“Just try it.”
“No. It’s yucky! I hate it!”
Does this sound familiar? Having a picky eater can be incredibly frustrating to parents.
But the good news is that even though it can be exceptionally irritating, you can loosen up about picky eaters. That’s because, according to Dr. Leann Birch, Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State University, “Most children who are perceived as picky eaters probably have adequate diets. What parents often perceive as picky eating simply reflects their children’s normal response to new foods.”
Dr. Birch explains that children are innately neophobic—they have a fear of trying new things—and that this trepidation logically includes food. It’s normal for children between the ages of two and five to refuse to try new foods and to have only four or five favorites.
Since picky eating is actually a natural part of being a kiddo, keeping the accompanying tips in mind should be helpful.