If you know someone who’s a picky eater, be it your own child or someone that you’re working with in an assisted living facility, there are things that you can do to help get them reaching a bit beyond their comfort zone and trying foods that they may have turned their nose up at in the past.
To help you see how this can be accomplished, here are three tips for dealing with a picky eater.
Get Creative With Foods They Like
For many picky eaters, trying to get them to try all new foods right off the bat usually won’t prove to be successful. Rather, you should try to get them used to trying things that are a little different by getting creative with foods that you know they already like.
To do this, think about the foods that your picky eater will eat. Then, consider how you can slightly adjust these foods in a way that will still be enjoyable but that isn’t the normal way that they eat them. You can try a slightly different preparation, shape, or seasoning. As your picky eater sees that foods that are different doesn’t necessarily equate to foods that are bad, you may find that your picky eater is much more willing to try things that slowly go a bit beyond what they are normally comfortable with.
Try New Things Together
Sometimes, it’s not really the foods that your picky eater is scared of trying but the idea of doing something new in general. New experiences can be very hard for some people to handle.
One thing that may make this easier for your picky eater is to see that you or someone else is trying a new thing at the same time. If you’re trying to introduce a new food to your picky eater, try finding something new that you can try as well. This way, you can show your picky eater that you’re comfortable trying something new and there’s really nothing to be afraid of.
Get Excited About Their Successes
While you might be wanting your picky eater to eat the entirety of a food that you give them and start incorporating that food more heavily into their diet, it will usually take a while to get to this point. So rather than showing them that you’re disappointed when they don’t finish what you’ve given them, try to get excited about any progress or success they have with trying new foods. Even a tiny bite of something shows that they are willing to try things now that they hadn’t tried before, which can get them rolling in a more positive direction.
If you have a picky eater that you’re trying to help branch out, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you in doing this.
Comments are closed.