"Jack will only eat white food, nothing else."

"The only way I can get Simone to eat her vegetables is if I bribe her with ice cream."

"Elia is so picky. I have to serve everything on separate plates so nothing is touching."

These are all sentiments, or variations of, spoken by exasperated parents of young eaters each day in all parts of the country. And some well-meaning advice often passed along is typically less than helpful:

"In my day, there wasn’t enough food to be picky. If you didn’t like what was served, more for the rest of us."

"Mash them up and sneak them in her macaroni and cheese - she’ll never notice."

"He’ll grow out of it, just ignore it."

The truth is, some children embrace new foods heartily while others, do not. Being choosy about food is often a stage children go through, and very common when children are experimenting with control. Many children will grow out of this stage, at least to a manageable level.

But what is also true is that children may become choosy because of the way we introduce and consume food. Many of those children often remain choosy, at least to some extent, into adulthood. Of course, there may be a medical reason a child is picky about eating and this deserves professional attention.

While picky eating can be a battleground, there are a few things you can do to minimize it. Remember that each child is different and has varied preferences; celebrate progress, rather than holding out for perfection. At the same time, know that turning a child who picks at their food into a willing and eager eater is quite possible.

• From infancy, introduce a variety of food to expand your child's palate: flavors, textures, smells, and temperatures.
• Do not avoid serving foods you don't like—let your child have a chance to develop their own tastes.
• Avoid heavy snacking (including beverages) between meals to ensure your child is hungry at mealtime.
• Don't bribe your child to eat. Their focus shifts from the food to the reward. This is a form of emotional eating; a bad habit to start.
• Clean plates are over-rated. Forcing children to finish an item or meal teaches them to ignore their internal 'full' signal and potentially associate a bad memory or feeling with a specific food. Start with small portions and offer seconds.
• When serving a new food, keep your expectations for amount consumed small: one spear of asparagus, one shrimp, etc.
• Create balance. Include a favorite and familiar food at each meal when you're serving something new.
• Take the pressure off and introduce new foods away from the table: a whole-grain bread or cheese taste test, a "name that fruit" challenge, a French or Greek themed picnic at the park, grocery store sample challenge, etc.
• As a last resort, introduce new things in favorite ways—if you have to fry zucchini once or twice to get your child to try it, it's okay. They'll be less hesitant when you later add it to a salad or grill it.  
• Trying new foods should be for everyone in the family. Consider serving a food that is new to all of you and modeling the curiosity of trying a food that is outside of you own comfort zone.
• Respect preferences. If a child doesn't want to eat more, don't force them. They may hesitate to admit they like something in the future if they feel pressure.
• Trying a food item one day does not exempt anyone from trying it again another day. It often takes repeated exposure to develop a taste for something new.
• Let kids not like a few things. No one likes everything. If a child clearly doesn't like something, be okay with that.
• Cook together. Making something always makes it more appealing. Even better, let your child choose what to make (out of a few healthy options you provide, of course).

With consistency and a strong commitment to lifelong healthy nutrition, you can turn your child's eating habits around.

NOTE: If your child complains of physical symptoms after eating, doesn't eat much of anything, is underweight, or has other potential medical symptoms related to eating, consult a physician.