Exploring food with a restricted diet

What is exploring food?

Children and young people who find eating difficult can benefit from exploring food at a level where they are comfortable. For young children this can look like messy food play, but for older children and young people we can look at exploring foods in a different way.

Why explore food with a restricted diet?

Exploring foods without the pressure to eat them, can help your child stay interested food.

It allows your child be familiar with the sensory characteristics of foods they do not eat. Your child can get up close with the feel, look and smell.

Research has shown that children or young people who can tolerate certain textures in their hands are more likely to be able to accept those textures in their mouth.

You should focus on letting your child explore food in a positive and curious way. Offering your child some control around food, and give them opportunities to explore food without pressure of eating. It is important to follow your child’s cues and wishes. If they show that they are not enjoying this or has lost interest please stop. The focus is on having fun.

How to explore foods

Older children can benefit from using science and maths as a way to explore foods. Science experiments or investigations are a great way to explore the properties of foods, for example,

• Does this food squash flat or does it break up when we hit it?
• Which food makes the loudest crunch when bitten?
• How far can these different crisps be thrown?
• If I put the food in my mouth and fire it out, how far can I fire this ‘rocket’?

You can also use:

• Family competitions as a way to introduce more fun
• Family mealtimes as an opportunity for the young person to be involved in the tasks of choosing the recipe or meal, shopping and preparing the food for others.

It is important not to put pressure on your child, especially pressure to eat the new foods.

Top tips

• Keep it positive
• Start with dry foods and gradually move towards wetter textures
• Keep this separate from mealtimes
• The focus is upon exploring foods rather than your child eating or tasting the food
• Follow their lead

Remember the hierarchy towards acceptance of new foods

1. Look, first we need to be okay to look or be in the same room as that food
2. Smell, then we need to be okay about the smell of that food
3. Touch
4. Taste
5. Eating a new food

It can take time at each stage and foods may need to be introduced multiple times at each level before moving onto the next stage or next food.