You know the scene. You offer your child a food item that he or she has never had before and guess what? They screw up their little faces. Here's our guide to coping with fussy eaters and getting children eating well throughout the day.

The fear

Fear of new foods is called neophobia, and it can be hard to tackle. But the younger the child, the easier it is. With a the following combinations of mental and oral persuasion, you can get your child eating foods that many your reject.

Concentrate on the positives

There’s a big chance that your child is refusing something to get a reaction from you. If you give more attention to the negatives than the positives then they will do the negative more often. Give your child praise if they try something, like it, ask for it etc. If they refuse and kick up a fuss, stay relaxed and don’t show your frustration.

Choose interactive foods

There are underlying reasons for fussy eating. Some of it is about attention; some of it is about control. If you introduce foods by giving them the choice about what they can have, they will feel they have some control about the matter.

Host a party

Use your children’s friends, especially if they’re good eaters and get them round for supper, snacks, etc. Children tend to do what their friends do a lot of the time. If they see that someone their age is eating a vegetable, it might not be as disgusting as they thought. Then they'll just bit a bit more willing.

Give them the responsibility

Have your children eat with the adults – it’ll make them feel important, and put a light pressure on them to behave like a big boy or girl, eating what the adults eat.

Persistence

There is a theory about olives: that they necessitate the development of an 'acquired taste'. Apparently, it takes the consumption of ten olives for a person to grow accustomed to them. This process is mirrored in the manner that many children taste new foods. Try to feed them the food. If they refuse, simply try again. It can take 10 – 15 goes for a child to accept a new food – so with each try count down and think “Just one less to go”!

Be a role model

Your first introduction of a new food could be your child merely seeing you eat it. They may even ask to try it themselves without so much as a suggestion from you.

Mix and match

To avoid a plate full of dubious poking and prodding, serve up new foods with old ones they trust and know.

The democratic approach

Something your children may appreciate is having a particular day where they try something new and get to vote on it. If they decide they don’t like it, don’t make a fuss of it by saying, "yes, you do". Simply say, "ok, next." If they don't try, they don’t vote which will more than likely getting them trying.

Get new foods in first

If your child has filled up on their old favourites they won’t want something new on a full stomach. Try the new food as an easy starter – this may be a good way to get around this.

Accept defeat

Finally if after trying all these ideas, it may be possible that your child genuinely doesn’t like a few foods. There will be many other choices within that food group that you can try.

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