Our Little Food Critics

Here is a good little article from NY Times. Anyone else having problems getting their kid to eat other things besides pasta?

Winning Over the Kitchen’s Loudest Critics

A few years ago when some friends came over for dinner, one of the mothers arrived carrying her own pack of hot dogs. “My kids only eat Oscar Meyer hot dogs,’’ she told me.

A story in today’s New York Times highlights the fact that a child’s food preferences may be in part genetically determined. But many studies have found that genes aren’t the only factor. Often well-intentioned parents reinforce picky eating habits by giving up too soon when a child rejects a food.

Kids are born with a preference for sweet and salty items, and it’s natural for them to be averse to a food the first time they try it. The evolutionary explanation is that so-called neophobia, or fear of new things, kept our ancestors from eating exotic, poisonous berries and plants. Yet children can and do learn to like a wide variety of foods. These preferences are influenced by how frequently parents offer new foods and how they react when their children eat it — or don’t.

Persistence pays, researchers have found. In studies of 2-year-olds, fruits and cheese had to be offered five to 10 times before a child would accept them. Nutritionist Susan Roberts of Tufts University believes in the “rule of 15″ — parents must set down a food at least 15 times before a child will begin to like it.

One good piece of advice I’ve learned from nutritionists like her: remain neutral when your kid likes or rejects a food. Don’t praise them for eating something, and don’t show frustration when they don’t; don’t reward, and don’t punish. Just put the food in front of them, encourage them to eat it and clear the table when everyone is done.

The scientific support for this strategy comes from researchers at Pennsylvania State University. They studied children who were given rewards, including stickers or the chance to watch television, after they ate their vegetables or drank milk. Later, children expressed dislike for those foods, even though they had received positive reinforcement for eating them.

That doesn’t mean that parents should put broccoli on the table every day for two weeks, says Dr. Roberts. Instead, bring the rejected fare back in a few days and again in a few weeks. It may take a while, she says, but eventually kids will learn to accept the new menu items — and one day, maybe to love them, too.

-SBH