If you've ever picked up your child from childcare and wondered if they're living a double life, you're not alone.
Author
- Nick Fuller
Clinical Trials Director, Department of Endocrinology, RPA Hospital, University of Sydney
Parents often receive rave reports from educators about kids' adventurous eating habits, only to face a different reality at home, when the child who devoured a veggie-packed curry at lunchtime morphs into a fussy eater refusing anything but dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets.
While this confusing behaviour is frustrating, it's completely normal.
Here's why it happens and what you can do.
How kids' tastes and eating behaviour develops
To understand why kids eat differently in different settings, we need first to understand two factors that shape their tastes and food preferences :
Genetics . Our hunter-gatherer ancestors developed physiological responses for survival that are embedded in our genes and influence taste preferences from birth. These include developing " food fussiness " - a natural aversion to unfamiliar foods and bitter flavours to avoid ingesting toxins - and learning to seek palatable foods rich in natural sugars, fat and protein to avoid starvation.
Eating environment. As kids grow, their surroundings at mealtimes - namely carers' eating habits, feeding practices, routines and social cues conveyed - shape what they actually eat and enjoy.
The interaction between these two factors drives how fussy kids will be, their likes and dislikes and how open they are to new foods.
Why eating behaviour differs between childcare and home
The simple reason kids may eat differently at childcare comes down to the eating environment. Here's what typically makes childcare different to home:
1. Childcare has strict routines
Childcare runs to a strict schedule, teaching kids to expect meals and snacks at set times and places. Meals are also planned to ensure kids sit down to eat when they're hungry, and food is offered for a limited time - factors that help kids focus on eating.
When mealtimes are less structured at home, it often leads to kids snacking, reducing their appetite at dinnertime. Distractions, like screens, also take kids' attention away from eating.
2. Kids are exposed to peer influence and different role models
Kids are natural copycats, so seeing friends enjoying healthy food makes them more willing to try it. This behaviour is supported by a study showing that seating a preschooler who dislikes a vegetable next to a peer who enjoys it can gradually shift their preference, leading them to eat the previously disliked vegetable.
Additionally, the social nature of eating in a group setting encourages kids to try new foods and eat more .
Research also shows carers - who are trained to model enthusiasm for nutritious foods - shape healthy eating habits and help kids learn other valuable behaviours like table manners.
At home, time constraints and limited knowledge can make it harder for parents to model these same behaviours.
3. Childcare regularly exposes kids to new foods
At childcare, meals are carefully planned according to Australian Dietary Guidelines and are focused on exposing kids to new foods regularly and repeatedly to get them comfortable with different tastes and textures.
At home, busy family lives often lead to repetitive meal routines.
4. Kids are offered limited choices
At childcare, meals are planned with military precision and served without negotiation, teaching kids to try to eat what's provided.
At home, mealtimes can involve high-stakes negotiations when kids refuse certain foods, leading parents to surrender and offer alternatives - a tactic that only reinforces fussy eating and teaches kids to hold out for favourite foods.
5. Kids are given some control over what they eat
Kids have very little control over their daily lives - we're constantly telling them what to do and when they'll do it.
However, one way kids assert control is by refusing to eat certain foods at home.
Childcare cleverly gives kids the control they seek, encouraging them to serve themselves from shared platters, making them more willing to try new foods.
6. Kids experience less attention and pressure
At home, we naturally focus on what our child is eating (and not eating) which makes mealtimes stressful for kids.
At childcare, kids don't have an audience watching their every bite, so they feel less pressure, eat more freely and are more willing to try different foods.
Six ways to bring childcare eating habits home
1. Stick to a strict routine
Serve meals around the same time each day and establish snack times, ensuring they're two hours before mealtimes so your child sits down hungry and ready to eat. Your routine should include putting devices away so your child's full attention is on eating.
2. Be a positive role model
Because kids observe and mimic what they see, if you show enthusiasm for trying new foods and healthy eating your child will do the same.
3. Get creative
Take a leaf out of childcare's book and ensure your child's plate features different colours, textures and flavours presented in fun ways to capture and hold their interest in new foods.
And just like childcare, do this regularly, as repeated exposure is key - it can take eight to ten exposures before your child will accept eating a new food.
4. Limit food choices (but in a fun way)
Offer limited choices but in a way that gives your child some control, like serving platter-style meals where they can choose what they want.
Don't give into food demands. While it's tempting to offer alternatives when meals are refused, this creates more problems than it solves, reinforcing food fussiness and narrowing their diet.
5. Encourage independence
Actively involve your child in meal preparation, asking them to pick healthy recipes, help you shop and complete simple tasks like washing veggies and mixing ingredients. This can make them curious to taste the meal they've helped prepare.
6. Make mealtimes stress-free
Prioritise sitting down to eat as a family and ensure mealtimes are relaxed and fun - especially when you're introducing new foods - to create positive associations with healthy eating.
Nick Fuller is the author of Healthy Parents, Healthy Kids - a clinically proven blueprint to overcoming food fussiness.
A/Professor Nick Fuller works for the University of Sydney and RPA Hospital and has received external funding for projects relating to the treatment of overweight and obesity. He is the author and founder of the Interval Weight Loss program, and the author of Healthy Parents, Healthy Kids with Penguin Books.
