Warmer weather and longer days mean picnics and barbecues and the arrival of summer fruit. I am lucky to have a daughter who has become an adventuresome eater, ready to consume anything grilled or a new variety of plum from the Farmers’ Market. This attitude and behavior was a combination of luck and design. My wife and I have deliberately tried to expose our daughter to a wide range of flavors, textures, and spices so that she will eat the foods we eat, find foods to enjoy at a restaurant, and take advantage of the breadth of flavors in the world.

Kids’ food preferences begin in utero. Yup, certain flavors can pass through the placenta into the amniotic fluid: vanilla, carrot, anise, garlic, ginger, curry, etc. So, as babies develop, they get exposure to the range of flavors typical in a mother’s diet and demonstrate a preference for foods with those kinds of flavors. This makes sense, given that these are the kinds of foods in the family’s diet. In addition, flavors can pass through breast milk, so babies continue to get exposure to similar flavors after birth. This may explain why you may see some young children eat spicy foods–they had exposure to them since they were in the womb.

Dads also play an important part in the development of food habits. In one study of fathers of preschoolers, more than half said that they were equally responsible for organizing the meals and deciding on the quality and quantity of foods consumed by their children. In another study, fathers of 20-month-old children who consume more fruit and reduce their sugar-sweetened beverages have kids who continue to eat fruit and have low consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks into childhood. In addition, fathers’ behaviors at mealtimes model attitudes and behaviors towards foods. So, if Dad is picky or questions new foods or preparations, kids can adopt those same attitudes and patterns. I know of one father who won’t eat any meat on the bone, makes a face at new preparations, and is quick to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when the dinner meal includes new flavors. Not surprisingly, his kids, now teens, stick to known foods and are wary of ethnic restaurants. I am not a fan of coconut in our house and am on the lower end of spicy foods. Luckily, my daughter relishes the taste of coconut, and she enjoys relatively spicy food.

Pickiness in eating is common in children, particularly in toddlerhood. Kids may suddenly refuse foods that they had eaten before. When my daughter was younger, she would sometimes say she didn’t like certain foods. We then corrected her to say that she doesn’t like them yet. The “yet” was essential to remind her to keep an open mind that she may return to that food later. As a toddler, she went through a phase of not liking tomatoes. This crushed me, given the tomatoes I grew in the backyard. However, I did not give up. She got a little tomato to try during the growing season, but I couldn’t change her mind. Then, one day she came home from preschool and declared that she liked tomatoes again because they had them on a salad that day. Currently, my daughter doesn’t like mushrooms. We keep them out of her portion or leave them in large enough chunks to pick out. However, she will try them in a dish to see if she likes them yet. So far, the verdict is no.

In my daughter’s preschool, the staff adopted a saying that each kid had to take “one polite bite.” We continued to capitalize on this saying at home as well. Experts agree that this tactic may help kids try new foods. Many children need to have new foods introduced up to a dozen times or more before accepting them. In addition, kids are more likely to accept new foods when they are paired with something familiar. If a kid likes ranch dressing, that might be paired with a new vegetable. Kids also respond more favorably to sweeter foods, so adding a sauce on the sweeter side might help. Kids who help in the growing of foods build excitement in tasting them. Helping in meal preparation can get them invested in eating the product of their efforts. The consensus among the experts is that turning mealtimes into a power struggle does not work. What does work? Getting kids hungry! Increasing activity and reducing snacking, so they come to the table hungry means they are more likely to eat the foods prepared for them.

With the abundance of summer, dads can use their role at the table to bring a sense of adventure about eating new foods to their children.

Robert (Rob) S. Weisskirch, MSW, Ph.D., CFLE is a Professor of Human Development at California State University, Monterey Bay and is a Certified Family Life Educator. He and his wife are parents to a chatty, elementary school aged daughter and reside in Marina.