When I was little, my mom was given that advice by my pediatrician to break my picking eating habit. While it can be effective, I'd caution you to dig into the source of the pickiness before trying it. In my case, it was a texture thing and certain foods would trigger my gag reflex. But I was too young to articulate that. Resulting in a standoff over every meal, a generally antagonistic and anxiety-ridden relationship with food and mealtimes, and an aversion to social events that included food. It also made me less adventurous with trying or asking for new foods, because of the pressure previously instilled in me to finish it.
With my daughter, I take a much more collaborative approach to her pickiness. She's not allowed to tell me she doesn't like something (or refuse to eat it) until she's had at least one bite. If she doesn't like it then, she doesn't have to finish it but she has to describe to me why she doesn't like it. I've had enormous success with this, as it not only develops her ability to articulate what her preferences are, it provides me constructive feedback on how to prepare and serve that food next time (and foods with the same negative trait). It's amazing how a slight change to the seasoning or preparation can resolve a lot of pickiness. And now that she understands that, she no longer categorically writes off entire ingredients or dishes, since she knows it could taste totally different and be delicious the next time she tries it.
I also couple that with dynamic portion sizing. If she's not finishing her vegetables, and they're prepared in a way where I know she's fine eating them and is just avoiding them, then I start gradually reducing the portion size of her favorite foods on the plate. She can't get seconds of anything until she finishes everything on her plate, so she can either finish her vegetables to unlock more chicken or she can decide more chicken isn't worth the veggies. Her choice. Over time this has desensitized her to eating things she's not particularly fond of and it's not nearly as big of an issue as it used to be.
I could go on, but my soap box is getting kind of long. Feel free to email me (email in profile) if you'd like to chat more about strategies that might work for your picky eaters. :)
When kids can eat whatever they want, they gravitate toward high energy dense foods like candy and carbs... which makes healthier foods taste like crap. You have to starve them through the withdrawals to gain their sense of taste back.
With my daughter, I take a much more collaborative approach to her pickiness. She's not allowed to tell me she doesn't like something (or refuse to eat it) until she's had at least one bite. If she doesn't like it then, she doesn't have to finish it but she has to describe to me why she doesn't like it. I've had enormous success with this, as it not only develops her ability to articulate what her preferences are, it provides me constructive feedback on how to prepare and serve that food next time (and foods with the same negative trait). It's amazing how a slight change to the seasoning or preparation can resolve a lot of pickiness. And now that she understands that, she no longer categorically writes off entire ingredients or dishes, since she knows it could taste totally different and be delicious the next time she tries it.
I also couple that with dynamic portion sizing. If she's not finishing her vegetables, and they're prepared in a way where I know she's fine eating them and is just avoiding them, then I start gradually reducing the portion size of her favorite foods on the plate. She can't get seconds of anything until she finishes everything on her plate, so she can either finish her vegetables to unlock more chicken or she can decide more chicken isn't worth the veggies. Her choice. Over time this has desensitized her to eating things she's not particularly fond of and it's not nearly as big of an issue as it used to be.
I could go on, but my soap box is getting kind of long. Feel free to email me (email in profile) if you'd like to chat more about strategies that might work for your picky eaters. :)