More Nutrition Tips for Preschoolers

Choosing a Breakfast Cereal for Your Preschooler

Top Tips for Healthy Eating

Tips for Parents of Picky Eating Preschoolers

by Kati Chevaux

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Helpful Tips for Parents

• Serve new foods alongside accepted foods. A new food appearing next to something the child loves reduces threat and increases willingness to try.

• Picky eating peaks between ages 2–5 and is developmentally normal. Most picky eaters significantly expand their diets between ages 6–10 without intervention.

• Preschoolers need to see a new food 10–15 times before they'll try it, and they may need to eat it 15–20 times before they truly like it. Persistence without pressure works.

• Juice, even 100% fruit juice, should be limited to 4 oz/day for preschoolers — it displaces more nutritious foods, spikes blood sugar, and contributes to tooth decay.

Frequently Asked Questions

My preschooler will only eat 5–6 foods. Is this concerning?

Accepting fewer than 20 foods is considered selective eating that may warrant attention from a feeding therapist. If a child eats 5–6 foods, is not growing appropriately, has intense anxiety around mealtimes or new foods, or has textures they physically gag on (not just dislike), evaluation by a feeding specialist or occupational therapist is appropriate. For children who eat 10–15 varied foods across food groups without significant distress, continued exposure without pressure is the recommended approach.

Should I be counting calories for my preschooler?

Calorie counting for preschoolers is generally not recommended and can establish an unhealthy relationship with food. Preschoolers have a naturally functioning hunger-satiety regulation system (unless it has been overridden by pressure to eat or clean the plate). A preschooler who is growing on their own growth curve, has energy for normal activities, and is generally healthy is eating the right amount — regardless of whether you've counted calories. Discuss weight concerns with your pediatrician rather than independently restricting a preschooler's food intake.

Related reading: See also our cooking projects guide and our smoothie recipes guide for more ideas on this topic.

🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• 🥦 Healthy Food Knowledge — Learning about different foods, food groups, and what nutrients do in the body builds the food literacy that supports a lifetime of informed, health-conscious eating choices.
• 🧪 Science Literacy — Understanding where food comes from, how cooking changes its properties, and what nutrients do in the body connects food experiences to biology, chemistry, and the broader scientific understanding of the natural world.
• 🔄 Trying New Things — Regular exposure to new foods in a positive, low-pressure context teaches children that trying something unfamiliar is safe and often rewarding — a disposition toward novelty that accelerates learning in all domains.
• 🌍 Environmental Awareness — Understanding where food comes from and how food choices affect the planet begins the environmental literacy that leads to conscious, sustainable food choices throughout life.

Do you try to avoid buying foods with artificial colors for your preschooler? It can be hard - even basic foods like breakfast cereals, cereal bars, yogurt, crackers, ice cream, fruit cocktail, condiments and fruit drinks can contain artificial colors.

It's no surprise that artificial food colors are especially common in children's foods. Children respond to bright colors and colorful food sells. While the FDA considers artificial additives in foods to be safe, some research suggests that artificial food colors and preservatives are linked to behavior problems in children.

Use these tips to avoid artificial food additives if you are concerned about potential health issues or you simply want your preschooler to enjoy natural ingredients.

Read the Food Label

Most brightly colored candy contains artificial food colors, but for some foods, the added color isn't so obvious. Take a moment to read the ingredient listing on your preschooler's favorite foods. Look for these terms to indicate an artificial color is used:

"Artificial color"

FD&C Blue No. 1

FD&C Blue No.2

FD&C Green No.3

FD&C Red No.3

FD&C Red No.40

FD&C Yellow No.5

FD&C Yellow No.6

Orange B

Citrus Red No.2

Foods that Contain Artificial Food Colors

Bright colors are an obvious clue. Most processed foods don't retain bright colors without additives. Also, rethink foods you are used to seeing in a certain color. Should mint ice cream really be green? Is yogurt really going to be that shade from just added fruit? Is cheese really that yellow?

Many Kids' Cereals. Cereals that are brightly colored or not the color of natural cereal foods are likely to contain artificial colors. Froot Loops and other multi-colored cereals contain many artificial colors.

Cereal Bars. The fruit filling might not be a brilliant color, but many cereal bar brands do use artificial coloring.

Yogurt. While many fruit yogurts contain artificial colors, some yogurts marketed to children have switched to using natural colors or have no added colors at all.

Crackers and snacks. Bright yellow cheese crackers and multi-colored Goldfish crackers have artificial colors. And snacks that are bright yellow, orange, red, and green usually contain artificial colors. Even gelatin and pudding can have them.

Ice cream.Ice creams with color often use artificial flavor. Check the label for flavors like mint chocolate chip, strawberry, cherry and even French vanilla.

****Meals. Not only are many snacks artificially colored, packaged meals can be, too. Kraft macaroni and cheese, certain Lunchables, and some frozen meals contain artificial colors.

Beverages.Many brightly colored drinks, like fruit punch, fruit drinks, sports drinks, and smoothies, contain artificial colors.

References:International Food Information Council and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Ingredients and Colors, 2004.

Ingredient information retrieved from product labels and company websites.