All children go through a phase of picky eating and being choosy with their food. This often happens when they are around 18 months old when their growth rate slows down and their appetite reduces. They are also learning about autonomy and control and the power of "no"!

However there are some children who do not outgrow this period and can become “problem feeders”. These children often eat less than 20 different foods, refuse to try new foods, and may go through periods of eating only 1 food and then not eating it again.

Feeding skills are vital to ensure that the child is receiving adequate nutrition for his or her development. Eating and drinking are also key tasks that we perform daily in every setting (e.g. home, school) and can affect how we interact with others and our environment.

If your child shows signs of being a problem feeder, it is important that you seek help from your paediatrician or consult one of our feeding therapists.

Holly Yau
Speech Therapist
MSc in Speech Language Pathology
Singapore
BSc in Communication Disorders
USA

Holly is a Singaporean speech-language therapist with many years of experience working with children with special needs.

10 questions with our employee spotlight of the month, click here.

Here are tips and ideas to help you and your child when they are picky with their food:

1. Eat with them. Mealtimes are opportunities for you to bond and spend time with your child. It’s also a chance to be a positive role model for them by eating a new food and showing them how it’s eaten and talking about its characteristics (e.g. taste, texture, temperature). Try not to label foods as good or bad but talk about their properties instead. By eating together, you are also exposing them to other foods that might not be currently in their diet.

2. Serve new food alongside familiar food. Let your child explore the new food by smelling it, touching it or licking it. Don’t force them to take a bite, they will do so when they are ready to. Don’t give up in exposing new foods, it often takes time for them to accept something new.

3. Be creative! Some children do not like the look of certain foods and find them off-putting.You can try changing the shape or colour to make food more appealing. For example, you can use a cutter to fashion carrots or cucumber slices into cute looking different shapes (e.g. stars, animals).

4. Let them be your helpers. Engage them in other food-related activities (e.g. choosing food at the supermarket, washing fruits and vegetables) and this will let them interact with and familiarize themselves with new foods in different ways other than eating it.

5. Reward them the right way. Don’t use desserts or sweet treats as a reward for trying new foods. By giving desserts as a reward, we are teaching them that desserts are better than other foods and this will increase their desire for sweet food. You can instead use verbal praise or stickers to let them know that they have done well.