Encouraging Preschoolers to Try New Foods

caregivers can help children overcome their picky eating by allowing them to explore and taste new foods. With the rise in childhood overweight, it is important that we establish healthful eating habits early in life. One way to do this is to encourage young children to try new foods. The preschool years are a critical time to introduce and encourage healthy nutrition because early exposure to healthful foods helps children establish good eating habits that carry into adulthood (Birch 1998). Unfortunately, the diets of most young children are poor or need improvement. Children’s diets typically mirror the deficiencies of their parents ’ diets—high in fat, sodium, and sugar and low in fiber. In a Nutrition Insights report (USDA 2001), only 36 percent of two- to three-year-olds were noted as having a good diet, and this percent-age decreased with increasing age. Much of the decline in diet quality for children occurred between the two- to three-year-old age groups and the four- to six-year-old groups, falling from 36 to 17 percent. Children establish food preferences and dietary habits during the first six years of life (Birch 1998). It is essential to introduce a variety of foods to children at an early age. Preschool-age children go through a normal developmental phase called neophobia, or fear of new things—in this case, new foods. Many adults refer to this stage as “picky eating. ” But consistently offering a variety of foods to preschoolers helps the majority of children overcome the natural tendency to reject new foods and leads to more healthful eating habits (Birch 1979). Children’s eating behaviors, food preferences, and willingness to try new foods are influenced by the people around them. Parents and other caregivers influence chil-dren’s eating practices in several ways. They control availability and accessibility of foods, determine how and when meals are served, model eating behaviors, and establish good manners and etiquette around food (Ray & Klesges 1993; Nicklas et al. 2001). Thus, it is important to educate teachers about nutrition and share practical strategies for encouraging preschoolers to try new foods