Encouraging adventurous tastes Small children can develop obsessive food habits – we all probably know a child who only eats jam sandwiches and bananas, but hopefully it’s not our own offspring! Luckily, after weaning many toddlers will try most foods unless they really are strong tasting. The onset of aversions tends to come a little later when your child begins to be more aware of different textures, or an eating experience puts a negative association in his head – a rice dish he didn’t enjoy, or hearing an older child complain about a certain vegetable. Where possible, encouraging as wide a range of foods now as you can not only helps broaden the scope for good nutrition but will be a useful foundation for longer term varied, healthy eating.