Having and showing some understanding is helpful in many aspects of our parenting.

At mealtimes, that’s understanding that learning to like new foods can be hard for children as well as being understanding of your child’s struggles.

Why is it hard? Because we are predisposed to preferring sweet foods. Back in our caveman days, sweet foods were a good source of energy when food might have been scarce and bitter tastes were an indication that a plant was poisonous and we learnt to avoid them. So, today we need to learn to like bitter tastes and work in harmony with our sweet tooth.

We also have preferences for certain textures – crunchy meant fresh food whilst soft was quick and easy to eat for us take advantage of the energy.

Foods touching can be an issue because we learned that if a food we don’t know to be safe to eat is touching one we do know is safe, there may be contamination and we reject it. That’s why your little one might prefer all foods separated on their plate or finds dishes like stews tricky.

And so, it takes time to learn to like new foods and children need plenty of opportunities to become familiar with them and to learn that they are both safe and enjoyable to eat.

If we can understand why it’s hard then we can support our children, with compassion, to go on a journey of exploration to discover their love of food.