Trying new foods

Children aged between 2 and 5 years can become more careful about trying new foods. At mealtimes, you may see your child saying no to foods that look or taste new, or foods that they used to like. This stage is called neophobia and is a normal part of how children learn about eating. Some children may still find new foods difficult after they turn 5. The information below gives ideas on how you can help children who find it hard to try new foods.

What you may see

• Your child may become very upset when asked to eat new or unfamiliar foods.
• Your child may refuse a previously liked food.
• Your child may not accept a preferred food if the packaging or branding changes.
• Mealtimes may become very stressful for the whole family.

Strategies and advice

• Try to stick to regular, consistent meal and snack times.
• Eating with others (family or friends) helps expose your child to lots of different foods. This can help increase their curiosity to new foods, even if they don’t want to eat that particular food straight away.
• Your child can learn about new foods in many ways. If your child is reluctant to eat the food, instead, they can look at the new food, smell it, touch it with their hands or cutlery and lick/ taste the food if they would like. These are all important steps in learning about new foods.
• Ask your child if there is a new food that they would like to explore. This is often a good place to start.
• New foods can be explored away from mealtimes. These can be included in food play activities, baking or cooking activities or offered at snack time. This will remove pressure from eating the new food at a mealtime.
• Offer the new food regularly so that your child has repeated opportunities to explore the new food at their pace.
• Avoid hiding new foods in your child’s preferred foods. If your child identifies the new, hidden food, they may lose trust in their preferred food and stop eating it.
• Learn the signs that your child has had enough and take away any uneaten food without commenting.
• Be relaxed and look for fun times to try foods where the emphasis is not on the mealtime, for example at a party, picnic or snack time.
• If your child is still very resistant and major food groups are absent from their diet after using this advice sheet for 6 months, please discuss this with your health visitor.

Last reviewed November 2025