Is Your Child Afraid to Try New Foods?

Do you find yourself pleading or cajoling your child when he or she refuses to try new food? Research has found an association between a refusal to try new foods (food neophobia, in technical terms) and less consumption of fruit, vegetables, and meat, but not starches or snack foods.

Especially if you’re concerned about your child’s nutrition, what do you do to get your child to try new foods? Do you plead, “Just try a little,” or threaten, “You can’t have dessert unless you try some,” or just get angry and then give up? Is this just a temporary phase your child is going through or is there a more serious problem?

Research suggests that the rejection of new foods is minimal at weaning, but increases, reaching a peak between 2 and 6 years of age. It’s suggested that children develop an idea of how foods should look and smell so that anything different will be rejected.

It’s important to recognize that refusing a new food is not just a matter of a child being willful. Recent twin studies have found that about two-thirds of food neophobia is genetically determined. Your child may have inherited a preference for sweet foods. The reluctance to try new foods may have been adaptive for our prehistoric ancestors since sweet-tasting substances are rarely poisonous, but substances that taste bitter or sour maybe.

Modeling is helpful in overcoming food neophobia. Let your child see Mom and Dad enjoying the food. It’s even more effective if the child sees a group of people eating the new food. Family get-togethers or parties when everyone is eating the food may be a good time to introduce it to the reluctant child.

Helping a child overcome their reluctance to try new foods requires patience. It may take between 10 to 15 calm repetitions before the child tries the food. Parental pressure is often counterproductive. If a child experiences Mom and Dad’s exasperation, the stress becomes associated with the food, making it more likely that he or she will continue to reject it.

You don’t want to make eating into a battle of wills. Instead, when the child refuses the food, let it drop, go ahead and enjoy the food, and try again another day.