The Four Types of Picky Eaters: Is Your Kid One?

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Are your kids picky eaters? We’ve seen some funny stories on the Internet of kids’ eating habits over the years, but picky eating can be real challenge for parents—and as many a frazzled parent can attest, solving the problem isn’t always as easy as saying “Eat or starve!” Now, new research aims to help parents by categorizing the different types of picky eaters, in order to help find the most effective ways to deal with finicky eating habits.

After observing 170 picky-eating 2-to-4-year-olds (the behavior tends to lessen by age 5) for two weeks, researchers distinguished four types of picky eaters. For some kids, aversions to certain foods could be ingrained in their DNA (broccoli may actually taste really bitter to them!), whereas for others, picky eating might be more of a behavioral trait. Here are the four types of picky eaters their research identified:

The Four Types of Picky Eaters:

1. Sensory-Dependent Eaters: Kids who won’t touch food because it tastes or smells funny or the texture is weird.

2. Preferential Eaters: Kids who don’t like to try anything new or mixed together.

3. General Perfectionist: Foods have certain requirements, like foods cannot be touching.

4. Behavioral Responders: Kids who don’t like when their food isn’t prepared in an exact way (the crust always needs to be off, or white not yellow cheese, etc.).

Although the researchers haven’t fully come up with strategies to deal with each picky eating group yet, they do offer some tips based on each of the different causes for picky eating. If your kid doesn’t like foods mixed together, for example, simply show the individual ingredients before serving. Try to incorporate foods they like on a plate with foods they don’t (but not touching!). They don’t have to finish something they don’t like, but they should at least try a taste. And according to one of the researchers, Sharon M. Donovan, a professor of nutrition, “Children may need 10 exposures to a new food before accepting it. Parents often give up before then.” So keep at it!

Is your child a picky eater? How would you categorize your picky eater?

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