Spotlight on Picky Eating
Video: Tackling Picky Eating
In this video, Dr. Danielle Liso dicusses strategies to address picky eating and help your child begin to expand their food options.
(The PowerPoint was converted to a tagged PDF by SensusAccess.)
Top Ten Tips for Mealtime
- Avoid mealtime distractions and clutter. Be sure that the place where you eat is consistent and that there is not confusion regarding what happens at the eating table.
- Limit fluid intake. Besides water, be sure your child doesn’t fill up his or her belly with soda, juice, or milk. This may mask the sensation of hunger, making it more likely that your child will resist eating.
- Target only one new food at a time. Preferably, choose a food that is similar to a preferred food (e.g., crunchy, sweet, spicy, soft, etc.).
- Set your expectations. Use first/then language and visuals (e.g., “first chicken, then ice cream”) or a countdown board (i.e., each token represents one bite taken).
- Desensitize your child to the new food by offering it in a non-demanding way: present it on a separate plate, on the same plate but not touching other foods, touching it, smelling it, tasting it, eating it.
- Offer choices whenever possible. Examples might include: what chair to sit in at the table, what color cup to drink from, which vegetable to try, etc.
- Resist the urge to “sneak in” foods. This may make your child suspicious of all foods and start resisting even preferred foods.
- Use condiments to help mask the taste of non-preferred foods or use a chaser (a preferred drink) after a bite of a non-preferred food is taken.
- Teach your child acceptable ways to say “no thanks” and “all done.”
- Reinforce non-eating behaviors such as sitting nicely, using a napkin, sharing, etc. This will help make the mealtime positive even if the food acceptance skill is still a challenge.
OTHER RESOURCES: Websites
AutismAwareness.com: The Reasons I Don’t Like to Eat
USF CARD: Feeding Issues in Young Children with ASD
UM CARD: Picky Eaters: Behavioral Strategies
OTHER RESOURCES: Books
Just Take a Bite: Easy, Effective Answers to Food Aversions and Eating Challenges
by Lori Ernsperge
Treating Feeding Challenges in Autism: Turning the Tables on Mealtime (Critical Specialties in Treating Autism and other Behavioral Challenges)
by Jonathan Tarbox and Taira Lanagan Bermudez
The Disconnected Kids Nutrition Plan: Proven Strategies to Enhance Learning and Focus for Children with Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Other Neurological Disorders
by Dr. Robert Melillo
Can’t Eat, Won’t Eat: Dietary Difficulties and Autistic Spectrum Disorders
by Brenda Legge
Special-Needs Kids Eat Right: Strategies to Help Kids on the Autism Spectrum Focus, Learn, and Thrive
by Judy Converse
Food Refusal and Avoidant Eating in Children, including those with Autism Spectrum Conditions: A Practical Guide for Parents and Professionals
by Gillian Harris and Elizabeth Shea
The Eating Handbook for Children with Autism: Comprehensive common sense strategies and tips to get your child to eat!
by Michelle Brown
Pickysaurus Mac
by Sandra Miller Linha
We hope you found this brief spotlight informative and relevant. If you would like more in depth training about this topic or another please submit a training request. Please share any feedback with us at cpolefko@ufl.edu.