One of The Easiest Things You Can Do to Get Your Kids to Try New Snack Foods
In episodes one and two from this four-part series, we talked about:
Consistency and how not incorporating variety in the small things can add up to aversions elsewhere in the diet of picky eaters (part one; episode 134)
Crutches and how we can stunt our family's growth and/or our child's development when we lean too much on a given love it food (part two, episode 135)
Now, as we dive into the third C that can perpetuate picky eating and poor nutrition, we get into the Crinkly & Cute nature of pre-packaged foods.
As a busy mom of three myself, I know that having foods ready to go is key to being successful at snack time. However, just as the consistency of these packaged foods can create challenges and over-offering them can create an unhealthy crutch, we need to tune into the risks that come with cute and crinkly packages as well.
Because beyond the nutrition that is often the assumed evil in snack foods, I see the marketing to our kids with such snack foods making an even bigger issue.
Tune in to the episode for some easy to implement action steps you can take immediately for healthier summer snacking.
SHOWNOTES:
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Check out the YouTube video of this episode here.
Get your FREE cheatsheet to 72 of my favorite healthy kids snack foods here.
Ready to take the next step in improving your family's meals and snacks? Schedule a free 30-minute strategy session with me here.
Full Episode Transcription
Please note this a raw transcription. If something doesn’t read correctly, toggle to that timestamp in the show so that you can listen in on what was actually being said!
[00:00:00] Because if your child knows the packaging as their added comfort to that added level of consistency in what they're being offered, it's going to perpetuate picky eating for your child.
[00:00:12] But if we can see that, it's not an item being packaged that's inherently evil or has any sort of issue. Instead, it's the way it's being offered to our child. So it's reinforcing that there is consistency and it's reinforcing an additional aspect that we haven't yet talked about being this cute or novel aspect to the foods that our kids want to eat.
[00:00:38]
[00:01:24] If you've been tuning in for this four part series on what are some of the ways that your kid's snacks are perpetuating picky eating and poor nutrition, I hope that you found it valuable. If you haven't yet heard episodes one and two in this series, I want to encourage you to go back and hear more about how the consistency in the foods that we offer and how using those foods as a crutch can be problematic when it comes to picky eating and adding an additional variety for our family.
[00:01:53] In today's episode, we're going to be talking about the foods that are cute and crinkly. Now, if you know I'm going with all the C words here, I love some good alliteration, and so while the first two were consistency and crutch here today, we're putting two together for cute and crinkly, and really what I'm getting at here, Is packaging. But what that comes down to is the packaging of the product.
[00:02:14] It's not that it's a pre-packaged food, which often has a negative connotation to families. And families feel guilty or shame if they offer pre-packaged food. That in and of itself is not the problem as I will cover next week as we get into the fourth and final C in this series -- convenience.
[00:02:29] However, the challenge that I see with things like cute and crinkly packaging is that it appeals to our kids and elevates these foods often above and before those other foods. So walk with me here through a few examples.
[00:02:43] Let's say you schedule a free 30 minute snack strategy session, and you tell me "My kid is snack obsessed. All they want to eat is goldfish, crackers, fruit leathers and pretzels and veggie straws and maybe the occasional banana, and that's what's making up the substance of their diet day after day after day."
[00:03:03] Each of those items we're looking at coming in either a crinkly package or something that just looks kind of cute. The banana here is the exception, but I'm gonna get into how that fits.
[00:03:13] So when a parent tells me this kind of thing, often what I see is not even the nutrition in and of those foods and how we need to branch out to incorporate different food groups and different nutritional variety. Of course, that is one of the goals!
[00:03:26] But one of the first steps that families can make to preventing picky eating and improving their child's nutrition is to find ways out of and away from the cute and crinkly packages.
[00:03:39] Because when our child loves these packages, we see a few different things happen. One, there's a very stark and obvious difference between what we're making at home as the mealtime foods and these snack time foods. Because unless you got dinner through a drive through or are offering a Lunchable, which I know is still commonplace for a lot of families, but just for argument's sake, if you compare it to something that you're preparing and putting on a plate at home the meal food is not in a package.
[00:04:14] Instead, we see that if you offered eggs and toast, or made a batch of oatmeal for breakfast, or you built them a sandwich, or packed even a bento box at lunch. Or at dinner, maybe you have chicken and rice and a veggie, or you did a salad and lasagna. These things aren't coming in a package when they're presented to your child. Yes, the products that we buy from the store may be a packaged item, like those lasagna noodles, or a bagged salad, or the sandwich bread that we used to make the sandwich, or like the oatmeal that we used to put in the pot.
[00:04:50] But there's a step that's been removed so that what our child sees is not the package. And if you listen to episode one in this series on consistency, you know that why that can be problematic. Because if your child knows the packaging as their added comfort to that added level of consistency in what they're being offered, it's going to perpetuate picky eating for your child.
[00:05:14] But if we can see that, it's not an item being packaged that's inherently evil or has any sort of issue. Instead, it's the way it's being offered to our child. So it's reinforcing that there is consistency and it's reinforcing an additional aspect that we haven't yet talked about being this cute or novel aspect to the foods that our kids want to eat.
[00:05:40] Now within Mealtime's Made Easy Method, which is my signature feeding program for families, I go into this in quite a bit of depth. But what I often see happening with families and what I often see being problematic with families, specifically when we have problems with picky eaters or kids really craving those snack foods, is because it's coming in a package as it's being offered to the child.
[00:06:02] And so what we have happening here is that a child's "love it" food, we'll just go to some of the examples I shared before. If we know a child loves goldfish crackers and the child's being served, goldfish crackers in the same little snack bag each and every time, when they see it they have that automatic reassurance, 'I know what this is. I can trust what this is. I can see this is consistent.' Because any one of us knows that if we offer them a package that's goldfish pretzels or rainbow goldfish instead of the cheesy goldfish, our child's going to know from the package alone before they even approach that very given food. So the package can automatically alert our child to something being different.
[00:06:43] And when we look at the relationship between anxiety and appetite, if your child has any bit of anxiety around the foods being offered, even if it's a "love it" food, like goldfish, that's going to shut down their appetite.
[00:06:56] So we want to be reducing that anxiety and reducing that trigger as much as possible. One of the ways that we can do that is by removing that crinkly cute packaging.
[00:07:06] I have an episode coming up about how to offer goldfish and other packaged foods, so I'm gonna point you to that episode in the future. But for the sake of today's episode, I want you to recognize that as we look at the cute and crinkly packaging, one of the first things you can do is remove the package.
[00:07:22] This in and of itself is going to require your child to really explore the food on another level, and I'm gonna go ahead and show you an example of that.
[00:07:31] A "love it" food for a lot of the kids I work with would be your traditional chewy chocolate chip granola bar. And if it's in the, I don't have that at home at the moment, but if I did, your child would know exactly the one you buy, whether it's chocolate drizzled, or a different brand, or the store brand, or the name brand, or whatever it might be.
[00:07:48] The package alone is going to be a dead giveaway to your child that it's exactly the one that they like. But if your child learns to rely on the packaging, they never really have to explore on the inside -- "Is it even the same or different?" However, you can see very quickly and very easily that if we remove the packaging and I offer it like this, your child's going to have to examine it a little.
[00:08:13] They're gonna have to look at, Is that the same? Does it look the same? Does it smell the same? Does it feel the same? Does it taste the same?
[00:08:29] And we're slowly branching them out of that comfort zone. Not because we want to pique their anxiety and shut down their appetite, but because we want to expand the number of foods that they enjoy and ultimately are willing to eat.
[00:08:42] So with this specific example of the chocolate chip bar, you can see that if I were to give my kids the chocolate chip bar in this wrapper, they would have automatic association because of the package. If I served on this one, they would automatically know, 'That one is different.' However, again, if I offered two different granola bars, and I might even cut 'em up and put 'em on a plate for everyone -- They're different.
[00:09:09] But there's a lot of similarity. So your child may be able to recognize which one looks more familiar, which one feels more like they know, which one smells more like what they're used to, and which one tastes more similar to the one that you know they prefer. But when you make this kind of change and you remove it from the packaging, very quickly our kids see 'This might be a change big enough that I notice, but small enough that I don't care.'
[00:09:41] And now it automatically tees us up to begin exploring food play, food exploration, and having our kids branch out from those known "love it," preferred foods.
[00:09:51] The other reason why, the crinkly cute packaging can be problematic as because it's cute. With this example of the chocolate chip granola bars, we don't have any left, but I recently made a homemade one of kind of a copycat chewy granola bar. I wrapped it in saran wrap and individually wrapped it so each of the kids could just grab it and take it to school just as they would one that was pre-packaged.
[00:10:17] Now, while nutritionally there are differences and you know, different opportunities with things that you're making homemade versus buying pre-packaged, especially if you're trying to be cost efficient. The bigger concern here is that mine were not cute. They were just homemade wrapped in saran wrap.
[00:10:33] There was very little added novelty to what was being offered. Now in my home, my kids know that I'm going to be switching it up. I'm not going to be buying that same brand. I'm not going to be keeping it consistent so that they are forced to branch out little bit by little bit, even if it's with something as seemingly simple as a chocolate chip granola bar.
[00:10:52] That said, the other challenge we run into with these packages is that they're cute. They have a little person on them. Or, this one's not very cute, honestly, but it still has fun colors. But there's other ones that are going to have Disney characters or minions or superheroes or different animated aspects to them that just make it more appealing for our kids.
[00:11:15] However, if that Chewy chocolate granola bar is already a "love it" food for your child, and now it's wrapped in something that gives them that added layer of security that they know exactly what to expect and it's an inside. And then we stick on the front of it, some sort of character that's going to appeal to them
[00:11:35] -- it is very, very, very difficult for us to say that this is not cool. Of course, they love it!
[00:11:42] Not only do they love the product that's inside, but they love the reassurance that it's something that's predictable and they love the patterns or the different visuals that are being promoted on the outside as that cute added novelty.
[00:11:57] So one of the things that we want to think about as parents is how this cute crinkly package is perpetuating picky eating because it's making our children's "love it" foods even more lovable. And so when we want to branch out and say, make a homemade chocolate chip granola bar and incorporate a little added nutrition, or promote a little bit of additional variety.
[00:12:21] We not only are not giving them the reassurance that this is something that you know and love because the package tells us so, but now we're also saying, This my mom made and it's just not as cute. It doesn't have that same novelty as that package that has my favorite superhero on it.
[00:12:37] So instead of leaning on, or as we talked about in episode two of this series, that crutch and leaning on that packaging and leaning on that cute kid-friendly novelty added to the items we know our kids already love. What we need to be looking at is,
[00:12:54] How do we add novelty to the foods that our kids are learning to like?
[00:12:58] Because so often, the foods that our kids already love, already have enough novelty. Whether it be the crinkly package or the cute packaging of what's been put on there, there's already enough for them to love about it. So we don't really need love at foods to become even more lovable. We need them to be neutral with the foods that they like or are learning to like.
[00:13:19] So coming back to the initial example of if we take it out of the package, it's just neutral. These two next to the one that I made homemade. Then it's almost a science experiment. Then it tees us up to all the opportunities and the skills and the systems and strategies that I talk about within Mealtimes Made Easy Method of,
[00:13:36] How do we bridge these gaps?
[00:13:38] How do we expand picky eating?
[00:13:40] How do we add nutritional variety?
[00:13:42] Well, once we've leveled the playing field and removed that cute and crinkly packaging, we've already teed ourself up for a lot
[00:13:50] more productive and positive food play experience and experiment that invites our kids in to explore it and to investigate --
[00:14:00] How things are the same and different?
[00:14:01] What things matter to them and don't?
[00:14:03] Does the size, does this, shape, does the texture, does the bend, does the smell?
[00:14:08] All of these things.
[00:14:09] Are these things big enough that they notice and small enough that they don't care?
[00:14:13] Or, is it a big deal that this one keeps dropping chocolate chips off the top and this one has them pressed on the inside?
[00:14:19] Your kid is going to have their own unique food personality, feeding preferences, and idiosyncrasies that you observe. But if you only observe it in the context of,
[00:14:27] "They'll only eat that one chocolate chip granola bar, that's this brand, that's this flavor."
[00:14:33] You're going to start feeling really, really stuck and you're going to perpetuate the false belief that --
[00:14:38] Your child can't branch out.
[00:14:40] You can't improve their picky eating.
[00:14:41] And you can't ultimately add nutrition.
[00:14:44] But that's simply not true. We have to be more strategic about the ways that we're doing things, and we have to recognize some of these things that we're doing. Whether it be buying the same item because it offers consistency and this comfort to our kids, leaning on these foods as a reoccurring crutch, even when we maybe can branch out, and removing that cute and crinkly packaging so that we can begin making progress with picky eating.
[00:15:08] If the strategies that I talked about today are something that appeal to you and made you realize, "WOW! There are so many opportunities that I haven't even tried yet." I know as a parent of a picky eater, so often we can feel like we're at the end and there's no other options left, and we've exhausted every idea that's been put out there by every picky eating expert, and we're piecemealing together this approach from each and every post or pin that we've saved over the years on how to improve our child's picky eating. I want to tell you -- There is still more that can be done. Often, it's not something that's gonna require any more effort from you. It's just being a little bit more intentional about how we're going about it. Because you're still offering this chocolate chip granola bar at snack. Some days you will, some days you won't. But when you do, when you go into it, knowing
[00:15:55] This is a good approach.
[00:15:56] This is effective for branching out of picky eating.
[00:15:59] This is going to improve my child's nutritional variety and diet quality.
[00:16:06] You can go forward with confidence in using those strategies and practicing those skill sets as a parent to help foster a healthier feeding foundation.
[00:16:15] But I want you to have those skill sets and to know those strategies and to know how they work together in the order in which we can implement them in our homes so that you feel successful and not defeated.
[00:16:29] I coach families in how to do this in my signature program, the Mealtime Made Easy Method.
[00:16:34] In this program, I help you set up your home so that your kitchen is reset for success using simple strategies like those that we've been talking about in this four-part series. I also help you build and work through some of the struggles that come with our own relationships with food as parents and how that impacts
[00:16:52] our kids. Things like that anxiety and appetite interchange, and how our parent feeding approaches can impact our child's eating habits, if and whether they're a picky eating, and how far perpetuated those picky eating patterns continue. I also equip you with the tools that you need so that you understand the skills and the strategies that can be used in order to prevent picky eating and improve nutrition in your child's diet.
[00:17:17] I also walk you through the seasons of life so that you know what meal and snack rotations you can begin utilizing so that the seasons where you need a crutch, you feel fully supported and encouraged to do so. But also so that the seasons that you're ready to develop strength and to implement new systems and strategies, you know exactly how to approach those with a proven framework and process that I've seen hundreds of families have success with. So go to MealtimesMadeEasyMethod.com to get on the wait list for when enrollment opens up late in June. I would love to send you more information about this program so that you can better understand,
[00:17:55] Is this a good fit for your family?
[00:17:57] Are the coming 90 days over summer going to be a time where you want to take action?
[00:18:02] Where you want to realize that you're ready to become more intentional in the meals and snacks that you're offering...
[00:18:09] And, that you're ready to put to use all those little puzzle pieces that you know to do, but you don't necessarily understand how they all fit together effectively.
[00:18:17] I want to help give you the framework and the process so that you can be successful with that, and so that come the start of the next school year, you know exactly what to do and your child has that added nutritional variety and improved diet quality, that there's so many more options you can offer come a few months from now.
[00:18:35] So go to MealtimesMadeEasyMethod.com to get signed up for the wait list. This doesn't enroll you or commit you to anything. It simply says that you're interested in receiving more information once enrollment opens in June.