Non-Feeding Food Exposure (part 1)

Children eat foods they know. - Image: DMCA on Pxfuel

I often talk about FOOD EXPOSURE. You may not be familiar with this term. I’m happy to dig a little deeper.

Children will mostly eat foods they are familiar with, that don’t present [too much] surprise. It feels safe and comfortable that way. The familiarity with food may take a few goes. And that’s the reason we must not feel discouraged when they refuse to eat a particular food after one, two, three times offered. They might need a few more times to decide it’s ok to eat. And that’s ok, it’s normal.

So, exposing children to a variety of foods that you want them to learn to eat – yes, learn. We are not born knowing how to do it and must learn by trying! –, and doing it often is very important.

Today, I’ll focus on NON-FEEDING food exposure which means providing activities related to food, but away from the dining table and away from mealtimes. It may or may not have real foods involved.

Cooking

One obvious way of doing it is by engaging children in cooking. As long as there is no pressure on them to eat it afterwards just because they helped making it, cooking is a great way to expose the little ones to already-known foods so they can explore all characteristics of each food like its colour raw and cooked, texture transformation, smell etc, as well as new foods.

Research shows that children that are involved in cooking do eat more vegetables and fruit, grow into making better food choices and have better health later in life. In a previous blog post, I told the experience of a group of toddlers cooking – and eating – their own vegetables soup at their daycare.

Also Louie (not his real name) who is now seven years old and likes to help in the kitchen. He’s not the best of eaters, but is quite curious about foods. He has been trying some new foods that he and his mum cooked together. The latest one was lemon and zucchini cake that he tried three times and then decided he doesn’t really like the “green bits” much. The point is that he is keen on having some of it. Maybe they will make it again and peel the zucchinis to get rid of the not-yet-liked “green bits”.

Toddlers and preschoolers are usually happy to help in the kitchen.

Watching Cooking Programs

Louie also likes watching tv cooking programs. He is also producing his own “cooking films” while in the kitchen with his mum, to entertain the rest of the family.

A study done in the Netherlands showed that children that watched tv programs preparing nutrient-rich (aka healthy) foods were almost three times more likely to choose fruit and vegetables for a snack than children who watched the same programs preparing nutrient-poor foods. Other studies have shown similar results.

This means that it is important to watch out for what your child watches on screens as it may have an impact on their food choices, for the healthy and for the unhealthy too.

Art Crafts

Handling real foods is a great way to allow your child to explore foods’ characteristics.

My favourite art crafts with food are those which the child handles the food to the point they get a little dirty with it, meaning they have juices and crumbs on their hands and arms (and other parts of the body and the house too, I’m afraid). Things like stamps made of potato or apple: cut out shapes on the fruit or vegetable, dip it in paint for imprints on paper. 

Vegetable stamps

Or finger painting with berries mash: a handful of any berry you want to expose your child, mashed up with a fork or little fingers. I think frozen berries have a deeper colour, so try some. Then let the children create pictures on white paper.

Books

Many people don’t realise that even reading books about foods can help children to familiarise with all sorts of foods, especially those you want your child to eat. This can also be expanded to other activities, like cooking.

There are many studies suggesting its benefits and recommending reading books that feature foods to children in order to increase their familiarity with those foods and to reduce fussiness and food refusal.

One study run in the United Kingdom, published in 2018, followed 127 families and found that children who were exposed to one particular vegetable and one particular fruit (chosen by their parents) at mealtimes daily for two weeks increased their liking for those two foods, and kept liking them during the three months after the study period. Meaning the children learned to like one new vegetable and one new fruit within two weeks of being exposed to them daily.

Also the study also checked the impact that reading books featuring the chosen fruit or vegetable would make in the children’s intake, on top of being offered that food daily for two weeks.

The result is that children who were exposed to foods by reading books and then offered those foods increased their intake of those and were less fussy at mealtimes than children who were exposed only at mealtimes, and not by reading books.

Summarising it: regular exposure on the plate works, and adding exposure with books works better.

Non-edible food exposure. Image supplied by Tansy Boggon

The Superheroes on Your Plate, by Tansy Boggon, is a good option for this activity. It will be released in November, but can be pre-ordered online now. In the book, every food – fruit, vegetables, meats, cheeses, nuts and others – wants to be the winner to be picked by Jacob and make it onto his plate. They come to an unexpected resolution for the contest. 😊

So, there you go, so many ways you can expose your child to foods you want them to eat! Take your pick and get exploring foods with your little one, even away from the table.

I feel like I need to write more about it, so I’ll give you a break for now and publish a sequel article later. Stay tuned! 😉

References

Self-Perceived Cooking Skills in Emerging Adulthood Predict Better Dietary Behaviours and Intake 10 Years Later: A Longitudinal Study (Study, 2018, NZ, USA). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29525525/

Using repeated exposure through hands-on cooking to increase children's preferences for fruits and vegetables (Study, 2019, USA). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31278956/ 

Watching TV Cooking Programs: Effects on Actual Food Intake Among Children (Study, 2020, Netherlands). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31706794/ 

Peas, please! Food familiarization through picture books helps parents introduce vegetables into pre-schoolers' diets (Study, 2018, UK). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29807124/

The Superheroes on Your Plate (Book, 2021, NZ). https://www.joyfuleatingnutrition.com/childrens-books/