Abstract geometric shapes forming a stylized heart symbol
Beyond French Fries:

A Parent’s Guide to Offering a Variety of Foods

As a parent, you may have heard the advice to offer a variety of foods, but you might be wondering why it matters and how it’s done.

For good health, the human body needs more than 30 vitamins and minerals. The body can’t make these nutrients on its own, so it must get them from food. Since different foods contain different nutrients, eating a wide range of foods is what it takes to get a wide range of nutrients. The more variety of food that parents serve, the better chance kids will have of meeting their nutritional needs.

A study of the diets of infants and toddlers in the U.S. found that, of all vegetables, French fries were eaten most often. If a person eats too many French fries—or too much of any one food—they’re less likely to get the nutrients they need.

Father helps child eat sliced bell peppers

To offer a variety of foods, try these tips:

Tip
#1
Tip
#1

Choose foods from several of the 5 food groups at each meal and snack.

FOR MEALS (3 or more food groups):
Grilled cheese sandwich sliced in half

grilled cheese sandwich

Bowl of tomato soup on white background

tomato soup

  • Fruits
  • ✓ Vegetables
  • ✓ Grains
  • Proteins
  • ✓ Dairy
FOR SNACKS (2 or more food groups):
Two stacked graham crackers on white background

graham crackers

White cup containing milk from overhead perspective

milk

  • Fruits
  • Vegetables
  • ✓ Grains
  • Proteins
  • ✓ Dairy
Tip
#2

Choose different foods from each food group over several days. Instead of serving carrots with lunch and dinner for 3 days in a row, offer:

Tip
#2

Lunch

Dinner

Day 1:

mixed-green salad

Fresh salad with creamy dressing on white plate

cooked carrots

Sliced carrots piled on a white plate

Day 1:

Lunch

mixed-green salad

Fresh salad with creamy dressing on white plate

Dinner

cooked carrots

Sliced carrots piled on a white plate

Day 2:

broccoli

Broccoli florets on white plate

corn

Corn on the cob against white background

Day 2:

Lunch

broccoli

Broccoli florets on white plate

Dinner

corn

Corn on the cob against white background

Day 3:

green peppers

Sliced green bell peppers on white plate

sweet potatoes

Sweet potato sticks on white plate

Day 3:

Lunch

green peppers

Sliced green bell peppers on white plate

Dinner

sweet potatoes

Sweet potato sticks on white plate
Stylized blue bird perched with wings slightly spread
It’s not always practical to offer different foods every single day. For example, if pears are on sale and they’re ripe, it’s fine to serve pears for snacks a few days in a row.
Eating a variety of foods can help kids get the many nutrients they need for growth and health.

How to make variety happen in your home

Getting a variety of food on the table takes some planning. Food guides with recommended numbers of servings provide a good goal. However, if we try to make children eat a certain way and push them to finish a vegetable they don’t want, it usually makes kids eat less veggies, not more.

Plan a week of meals with input from your kids, making sure each meal has at least one item that your kids are likely to eat. Include their favorite foods on a regular basis—but not at every meal. Children can make a choice between two foods. For example, if cereal and milk is on the menu, ask your child if they would like banana slices or strawberry slices on top.

Patience is key. You may offer spinach salad for a year before your children learns to like it. Children are learning about food the same way they learn to read and write. The process takes exposure and lots of practice. No one expects their three-year-old to read, so parents need to be realistic about eating, too.

Family selecting vegetables at grocery store

The stress-free way to offer variety:

  • ✓ Make mealtimes pleasant and offer food without comments, bribes or praise.
  • ✓ Serve foods family-style (not pre-plated) and allow everyone to serve themselves.
  • ✓ Let children decide what and how much to eat from what is served.
  • ✓ Don’t pressure children to taste or eat any food.
  • ✓ Have paper napkins on the table so children can spit out the food if they don’t like it.
  • ✓ Remember that kids are fickle. What they reject one day, or month, they may really like the next time it’s offered.
  • ✓ Don’t give up offering new foods. For most children, it takes at least ten tries to learn to like a new food.
Family gathered enjoying a dinner together

Questions & Answers

Question:

What if I don’t eat a variety of foods?

Answer:

Ask yourself why. Were your food choices limited as a child? Were you taught how to cook? Once you figure out why you don’t enjoy a variety of foods, you may decide to do something about it - such as learn to cook or try small amounts of new foods.

Question:

Should you offer the foods you don’t like to your children?

Answer:

Sure! Your child may love the food that you hate. Your attitude about food affects your kid’s feelings towards it, so remember to serve up those foods without negative comments. Another opportunity for kids to try these foods is at a friend’s, while at preschool, or when samples are given out at grocery stores. Also, maybe it’s time you tried your least favorite food again—you might like it!