Tips for Introducing a Picky Eater to the Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Maybe you have a “picky eater” or two at your house and are trying to serve anti-inflammatory foods, but you are met with refusal or whining. 

Picky eating is normal behavior in young children, especially when eating new foods. 

Remember, all foods are new since your child is relatively “new” to this world. Time and repeated experiences will help them become more adventurous. You may be an adult with less experience with different foods, so these tips will also help you. 

Some parents and kids can get “stuck” in their picky eating behavior. 

In this article, I will outline strategies for setting realistic boundaries with picky eating and some tips to introduce anti-inflammatory foods like vegetables, beans, fruit, fish, and whole grains. 

Strategy for Mealtime Responsibilities

Here is a favorite quote from Ellyn Satter about eating: ”When you do your jobs with feeding, your child will do his with eating.” This strategy is based on consistent practice and focuses on the long game of eating. 

Ellyn Satter is an authority on eating and feeding. Her Institute prioritizes joyful and healthful family meals and children who are competent and adventurous eaters (listening to their hunger and fullness cues). Through this model of feeding and eating, children and parents build trust. 

The “division of responsibility” is a helpful guide for determining roles in feeding and eating. I recommend this strategy to all parents and use it in my own home with my children. Building trust in feeding and eating has helped my children expand their eating, including anti-inflammatory foods. 

The parent or caregiver’s responsibility (or job) is to:

• Decide what, when, and where food is provided.
• Offer foods at consistent times (meals and snacks).
• Provide several food groups at each meal and snack.
• Make mealtimes pleasant.

The child’s responsibility (or job) is to:

• Decide how much and whether they will eat all.
• Eat or don’t eat from the provided meal or snack.
• Eat the food in any order they choose.

Division of responsibility can seem overwhelming at first, especially if your feeding and eating style differs from this. It will take several weeks of following before your child understands this is the new model. 

Here is an example of using the division of responsibility:

Choose considerate but not catering meals. Choose a meal that can be deconstructed or components that are easily served separately, like “build your own tacos.”

I try to offer two familiar and two unfamiliar foods at a meal. For example, I might have corn tortillas, ground beef, tomatoes, salsa, avocados, olives, black beans, corn, and shredded cheddar cheese, with a side of berries and milk or water to drink. 

At least two of these foods are familiar, and two are unfamiliar (like olives and tomatoes). My kids can build their tacos however they like without pressure to eat the unfamiliar foods. And I am only making one meal for the whole family. 

Reasons To Use Division of Responsibility: 

1. Children are exposed to unfamiliar foods in a neutral environment. New eaters often need twenty or thirty (or more) neutral exposures to food before choosing to eat it. Parents don’t say, “Eat this before that.” Children observe their parents or more experienced siblings trying some of these unfamiliar foods.

2. Serving two familiar foods allows for comfort and you know your child won’t go away hungry at the meal.

3. Children can eat several servings of some foods and refuse other foods at meals or snacks. No alternative meal is made, but two familiar foods are included. They learn to listen to their bodies (eating more when hungry and stopping when they’re full). 

4. Children struggling to eat enough or lacking variety will eat better with the pressure removed. 

5. Children with large appetites trust that there will be more food consistently as they recognize regular meal and snack times. 

6. Children will learn to listen to and trust their bodies to eat the right amount when their parents are not around. They will grow into balanced eaters who can moderate their sweets, candy, desserts, fast food, and chips intake.

7. Parents stress less and focus on their responsibilities at mealtimes. 

8. Make mealtime about enjoying each other. Ask questions about their day or favorite animals, have light music playing in the background, or discuss the food’s colors, temperature, and textures. 

I recommend reading Ellyn Satter’s books on feeding children to learn more. Here are some of my favorites for getting started:

• Feeding with Love and Good Sense
• Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family
• Your Child’s Weight: Helping without Harming

You can find them on Amazon, your local library, or as an e-book. 

I’ve worked with hundreds of families to empower them to overcome challenging feeding situations. My self-paced course was created in response to common issues with feeding children. 

The six sessions and handouts will empower you to turn your picky eater into an adventurous eater. You’ll have almost 1,100 meals a year with your child. Let me give you the tools to make each a more enjoyable experience and develop a balanced eater. 

Here are some tips to help you start serving anti-inflammatory foods to a picky eater. 

5 Tips to Introduce Anti-Inflammatory Foods

These tips reflect concepts from Ellyn Satter’s “division of responsibility” and my years of experience helping my kids and other families try new foods. 

1. Review Familiar Anti-Inflammatory Foods

Use my printable anti-inflammatory foods lists (PDF) to discover the anti-inflammatory foods your child is already eating!

Some childhood anti-inflammatory favorites include carrots, peaches, cantaloupe, apples, pears, berries, pineapples, watermelon, oranges, and grapes. 

Start on a positive note! Keep these foods available as your familiar foods to include at meals and snacks (snacks only need one familiar food). 

You will find that your child’s familiar foods will change, and they will likely increase their list with time. 

2. Take Advantage of their Appetite

Children tend to have a stronger appetite in the morning or after physical activity. When hungry, children are more willing to try new foods. 

My kids tend to be hungriest at breakfast and for their after-school snack. For breakfast, I might offer a new fruit, serve anti-inflammatory oatmeal, or make a new muffin made with beans or legumes, fruit, and less sugar. 

After school, you could try steamed edamame, veggies with dipping sauce, or sliced fruit and melted peanut butter. 

Dinner is often the most challenging meal for trying new foods for various reasons. Kids and parents are more tired, have eaten several times per day, and may have mostly met their daily nutrition needs. 

Each family is unique, so pay attention to your child’s appetite and take advantage of it to try new foods. 

3. Make Mealtime Fun and Enjoyable

We eat with our eyes first. If something looks fun or enjoyable, we are more likely to try it. For example, you can cut sandwiches, fruit, or veggies into shapes. You can also have several dipping sauces for vegetables. 

Use different plates or utensils for meals and snacks. We have fun plates and lunch boxes, kid tongs, kid food picks, and kid chopsticks.  Drink soup or smoothies with a fun straw. 

I have served meals on a baking sheet or muffin tins. Try a fun tablecloth, eat outside, or have an indoor picnic. 

You don’t need to do this all the time, but it can add variety and fun to a meal or snack (and likely help you focus on the meal experience vs. what your child ate or didn’t eat). 

4. Increase Exposures to Unfamiliar Foods

A child may need over thirty exposures to a food before trying it! That can seem daunting, but there are fun ways to expose your child to unfamiliar foods.

Have your child help with grocery shopping (in-person or grocery pick-up), let them pick a new food to try, help unload groceries, organize the pantry, watch you cook, visit farms or farmer’s markets, grow food at home, cook or bake with you, and help wash dishes off. 

Not only are these positive exposures to food, but they also help build ownership and relationships between parents and children. 

Your child will surprise you with what they try when the pressure to eat is removed.

Mine have loved pickled quail eggs, salmon patties, tuna, almonds, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin bread, plain spinach leaves, beans, raw broccoli, and edamame. I would have never imagined my boys would eat (and love) those foods!

5. Make Small Changes

If you have a picky eater, you can slightly change a familiar food. Switch one aspect of the food to slowly broaden their palate to more anti-inflammatory foods. 

You might usually make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with white bread. You could swap to a higher-fiber, whole-grain bread with peanut butter and jelly. 

Or reduce the inflammatory foods by swapping higher-sugar yogurt with lesser-sugar yogurt topped with fruit. 

As higher-sugar food items (like cereal or pre-packaged oatmeal) in your pantry are eaten, replace them with lower-sugar versions. 

You can slowly add more anti-inflammatory foods to the meals and snacks you serve while reducing pro-inflammatory foods (like sugar, sugary drinks, refined grains, and processed meats). Make small changes that add up over time. 

Takeaway

Work on building trust with your child by using the division of responsibility for meals! Children tend to be more adventurous eaters when the pressure is reduced or removed at meal times. 

Learn more about this eating model at the Ellyn Satter Institute or read one of her books. You can also take my self-paced course to help turn picky eaters into adventurous eaters. This article just touches the surface of this feeding style. 

Try some of the five tips for introducing anti-inflammatory foods with your kids. Let me know which ones work well in your home!

Read more about the benefits of anti-inflammatory eating for all ages and how food choices can help prevent colds and ear infections in toddlers. 

Let’s get UNstuck and stay UNstuck!