THE REASON YOUR PICKY EATER IS OBSESSED WITH SNACKS
Picture this. It’s 7:00 p.m. You and your family are finished with dinner…well kind of. You and your husband had dinner while your son whined about the meal and only took a few bites of a potato.
Now it is 30 minutes after the meal and your son is making his way back into the kitchen to ask for a snack.
Part of you wants to give him a snack since he barely ate his meal. The other part of you wants to just say “kitchen is closed” since your son is obsessed with snacks and basically does this every night at this point.
Has anyone else ever been in this position before? At first glance, it sounds like your family is dealing with the very real struggle of picky eating.
So why is it that many picky eaters love snacks, especially processed snacks?
From crackers to pretzels to Goldfish, many processed snacks are one of two things:
Either a brownish/yellowish color which many picky eaters tend to gravitate towards
Or bright, rainbow colors which grabs your child’s attention
This makes processed snacks predictable. Pretzels will always be brown and Fruit Loops will always be rainbow-colored. Picky eaters love predictability
Processed snacks, because they are processed, always have the same texture. Crackers are always crunchy and Skippy peanut butter is always the same thick, smooth texture.
When your picky eater asks for a potato chip, they know exactly what they’re going to get since it will be exactly the same as the last potato chip from the bag.
Let’s now think about size and shape. We can use Ritz crackers for this example. Yes, Ritz makes different products, but the original Ritz crackers are the same size and shape…every single time. The crackers fit into a sleeve because they are all exactly the same size.
This is amazing from your picky eater’s perspective because your child knows exactly what is coming out of the box every time they ask for Ritz crackers.
And let us not forget about taste. One flake of corn flakes tastes exactly the same as the next flake in the box.
Notice a theme here? Snacks that are packaged and processed create predictability which is what your picky eater craves. This reduces their anxiety since they know what to anticipate with every single bite.
Think about other foods, such as meat, fruits, and vegetables. One piece of chicken may be more tender than another. One carrot may be bigger than another. One berry may be more sour than another. One cucumber may be squishier than another. You get the gist!
This is a nightmare for your picky eater because every bite is new which means with every bite, there is a chance that your picky eater may not like it or reject the food.
Even though you may not love your child eating snacks and would rather focus on meals, snacks are a normal part of every child’s diet. Your child can have a well-rounded diet while still making room for snacks.
Feeding littles is challenging enough, but feeding littles who are picky eaters may make you feel like you need more support. I’m here to answer any questions you may have, especially if you’re in need of help with planning out snacks that will reduce your child’s picky eating rather than exacerbate it. Send me a message HERE.