Helping Picky Eaters: The 5 Levels of Food Exposure™ to Build Food Trust
A sustainable system to build familiarity, reduce mealtime stress, and help children feel safe exploring new foods.
At Kids Feeding Wellness™, we understand that picky eating can feel overwhelming for families. That’s why we developed a structured yet flexible system to help: the 5 Levels of Food Exposure™—a step-by-step approach designed specifically for children ages 2 and up. This protocol meets children where they are, helping them gradually build food trust and confidence through repeated, low-pressure exposure.
What is Picky Eating?
Picky eating—also known as selective eating or fussy eating—is a common feeding behavior in young children. But when does it become more than just a phase?
Picky eating is characterized by:
A limited variety of accepted foods (often fewer than 20)
Strong preferences and refusal of even once-loved items
Exclusion of entire food groups (e.g., proteins, vegetables)
Strong negative or phobic reactions to new or unfamiliar foods
When selective eating starts to interfere with a child’s nutrition, growth, mealtime experience, or relationships, it may fall under the umbrella of a Pediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD). You can learn more about PFD at Feeding Matters.
What’s Really Going On Beneath the Surface?
Beneath the surface of picky eating, there’s often much more than a child simply being “difficult” or “stubborn.” Many underlying factors influence a child’s food acceptance:
Above the Surface
Rejection of new or unfamiliar foods
Preference for foods with very specific textures, colors, or shapes
Emotional reactions like crying, tantrums, or meltdowns
Below the Surface
Oral-motor delays or structural difficulties
Medical conditions (e.g., reflux, allergies)
Sensory sensitivities
Developmental stage
Child temperament
Level of food familiarity
While many of the above factors must be considered and supported—such as addressing oral-motor challenges, medical needs, or sensory profiles—one critical yet often overlooked factor is a child’s level of familiarity with the food.
“One of the strongest predictors of whether a child will eat a food is how familiar they are with it.”
Why Picky Eaters Are Often Cautious Eaters
Many children labeled as “picky” are actually cautious eaters—children who approach new foods slowly and carefully. These children:
Notice even the smallest changes in how a food looks, smells, or feels
Need more time and exposure to feel safe around unfamiliar foods
Worry about how a food might feel or taste in their mouth
Feel anxious about how a food might affect their body
This cautious approach is not defiance—it’s a form of protection. And it often becomes especially noticeable during a normal developmental stage called food neophobia.
The Stage of Food Neophobia
Neo = new | Phobia = fear
Food neophobia is the fear of new or unfamiliar foods. It begins around 12 months, intensifies by 18 months, peaks between 2–6 years, and gradually fades by age 7 (Dovey et al., 2008).
During this stage, children become more sensitive to the appearance of food and often reject items that look “different,” even if they’ve eaten them before.
Familiarity: The Antithesis to Neophobia
The good news? Familiarity is the antidote to fear.
As familiarity increases, food neophobia decreases.
Familiarity doesn’t just come from tasting. It’s built through repeated, low-pressure exposure to a food’s appearance, smell, texture, and overall context. But there’s more—familiarity also develops when children:
Learn about the food (what it is, where it comes from, how it grows)
Observe how others eat and engage with the food in real-life settings
Use their senses to touch, smell, and interact with the food in multiple ways across multiple contexts (not just meal time)
These experiences create a mental food schema—a framework the brain uses to recognize, categorize, and feel safe around new foods.
This is exactly where our 5 Levels of Food Exposure™ framework comes in.
Introducing the KFW 5 Levels of Food Exposure™
A trusted protocol that’s helped countless families turn food fears into curiosity
At Kids Feeding Wellness™, we use the 5 Levels of Food Exposure™ as our core approach to support picky and cautious eaters in developing food trust—the internal sense that food is safe, predictable, and worth exploring.
What is food trust?
Food trust is when a child feels safe in their body and mind around food. It means they’re not overwhelmed by pressure, surprise, or confusion—and instead feel confident to explore at their own pace. Without food trust, exploration and tasting can feel scary, triggering shutdowns or refusals.
This protocol helps build food trust through repeated, low-pressure experiences that spark curiosity, reduce fear, and create positive associations with food.
The protocol is:
Evidence-based: Each level is grounded in research that supports the effectiveness of these types of exposures in helping children feel more comfortable and familiar with new or previously rejected foods.
Child-centered: The 5 Levels are designed to meet each child exactly where they are. We follow their lead, honor their pace, and provide the tools and support they need to feel more confident with food.
Flexible for use in feeding therapy or at home: The activities are simple, practical, and easy to integrate into everyday routines or therapy sessions. Whether you’re a parent or a clinician, the framework can be adapted to fit your unique goals and environment.
Designed to move forward with confidence: By offering repeated exposure in thoughtful, bite-sized steps, this system helps children feel safe and in control—allowing for real, lasting progress with new foods.
Whether you're a parent or a clinician, this framework offers a sustainable, step-by-step path toward helping children feel more comfortable and in control around new foods.
The 5 Levels of Food Exposure™
How the 5 Levels Work
Each level introduces your child to one or more target foods in a variety of ways—building familiarity step-by-step without pressure to taste or eat. Whether you focus on a single food or a small set depends on your child’s needs and your family’s capacity. Through repeated, low-pressure exposure across all five levels, children become more curious, confident, and open to trying new foods.
.Level One: Educational Exposure
Children learn about foods through books, gardening, sensory exploration, and simple nutrition conversations.
Level Two: Social Learning Exposure
Children observe trusted food role models (parents, siblings, peers) intentionally eating the food with pleasure and excitement.
Level Three: Play Exposure
Children explore food through hands-on sensory and imaginative play like painting, stamping, sculpture making, sorting, or pretend cooking.
Level Four: Shopping & Cooking Exposure
Children help select recipes and prepare meals, seeing firsthand how food transforms from beginning to end.
Level Five: Meal & Snack Exposure
Food is offered at the table in a calm, pressure-free environment—allowing the child to explore at their own pace with no expectations for them to eat the food.
Want a free printable overview of the 5 Levels of Food Exposure™?
Need Support for Your Cautious Eater?
Whether you're a parent hoping to help your child feel more comfortable with new foods—or a clinician eager to bring the 5 Levels of Food Exposure™ into your therapy sessions—we’re here to guide you.
We’ll show you how to implement each level with practical tools, resources, and the confidence to support your child in building familiarity with the foods you’d love to see in their diet.
Click here to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation
Let’s work together to build food trust and create more peaceful, productive mealtimes.
