The neophobia It is the fear of the incorporation of new foods in the diet, this is a very frequent disorder that usually occurs among children, they refuse to eat foods that they do not know and that they have never tasted, despite how necessary they are for their proper development
It is clear that not everyone reacts the same to a nutritional novelty, some do it with passion and desire to try and others automatically shy away from them demonstrating a kind of pathological resistance. We can observe these reactions frequently in any situation and in people of different ages, they tend to reject the new, be it food, clothing, etc. They even present a kind of somewhat abnormal fear.
Neophobia in children, mainly in the smallest, is one of the main causes for them to have no appetite. That is why it is so important not to force children to eat a certain food and try to incorporate it little by little, without haste but without pause. If the first time you introduce a certain food to the child, you have not accepted it willingly, do not give it the next day again, wait a few days since the child could associate a traumatic experience (vomiting) with that food and this would do to reject him with more force.
It is important that when you introduce a new food, you make it more attractive to the child accompanying him with thanks or jokes. The temperature also has to be correct, since if it were a little hotter than normal or too cold, it would be the ideal excuse for not even trying it. It is very important that the attitude of the parents is optimal before this topic, if the child proves that we eat everything, that we do not opt for something in particular and that we give the same importance to all foods, it will help in the task of introducing them in your diet
When the baby has reached six months, we begin to offer various foods that in principle have a general acceptance, but over time the child tends to develop a predilection for certain foods, this is when parents must expand their nutritional repertoire. According to some specialists, neophobia is related to the way of raising and feeding the child, so it is we who can significantly influence the child to develop or not this disorder, in addition, having a monotonous and little varied diet can perfectly cause neophobia
This disorder can appear for the first time with weaning, but it can also occur for the first time in children from three years of age, coinciding with the development of their personality and the determination of their preferences.
Try to offer your child all kinds of food, do not offer only what you know he will accept, it is a way to predispose the child to acquire this disorder. For a proper development of the child we must insist on adequate food, although for now they do not realize it, they will thank us for more.
