Forget Nutrition “Education”—Let’s Talk About Food Instead

For years, traditional nutrition education in society has centred around classifying foods as “healthy” or “unhealthy.” Additionally, it teaches kids about macronutrients and emphasises the importance of eating more fruits and vegetables. However, much of this approach is rooted in diet culture and anti-fat bias, rather than fostering a positive and balanced relationship with food.

Rather than teaching kids rigid nutrition facts, we should emphasise sensory food education—helping them explore food through what they see, feel, smell, and taste.

Sensory Food Education: The Power of Conversations

When you sit and eat with children, engage them in conversation about their food in a way they can relate to:

• “This watermelon is bright red and crunchy.”
• “These noodles are so long and wiggly!”
• “Your sandwich is cut up into triangles.”

This kind of dialogue enhances sensory food education, making food engaging, familiar, and approachable. Furthermore, it encourages curiosity without imposing value judgments like “good” or “bad” on food. As a result, children feel more comfortable exploring different foods.

Why Sensory Food Education is Essential for Child Development

Young children are concrete thinkers. This is why sensory food education is more effective, as they struggle with abstract nutrition concepts. Explaining things like carbohydrates or protein causes more confusion and fear than clarity. Moreover, it can contribute to anxiety around food choices. Therefore, focusing on hands-on, descriptive experiences is a more effective way to help children develop positive food habits.

Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory and Sensory Food Learning

Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development outlines how children learn and process information as they grow. His framework consists of four key stages:

• Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years): Infants learn through sensory experiences and movement.
• Preoperational Stage (2-7 years): Children develop imagination and symbolic thinking but struggle with abstract concepts.
• Concrete Operational Stage (7-12 years): Logical thinking begins, but understanding is still based on concrete experiences.
• Formal Operational Stage (12+ years): Abstract and hypothetical reasoning develop.

Piaget’s theory suggests that cognitive development follows a fixed progression, where children move through these stages in a structured way. According to Pakpahan & Saragih (2022), understanding these stages is crucial for designing education strategies that match children’s cognitive abilities. Specifically, younger children (preoperational stage) benefit most from hands-on, sensory experiences rather than abstract nutrition lessons. Meanwhile, older children (concrete operational stage) can begin understanding basic concepts like food groups and meal composition. However, messages should remain neutral and exploratory rather than restrictive.

Saying things like, “Carrots help our bodies fight off illness and help us to see. They contain Vitamin C and beta-carotene,” is essentially speaking a different language to your child. A 3-year-old’s developing brain struggles with abstract concepts, making it nearly impossible to understand this statement.

Furthermore, if you say this to a 3-year-old (or even a child up to age 7), they might interpret it as, “If I don’t eat carrots, will I get sick and not see anymore?” You can see how this quickly becomes confusing, even fear-inducing, and potentially harmful.

I love that parents are eager to teach and share nutrition knowledge. However, without an understanding of Piaget’s cognitive development theory, well-meaning information can backfire, leading to unintended consequences that negatively impact your child.

How Parents Influence Children’s Food Relationships Through Sensory Education

Adults—especially parents—have a powerful role at the table. Rather than teaching kids nutrition facts, it’s about fostering positive food relationships. This can be achieved through:

• Encouraging curiosity instead of control
• Normalising a wide variety of foods without judgment
• Talking about basic food prep
• Building and discussing kitchen skills
• Having conversations about food and discussing colours, shapes and textures of food – sensory experiences

Kids learn through doing and mimicking what adults do. Consequently, when they see their parents eating and enjoying a variety of foods, they naturally adopt those behaviours. You may feel like your child will never touch that piece of pumpkin, but remember, this is a long game. Over time, consistent role modelling will have a greater impact. In contrast, pressuring children to eat specific foods can have the opposite effect. A child doesn’t need to hear “vegetables are healthy” to eat them—they need to see vegetables offered regularly and enjoyed in a no-pressure environment.

Transitioning from Traditional Nutrition Education to Sensory Food Learning

Rather than focusing on rigid “nutrition education” models, let’s prioritise sensory food education—allowing kids to explore and understand food in ways that make sense to them.

• Let them mix, stir, and touch ingredients.
• Describe textures, colours, and smells.
• Share meals together without pressure or rules around what must be eaten or in what order.
• Engage in hands-on experiences like growing food or baking.

Food education should be developmentally appropriate. While younger children benefit most from play-based and experiential learning, older kids (12+) might begin to understand more abstract nutrition concepts. However, even at this stage, it should be through a weight-inclusive, non-diet culture lens.

The Take-Home Message

Children don’t need nutrition lectures. Instead, they thrive on positive food experiences. Observing and learning from adults’ eating habits shapes their own approach to food. Most importantly, they benefit from parents who are present, engaged, and modelling a healthy relationship with food.

Thus, by embracing sensory food education instead of rigid nutrition rules, we can help children build a lifelong approach and a stress-free relationship with eating. Therefore, shifting our focus from structured nutrition education to experiential food learning will ultimately lead to healthier, more intuitive eaters.

How do you talk to your children about food?

References

Adachi, M. (2008). Theories of nutrition education and promotion in Japan: Enactment of the ‘Food Education Basic Law’. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 17(S1), 180-184.

Pakpahan, F. H., & Saragih, M. (2022). Theory of Cognitive Development by Jean Piaget. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2(1), 55-60. DOI: 10.52622/joal.v2i2.79..