Video: Tackling Picky Eating
In this video, Dr. Danielle Liso discusses strategies to address picky eating and help your child begin to expand their food options.
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.
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Reviewed 4/16/2026