
“But I want the granola bar in the orange wrapper!” your preschooler screams at you during snack time.
“Monkey yogurt” your toddler tantrums when you offer a new brand of yogurt.
Complete SILENCE at the dinner table when you serve up your homemade version of chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese instead of the usual frozen dinosaur nuggets and boxed mac and cheese.
Do these sound familiar? If you’re a parent (especially with more than one kid), you’ve probably experienced one or more of these episodes. These scenarios can be very normal and not concerning if they happen on occasion, but if you find this to be your normal meal and snack time vibe, it may be time for a change!
Food chaining is a simple yet effective way to improve mild to severe picky eating behaviors.
(This article is geared towards parents of children, but the same criteria and tactics can be used for picky adults too.)
What is Food Chaining?
Food chaining is a method developed by speech therapist Cheri Fraker and made popular by her book Food Chaining. It involves finding “links,” (such as color, flavor, or texture) between similar foods to create a “chain” that leads to trying new and potentially more nutritious foods.

It’s now a widely-used technique by speech therapists, occupational therapists and dietitians as a way to increase food variety in children (and adults) with very limited diets. In cases of mild to moderate picky eating, parents can easily implement these linking strategies on their own. Oftentimes, just knowing about this approach can prevent picky eating patterns from developing in the first place.
In cases of extreme picky eating and conditions like ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder), you may need additional help from a group of specialists (or feeding team) including a physician, registered dietitian, speech therapist, occupational therapist and/or behavior therapist in order for food chaining to be successful.
Who Can Benefit from Food Chaining?
Most children struggle with picky eating from time to time. This is completely normal and can be due to a variety of reasons including tiny appetites, food jags, environmental or genetic causes and sickness.

Occasional picky eating isn’t cause for concern and resolves on its own. But if your child’s picky eating habits persist for more than a few weeks, it may be cause for concern. If your child falls into any of the following categories, he or she may benefit from food chaining:
- Chronic Picky Eating (adapted from SOS Feeding Survey by Dr. Kay Toomey)
- Picky eating that lasts for >2 weeks, but <2 years and does not meet the criteria for extreme picky eating
- >20 foods in your child’s diet
- Includes at least 1 food from each food group (carbs, protein, fruits, veggies, fats)
- Can tolerate disliked foods touching on plate
- Eats with the family, but sometimes eats different foods than the family
- Will add a food back after a food jag
- May have weight loss or gain (depending on food preferences)
- Extreme Picky Eating (Problem Feeder/Pediatric Feeding Disorder)
- Picky eating that lasts for >2 years
- <20 foods in your child’s diet
- Refusal of an entire food group (or more than one)
- Will cry/protest/tantrum when a new food is on his/her plate or if certain foods are touching
- Typically eats different foods and in a different space than the family
- Will avoid a food completely after a food jag
- Often leads to weight loss/malnutrition (due to avoiding entire food groups)
- Often accompanied by medical (i.e. reflux), feeding skill (i.e. chewing, swallowing or sensory challenges), and/or psychosocial/behavioral concerns.
- ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder)
- Psychological diagnosis typically characterized by weight loss and loss of interest in food
- Fear of adverse events such as choking, vomiting or allergic reactions
- Difficulty eating in social environments such as a school cafeteria or friend’s house
- Can have similarities to anorexia nervosa (AN), and in cases of severe malnutrition can coincide with AN
- Due to the psychological and nutrition concerns, most children with ARFID benefit from the combined help of a doctor, therapist and a registered dietitian.
- Autism/ADHD
- Due to the combination of sensory, GI, neurological and nutrition challenges associated with these conditions, many children with Autism and ADHD experience chronic picky eating or feeding disorders.
- Sometimes mild picky eating leads to nutrient deficiencies that negatively impact a child’s brain development, creating a cycle of progressively worsening picky eating and exacerbating Autism/ADHD symptoms.
- Adult Picky Eating
- Often an overlooked case of any of the above mentioned feeding challenges
- May have experienced “food trauma” as a child as a result of being force-fed or from an undiagnosed feeding disorder/ARFID
- Can result in similar over or under-nutrition problems as well as psychosocial challenges (avoiding social situations that involve food)
- Can impact the next generation when picky parents pass on their picky eating preferences to their children
- Can benefit from the same tactics used for kids
How Long Does Food Chaining Take?
Food chaining can take anywhere from a few months (in cases of mild picky eating) to a few years (in cases of extreme picky eating and ARFID) to improve eating behaviors and expand a child’s diet. Typically the longer your child has had picky eating habits and the more limited the diet, the longer it will take to correct. The length of the process will also depend on your child’s age, developmental stage, willingness to participate and any extra complications such as neurological, feeding skill,sensory and/or behavioral challenges.
How to Start Food Chaining:
- Make a list of your child’s preferred foods (The shorter the list, the longer it may take for food chaining to be effective).
- Take note of similarities between their favorite foods
- Are they similar in color (white or tan foods)?
- Are they similar in texture (crunchy, creamy or soft)?
- Are they similar in flavor (sweet or salty)?
- Pick 1 goal food to work towards
- Consider what nutrients are missing and what food groups would be most important to work on.
- I.e. If your child only likes dry, crunchy foods like crackers, toast and goldfish, their diet may be low in fiber (from fruits and veggies) and protein (from meat, beans and nuts).
- If you’re unsure, a Registered Dietitian can help to analyze your child’s diet.
- Begin to think of links that may help you get to your goal food
- I.e. goldfish crackers > ritz crackers >whole grain ritz crackers >whole grain ritz crackers with peanut butter > whole grain toast with peanut butter> whole grain toast with peanut butter and strawberry jam > peanut butter & jelly on whole grain bread
- Consider what nutrients are missing and what food groups would be most important to work on.
- Focus on changing only one sensory element (i.e. shape, color, flavor, or texture) at a time.
- Change a brand or a shape (dinosaur chicken nuggets > round chicken nuggets)
- Change a color (broccoli > cauliflower)
- Change a flavor (apple > peach)
- Change a texture (strawberry gummies>strawberry jam>sliced strawberries)
- Add a dip, spread or sauce (carrots and ranch dip > celery and ranch dip). Ketchup, Ranch and BBQ sauce are favorites!
- Go at your child’s pace
- If your child is resistant to even the slightest change, you may need to focus on getting your child comfortable with the new food on a separate plate near his/her preferred food.
- You can involve your child in sensory food play, where they are allowed to touch, smell, lick, crunch the food with permission to spit out the food (especially if they have a strong gag reflex)
- Start with a pea-sized amount of the new food (or let your child put the new food on his/her plate).
- When your child is ready to swallow the new food, keep a favorite cup nearby to help wash the food down
- Supplement as Needed
- If your child has a very limited diet and/or is moving very slowly through the food chaining process, he or she may also benefit from a nutrition supplement beverage (if weight gain is needed) and/or nutrient supplements like a multivitamin, omega 3‘s and vitamin D to support missing nutrients.
- These supplements can help to promote optimal growth and brain development that will support the food chaining process.
- Your pediatrician or registered dietitian can help you decide which brands and dosages are best.
Food Chaining Examples

- Using Color
- strawberry gummies > strawberry real fruit bar > sliced strawberries > red pepper slices
- cheese curls > sweet potato fries > carrot sticks > orange pepper slices
- Green veggie stick > celery stick > green pepper slices > cucumber slices
- Using Shape
- French fries > sweet potato fries > carrot sticks
- Kraft macaroni and cheese> Annie’s Super! Mac > homemade macaroni and cheese
- Pretzel stick > veggie stick > celery stick > green apple sliced in a stick
- Using Dips
- Carrots + ranch dip > celery + ranch dip > cucumbers + ranch dip
- Breaded dinosaur chicken nugget + ketchup > breaded whole grain chicken breast nugget + ketchup > homemade chicken nugget + ketchup > baked chicken breast + ketchup
- Using Flavor
- Broccoli > cauliflower > Brussels sprouts
- Boxed macaroni and cheese > homemade macaroni and cheese > cheesy rice > cheesy potatoes
- Applesauce > peach applesauce > canned diced peaches > canned peach slices > fresh peach slices
- Using Texture
- Goldfish > pretzel sticks > veggie sticks > carrot or celery sticks
- Applesauce > vanilla yogurt > fruit flavored yogurt > fruit/veggie smoothie
- Green grape > red grape > blueberry
Final Tips for Successful Food Chaining
- Take it slow and keep it positive!
- Remember that every child’s food chaining process will look a little different. It’s ok to stay on the same step for a while.
- Be intentional…use my Food Chaining Worksheet to guide you as you meal plan.
- Be persistent…experts agree that it can take 10 or more tries for a child to accept a new food.
- Keep food talk neutral (this celery is green) and curious (does this taste smooth or crunchy?).
- Tasting (i.e trying a food without swallowing) creates an exposure to a new food and is still a step in the right direction.
- When working on fruits and veggies, offering a different form (frozen, canned, roasted, sauteed etc) can increase your child’s likelihood of wanting to taste it.
- Displaying food in fun, kid-friendly ways (i.e. in the shape of a funny face) is an enticing way to get picky kids more interested in a new food.
- Practice modeling by letting your child watch you eat the foods you’re asking him/her to try.
- Avoid using food rewards (i.e. dessert) as bribery for trying a new food.
Food chaining opens up endless possibilities and benefits for those with mild to severe picky eating and anywhere in between. So it’s time to GET CREATIVE and GET CHAINING!
Recommended Resources
If you’re still looking for more guidance on feeding your picky child, these are some helpful evidence-based resources:
- Ellyn Satter Institute
- Fearless Feeding
- Feeding Littles
- Feeding Matters
- SOS Approach to Feeding
- Raising Adventurous Eaters
- Raising a Happy, Healthy Eater
Need More Help Getting Started?
Even with all the right advice, food chaining can still be hard to figure out on your own. Download this FREE food chaining worksheet to help get you started.
If you’re still not sure how to navigate your child’s picky behaviors, Food to Table Nutrition offers 1:1 services to coach you through your child’s picky eating challenges.
This is not a substitute for medical advice nor is it a suggested treatment plan. If your child has any medical or psychological conditions that impact their feeding ability, please consult your medical provider before applying any of these principles.