5 "Picky Eater" Myths and 1 Approach To Try! 😬
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Myth 1: All Kids Are Naturally Curious About Food.
In general, kids are curious about food. However, some children react strongly to certain foods. Food curiosity is a myth and one strategy for picky eaters is to add the element of play.
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Myth 2: Picky Eater Children Will Eat When They Are Hungry
Maintaining a feeding schedule to be sure your child has adequate appetite at meals and isn’t grazing throughout the day is very different from letting your child get hungry enough to eat what is served or specific foods!
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Myth 3: Picky Eaters Are Just Being Difficult
Many people think the struggle to eat is a behavioral problem. These table manners are more than just “bratty kid” problems. When a child is struggling to eat, their natural instinct is to escape.
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Myth 4: If You Just Offer The Food 10-20 Times, Your Child Will Try It.
Trying new foods does take several attempts at exposing your child to the food. However, there is no magic number of offerings before a child will accept the food.
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Myth 5: There Is Nothing I Can Do About Picky Eating.
One method you can try is called "Food Chaining". Food chaining is a sequence of foods that help a child try new foods. For example, a child may be only eating a specific brand of chicken nuggets and the goal is to get the child to accept baked chicken. A food chain would start with very gradual changes to the accepted food.
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The first step might be to change the shape of the chicken nuggets. Then, after some time, change to different brands. Once several different brands of chicken nuggets have been accepted, start making and offering homemade chicken. This is an example of a chain that progresses from frozen chicken nuggets to baked chicken.
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