Kids May Need to See a New Food 10 to 15 Times Before Tasting It, So a Knoxville Pediatrician Starts Offering Thanksgiving Sides Weeks Early

Between seeing a new food and actually tasting it, many children need 10 to 15 encounters, according to Andrea Horbey, DO, FAAP, a pediatric hospitalist at Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee. That number shapes her Thanksgiving advice for families with picky eaters: begin offering the holiday sides weeks before the big meal. Her column appears on HealthyChildren.org, the American Academy of Pediatrics’ site for parents.

What counts as seeing a new food

Horbey writes that “it is normal for children to need to see a new food 10-15 times before they’re willing to try it.” Seeing, in her description, does not have to mean eating. Looking at a food, smelling it, touching it or having it sit on the plate all count as exposures.

Her column was also distributed through the Tribune Content Agency and ran in The Union Democrat in Sonora, California, on Nov. 9. Horbey is board-certified in general pediatrics and pediatric hospital medicine, and the newspaper reports that she is an assistant program director for the hospital’s pediatric residency program.

The 10-to-15 figure is not unique to her. The nonprofit ZERO TO THREE says children may need to be offered a new food as many as 10 to 15 times before they will eat it. A Nemours Children’s Hospital dietitian likewise wrote that it can take 10 to 15 tries before a taste becomes likable or familiar.

Green beans, several ways, a few weeks before Thanksgiving

Horbey advises introducing unfamiliar holiday dishes a few weeks ahead rather than putting them on the table for the first time on Thanksgiving. Her example is a family that serves green bean casserole every year: the child can meet plain cooked green beans prepared in several ways during ordinary weeknight dinners first.

She recommends what she calls food bridges. After a child accepts one food, a parent can offer something similar in color, flavor or texture. A child who likes pumpkin pie, for example, might be offered mashed sweet potatoes in the weeks before the holiday.

The American Academy of Pediatrics gives similar guidance in its general picky eater advice: refusing a food once is not a reason to stop offering it, and it can take as many as 10 or more tastes before a toddler accepts it. The same page warns that pressuring children to eat, or punishing them when they do not, can make them dislike foods they might otherwise enjoy.

A favorite food, a snack and a say in the menu

For the day itself, Horbey suggests bringing or serving at least one dish the child already likes, whether the family is hosting or visiting. She also advises preventing extreme hunger, because hungry children have less self-control, and says a protein-containing snack beforehand can keep them full longer.

Children can help plan the menu, she writes, aiming for a protein, a grain, a vegetable and a fruit. Parents can start with dishes the family already serves, explain why they matter to the family, and let the child choose others from recipes or pictures.

Cooking tasks can be matched to age. Horbey says toddlers can clean vegetables, school-aged children can mash potatoes and teens can cook cranberries, and children who help cook are more likely to eat what they made.

Presentation can matter too. She lists cinnamon and nutmeg on cooked apples and a vegetable tray arranged like a turkey as ways to spark curiosity.

What a pediatric dietitian adds for holiday travel and relatives

Bekah Mulchan, a registered dietitian who works with families on picky eating at Cincinnati Children’s, wrote in a hospital blog post that families can pack shelf-stable foods a child reliably eats and offer a snack or meal before an event.

Mulchan also suggests serving components separately, such as plain green beans instead of casserole or bread beside the stuffing rather than mixed in. She recommends small portions of a new food next to familiar options, and a short, calm response ready for relatives who comment on a child’s eating.

She adds that a child may not try or eat everything offered, and that this is fine. Mulchan says parents should talk with a pediatrician if a child is losing weight, is not gaining weight or eats fewer than 15 to 20 foods.

Why the goal is not a clean plate

Horbey’s column closes with a reminder that the holiday is not about finishing the plate or suddenly liking every dish. She describes it as a chance to build positive associations with family meals and to expose children to new foods without pressure, and notes that each exposure still counts even if a child takes no bites.

Healthy eating habits, she writes, develop over many meals rather than one dinner, so the day can be about conversation, laughter and gratitude. The Nemours dietitian likewise suggests putting a small portion on the plate and letting it sit there without pushing the child to eat it, and the AAP’s general advice also cautions against pressure.

The Nemours dietitian also lists signs that picky eating may be something more, including strong sensitivity to textures, delayed or slurred speech, excessive drooling while eating, coughing while swallowing, and difficulty chewing or swallowing. She advises talking to a pediatrician first if any of those appear.

These pieces are general parenting guidance from the named experts. They are not medical advice for any one child, and the sources recommend raising persistent feeding concerns with a child’s pediatrician.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Helena Jacoba – CC BY 2.0/Wikimedia Commons