‘Try this pretty pleaaasse’ Food Play for Fussy Eaters

February 19th, 2018Jemma LooyestynFood

“Have a try please”… “Why won’t you have a try? You’ve never tried it before”… “Don’t be silly, have a try for mum”…. “Oh my goodness…. JUST EAT IT!”

Does this sound familiar? If so, you are not alone. Thousands of us, maybe even yourself, are fussy eaters.

Here’s a refresher on ‘fussy’ or ‘picky’ eating… A fussy eater is someone who is reluctant, frightened or overwhelmed by certain foods and tries to avoid consuming these foods. There can be a magnitude of reasons for this avoidance. Commonly, some children (and adults) may be sensitive to certain sensory inputs (e.g. the smell, the sight, the feel or taste of a food) which is why they become defensive and try to avoid it or may become overwhelmed by being in the mere presence of it. Individuals with anxiety are also more likely to experience food aversions as anxiety during feeding situations may elicit physiological changes such as ‘feeling sick’, which in turn may limit their diet options or balance. Children also learn by watching others, therefore family food habits can also contribute to a child being a fussy eater.

So what do you do? How can you bring more food into your child’s diet? Try talking to your child’s Occupational Therapist who can give you some great ideas to try at home and who can incorporate food therapy into sessions. The aim of food-based therapy is to make food and the experience of eating/touching/smelling food less threatening for your child. This can result in your child broadening their food intake and even enjoying some of those ‘avoided’ foods. This process can take a long time; the key is to be patient and celebrate the little achievements along the way.

Try these ‘Food Play’ tips to try with your fussy eater:

Be careful in your language around food when your child is around. It’s important not to label food as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, ‘yummy’ or ‘yuck’ when your child is a fussy eater. Instead, try describing what you’re experiencing from all the senses. For example, “This strawberry feels squishy and tastes sweet” or this is ‘hard’, ‘soft’, ‘smooth’, ‘furry’, ‘sweet’, ‘sour’, ‘salty’, ‘crunchy’, ‘sticky’ etc.
Provide lots and lots of encouragement and praise for your child - whether it be for simply being in the same room as their un-preferred food all the way up to smelling, touching and tasting it. From personal experience stickers work great to reinforce these positive efforts and they are relatively cheap! Make sure you provide this praise/reward straight after your child demonstrates the ‘desired behaviour’ (e.g. touching an un-preferred food). This will boost your child’s motivation to continue trying new things.
Take a multi-sensory approach to food! Present them with both preferred and un-preferred foods and ask them to (depending on the child) stroke the food with their finger, put the food on their leg or elbow, touch the food on there cheek, smell the food, let the food touch their lips, lick it, kiss it or put it in their mouth. When doing this be sure to make it clear to your child that they are to do only what they can and they can spit it out if they like. It would be great to have a bin and a wet flannel nearby to allow your child to wash their hands, spit out food, etc if they want/need to.
Most importantly make food fun!! Try different utensils to eat/play with food - chop sticks, forks, spoons or try the old-fashioned way - use your hands. Make fruit or veggie people, construct towers or jewellery with pasta or marshmallows, make moustaches or hair out of cooked spaghetti, hide toys in rice or pasta and let your child dig through and try to find them all. The possibilities are endless!!!
Involve your child in food preparation to increase their exposure to food e.g. passing mum food to cut or mixing the ingredients, etc. You could also try ‘create your own’ dinner nights were children get more control in what they eat/how they eat it. This may look like home made pizza nights, sandwich making or my favourite... taco nights! Lay all the ingredients out and let your child pick and choose what they like.
Slowly integrate non-preferred food in your child’s lunchbox. This may be taken to school and back a few times but be persistent! Your child may eventually start ‘sussing it out’ and may even eat it. Yay!
Peer modelling is essential, whether it be from you, school peers, siblings or your friendly The Potential Ability Group OT. It’s important to let the fussy eater in your life be around other people when they eat. So they can watch and learn.
Most importantly, create an atmosphere of fun and positivity around food.

Important to note: Please check for allergies before engaging in food play. It is also recommended to visit your local GP or Paediatrician to help pin point the cause of your child not eating (e.g. there may be oral-motor or swallowing difficulties, etc, present limiting your child’s intake of food).

Please check out our ‘Food, Glorious Food’ blog post for even more information on fussy eaters but most importantly consult your OT.