As a pediatrician, I hear it again and again from parents: “My child is a picky eater.”

All children are picky eaters at some point or in some way during childhood; it’s part of how they assert their independence. But some children are pickier than others, stubbornly refusing to eat everything except a few chosen foods.

So what is a parent to do? A new article published in the journal Pediatrics gives some insight into picky eating — and into how we can prevent it and help.

What does this study on picky eaters tell us?

Picky eating starts early — and stays. Researchers looked at the habits of children ages 4 to 9, and found that picky eaters tended to stay that way. That means that parents need to start early to prevent picky eating, preferably before their child turns 2 (and that independent streak really sets in). So offer lots of different foods, including lots of different fruits and vegetables. Don’t cook a separate kids’ meal. Let your child eat what you are eating (with one important exception: no choking hazards). That obviously works best if you are eating a variety of foods, so be adventurous yourself.

Temperament plays a role. Sometimes picky eating is part of a bigger problem, as opposed to its own problem. The study found that children who had difficulty controlling their emotions tended to be very picky eaters. What does this mean for parents? If your child has behavior challenges along with picky eating, talk to your doctor. Behavioral health problems are just as important as physical health problems — and as with physical health problems, it’s always better to tackle them earlier rather than later.

Picky eaters are usually not underweight. They are often thinner than their less picky peers, but not in a way that is unhealthy. So unless your pediatrician is worried about your picky child’s weight, parents should not be.

Parenting plays a role too. The researchers found that when parents were very strict about the foods that the child could (and couldn’t!) eat, or were demanding about the child’s eating, the child was more likely to be a picky eater. Some of that could be a chicken-or-egg

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