents were randomly assigned to increase their eating of fruits and vegetables, their children also increased their own eating of fruits and vegetables

This research also suggests that it is important to have “family meals” whenever possible. Research finds that when parents sit with children to eat and everyone is served the same meal, children show less picky eating. Children may be even more likely to try a new food when they see another child than an adult eating it, so eating meals with less picky siblings, cousins, or friends present may also help your child to become less picky. However, try to remove any distractions during family meals. Research finds that children show more pickiness and food refusal when there are distractors present (TV, toys, etc).

Involve children in food choice and meal preparation

Research finds that parents who tend to involve children in choosing food for meals and food preparation are more likely to have children who show less picky eating . One experiment compared children who prepared a meal with their parents to children who had their parents prepare a meal without their help. The researchers found that the children who helped their parents prepare a meal ate more nutrient-dense foods (salad and chicken in this study) and more calories overall. The children who helped their parents prepare the meal also reported more positive feelings during the meal.

It may also be important for parents to allow their children some choices about which food and how much food is served when possible. Research finds that children demonstrate less picky eating when they are allowed some input into food choice and how much of each food they have on their plate.

How do you provide some choices for your child without overwhelming them and also maintaining some control as the parent? One easy way to allow choice is to offer a variety of foods with meals. For example, research finds that when children are served a variety of vegetables, they eat more vegetables than when any one of those vegetables is served on its own. You can also take your child to the grocery store or farmer’s market and allow them to choose between two vegetables or two fruits. Children may also benefit from choosing the portion size for some items in a meal.

Overall Translation and Practical Tips

Although picky eating is developmentally normal, research consistently finds that parents’ actions may encourage or discourage picky eating. In order to help your child become a more adventurous eater, you can try the following research-backed strategies:

Keep mealtimes happy and relaxed with no pressure to eat more or to eat certain foods. Teach your children to respond to their own feelings of hunger and fullness.
Expose children to a greater variety of foods by serving different types of food, having a wide variety of food in the house, and teaching children about different foods.
Avoid using food as a reward for behavior or for eating another food.
Pair foods your child already likes with new foods or foods they do not like as much. Sweeten up foods or add a preferred flavor to help your child learn to like new foods.
Have family meals in which you model eating a wide variety of foods. Improve your own eating habits so that you can be a role model for your child.
Involve your child in the many steps of meal preparation when possible, including meal planning, picking out produce at the grocery store, cooking meals, and being involved in choosing which foods and how much of each food you serve.

Expert Review

All Parenting Translator are reviewed by experts in the topic to make sure that they are as helpful and as accurate for parents as possible. Today’s newsletter was reviewed by Alex Turnbull, Registered Dietitian, picky eating expert, author and mom of two - so she gets how hard it can be to feed kids.

Alex’s Managing Mealtimes Course for Picky Eaters provides parents with simple and realistic strategies that end mealtime battles, all day snacks requests and obsession over desserts, plus gets their picky eaters try new foods without a fight. You can get 20% off her course and help prevent or even reverse picky eating. Use code PICKY at checkout. To quickly get started helping your picky eater, check out her blog post: How to actually get your picky eater to eat their veggies.

Follow Alex on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok and Pinterest for more tips and tricks for feeding your infants, toddlers and children.

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Parenting Translator

The Research on Picky Eating

Practical, research-backed tips for preventing and managing picky eating and raising more adventurous eaters

Source: Vanessa Loring/Pexels

Overall Translation and Practical Tips

Expert Review

Discussion about this post