I created this resource from my experience as a nutritionist and mom of two. Feeding our kids well in such a difficult food environment can be stressful, so I hope these tips give you some insight into what to focus on, and what - over time - can make it easier. I've included some of the specifics that I think move the needle: how to pack more into food they already eat, how to help their bodies absorb it, how to introduce new foods with less rejection, and how to grow an adventurous eater with fewer dinner-table battles through education and understanding.

Please note: none of this is medical advice. If you're worried about your child's growth, energy, or eating, please consult your GP or a paediatric dietitian immediately.

Part 1: Improving nutrient density

These tips are all about increasing the nutrients in foods they're already eating. This is what we call nutrient density: getting more micronutrients in per calorie consumed.

1. Swap your flours. The fastest way to upgrade pancakes, muffins, fritters and coatings. If your kids aren't used to whole grains, they'll likely reject a straight swap from white to brown flour. This is normal; it's just too much of a change in taste and texture too soon. Start by replacing ¼–⅓ of plain flour with a higher-nutrient flour and leave the rest as is.

2. Chickpea (gram/besan) flour is great for more protein, fibre, and minerals vs white flour. Cup for cup it carries roughly 20g of protein vs about 13g in white flour, around three times the fibre, plus iron, folate, magnesium and zinc, and it's lower-GI so energy lasts longer. Use it to bind veggie fritters and homemade nuggets, thicken a sauce, make savoury pancakes (socca), or blitz into a batter for roasted veg. Since it's naturally gluten-free, it won't work as a straight swap in baking (ie banana bread) in most cases. 

3. Almond flour is great for plant diversity, micronutrients, fibre and steady energy. It’s high in protein (~21g/100g), vitamin E, magnesium and healthy fats, and it's energy-dense. Use it as a coating for chicken or fish goujons instead of breadcrumbs, or add to muffins, pancakes, and energy balls.

4. Buckwheat flour is my pick for for pancakes, waffles and blinis. Despite the name, buckwheat is a naturally gluten-free seed. It has ~14g protein per 100g, good fibre, magnesium and rutin (a plant antioxidant), and a nutty flavour kids tend to like (swap them over slowly if they aren't used to wholegrains). Buckwheat feels heavier than wheat and absorbs more liquid, so you'll have to play around with quantities as you substitute it.

5. Blitz oats into oat flour. Free, fast, and adds a great type of fibre called beta-glucan; a soluble fibre that's great for the gut and for blood sugar. Whizz porridge oats in a blender and use in banana bread, pancakes and muffins. No special shopping required. You can also make simple, 2 ingredient wraps from blitzed oats: take 1 cup of jumbo oats and blitz with ¼ cup water, let it sit for 15 minutes so it thickens, and you're good to go.

6. Put beans and lentils in everything you can. I've been doing this since my kids were young: red lentils into a bolognaise or tomato sauce (they thicken it and add fibre), white beans blend into a cheese sauce, mash, smoothies or brownies, black beans into chocolate cookies, chickpeas into blondies. So versatile! I also use beans in most of my mince-based recipes. If your kids notice everything, colour-matching is key! I use always adding black beans or red beans to meatballs, meatloaf and bolognaise because even though my 4 year old loves beans - if she sees them in a dish she rejects them. 

7. Add seeds for a great boost of fibre (and more). A spoon of ground flax or chia into porridge, yoghurt or a smoothie adds omega-3 (ALA), fibre and magnesium. Hemp seeds are a complete protein but have a stronger taste, so they're harder in higher quantities. I always add sunflower seeds to smoothies, and because my kids sometimes refuse anything that isn't the right colour, I often use white chia for smoothies and porridge. I also tend to use flax to bind meatballs instead of eggs; my kids eat enough eggs, so it's a great chance to use other nutrients.

8. Tinned fish with the bones in. Mashed sardines or tinned salmon (soft, edible bones) are a great source of omega-3, and the bones add calcium and tinned fish is quite affordable. Smash into pasta, fishcakes, or onto sourdough with a little goat's cheese. Anchovies are another great source; I use them in the base of sauces (instead of salt) to boost the omega content.

Part 2: Absorption

Getting more out of the same food.

9. Add a little fat to veg. The vitamins in colourful veg (the carotenoids in carrots, sweet potato and spinach, plus vitamins A, D, E and K) are fat-soluble, which means they need fat to be absorbed. Drizzle a neutral organic extra-virgin olive oil or avocado oil, use a little butter, or serve topped with a little parmesan (or another good cheese).

10. Soak, sprout, ferment to improve iron and zinc. The phytates in beans, grains, nuts and seeds bind iron, zinc and calcium and reduce absorption. Soaking pulses before cooking, sprouting, and fermenting (tempeh, miso, sourdough) helps break phytates down and free the minerals up.

Part 3: How to approach fussy-eaters

I think most families go through this, but some to more of an extent than others. It can feel incredibly stressful, so don’t be afraid to get professional advice (even if it’s just for reassurance that it’s normal). 

11. Build a "food chain" and change one thing at a time. This is a method feeding therapists use (developed by Cheri Fraker and Laura Walbert): bridge from a food your kids love to a new one by changing only a single property - taste, texture, shape, colour or temperature - at each step. Oftentimes, we try to do it all at once. Loves strawberry fruit leather? → freeze-dried strawberries (same flavour, new crunch) → fresh strawberries. This is all about small, achievable steps, not a leap.

12. Reduce artificially flavoured, salted, and sweetened foods. When these are given daily/multiple times a day, they will (over time) impact their palette and make whole foods an uphill battle. As you’re doing this, you don’t need to go all out on healthy food. Give lots naturally sweet options - fruit, smoothies, and foods that are easier to tolerate as their taste buds adapt. 

13. Search for dips and sauces they love. Children eat noticeably more veg when there's something to dip into - hummus, yoghurt dips, nut butters (thin smooth layer for little ones), guacamole, cheesy sauce. 

14. Keep offering far longer than you think. It can take up to 15 separate tries before a child accepts a new food, yet most of us give up after three or four (the fighting and the food waste are hard to take, I know!). Put a small amount on the plate alongside the familiar, no comment, no pressure. Add it into sauces, stir fries, sides, stews. Let them touch, smell and look - it still counts. My kids and I have an understanding that it’s important to try new things - I reassure them that if they don’t like them, they don’t need to eat them, which takes the fear away and tends to do it most of the time. I’m not afraid to use the star chart here too! 

15. Vary their "safe" foods slightly to prevent a limited diet. Children can get so attached to one exact brand or shape that they insist on one exact meal done in one exact way. Try to head it off by offering small variations of favourites - like a different shape or grain of pasta - so flexibility stays built in. 

Part 4: Real-food principles to keep it nutrient-dense, whole, and balanced

This is less about hacks, and more about the way I think about food day to day. For me, it’s about prioritising nutrient-dense whole foods, keeping them as close to their natural form as possible, and pairing meals so energy stays steady. As most parents know, we can't control what the kids are getting at schools and parties; and birthday parties aren't the time to be enforcing food rules. With so much extra exposure to sugar and UPFs, building a healthy foundation at home is more important than every.

16. Watch out for overly carby breakfasts.  A piece of white toast with honey or sweetened cereal with a glass of orange juice spikes and drops blood sugar fast, and it’s not what kids need before heading into hours of school. Always try to add some balance - an apple with nut butter, toast with egg, crackers with cheese - so protein, fat and fibre soften the curve and they stay fuller, steadier and less snacky. To be clear: kids need carbs to grow. This is about pairing and quality, never cutting them.

17. Don’t be afraid of full fat dairy, just keep it good quality. The fat in whole milk, full-fat yoghurt and cheese carries the fat-soluble vitamins and keeps small tummies satisfied. The reflex to reach for low-fat "kids'" versions usually just swaps fat for added sugar. Try to avoid sweetened versions (regardless of the fat profile) and sweeten yogurt with fresh fruit or freshly made compote with minimal natural sweetness. 

18. Vary your grains/don't live on white wheat. Most of us default to wheat for almost everything: bread, pasta, cereal, crackers. But each grain brings a different mix of nutrients and a different type of fibre, and your child's gut bacteria thrive on that variety. Rotate in oats, brown or wild rice, quinoa, buckwheat, barley, rye, spelt and millet. Quinoa pasta one night, cooked spelt instead of a rice base another, an oat-based breakfast, a barley in soups. Small rotations add up to a much broader nutrient and fibre base over a week.

19. Cook in bone broth. I love to simmer rice, grains, soups and sauces in bone broth rather than water. It adds minerals and glycine (the amino acid abundant in skin, bones and connective tissue) for no extra effort and no new food to "sell" them. The caveat here is shop bought bone broth is quite expensive, so try to get into the habit of making your own (I do this a couple times a month when I've done a roasted chicken, so this is an every now and then habit rather than a core one). 

20. Go beyond fish fingers. Some of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet are small oily fish and shellfish (mussels, prawns), which are loaded with iodine, zinc, selenium, B12, DHA and iron. Introduce a range early and low-key (well-cooked, low-mercury choices). Prawns in a stir-fry, mussels chopped finely in a tomato pasta. I know the mussels one sounds niche, but I've successfully put them into dishes without a notice.

21. Treat egg yolks and liver as brain food. Choline is critical for memory and brain-building, most children (and adults) fall short, and the two richest sources by far are egg yolk and liver. Eggs are safe to have regularly. Liver is a weekly not daily option (as it’s so high in Vitamin A)  - a little folded into a bolognaise or blitzed into a smooth pâté on toast once a week. 

Part 5: Easy to miss nutrients + habits that last

22. Three nutrients worth keeping on your radar:

• Iodine: vital for brain and thyroid, found mainly in dairy, eggs and fish. If you've switched to a plant milk, check it's fortified with iodine; many aren't, and it's a common gap. Children on a vegan diet often need iodine, however, it’s important to get advice before supplementing as too much can be dangerous. 

• Zinc: essential for for learning, attention, mood and immunity. Meat, shellfish, beans, pumpkin seeds and dairy all deliver it.

• Vitamin D: in the UK no one makes it from sunlight October–March. Official advice is a daily 10mcg supplement for all under-fives year-round, and for everyone else through autumn and winter. For many adults, Vitamin D3 supplements are needed year round. 

• Iron, which I discussed in the caption, is more complicated than just "eat iron-rich foods." A baby builds up iron stores in the womb that are meant to last roughly the first six months, so if a mother's own iron is low in pregnancy, her baby can start life with a smaller reserve. And even a child eating plenty of iron-rich food can still run low because how much they actually absorb depends on the type of iron (the iron in meat is absorbed far more easily than the iron in plants) and what it's eaten with. My eldest is a good example: good diet, but I had very low iron in pregnancy and breastfeeding, and she still needed support with her iron. Symptoms include tiredness, short-fused, getting sick often, poor concentration. Low iron is most common deficiency in childhood and because we aren’t taught about it many parents misinterpret it as being difficult. Worth a GP chat before assuming it's behaviour. 

23. Get them cooking. In a controlled study, kids who helped make the meal ate 76% more veg than when a parent made the identical dish and felt more positive and in control around food. I don’t have time to do this in the week (although they’re old enough to help with breakfast now) but I always do this on weekend. Let them wash, tear, stir, taste and choose. Not just baking! Get them involved in the whole meal. 

24. Bring them into the planning, not just the cooking. One things that I’ve found useful is getting them to help choose a meal. They can pick the protein, the carb and the veg, or pick a new meal from a cookbook to try that week. Get them to help pick things that are lots of different colours. A child who chose the meal is far more invested in eating it, and the act of choosing builds food confidence and a real sense of ownership. Being the one who picks the new thing takes the pressure off trying it.

25. Drink water, not calories. Make water the everyday drinks; keep juice and squash occasional. They blunt appetite for real food and even fresh juices are technically free sugars, so you can drink the equivalent of 4-5 oranges in a minute as opposed to needing to chew, swallow, enjoy food. I make or get fresh juice sometimes, but will also add a little water to it just to make it a little more balanced. Smoothies are the outlier here - I rely on smoothies most days with breakfast to help get in their healthy fibre, fats, and phytonutrients. 

26. Talk about what food does, not "good" and "bad." Starting an early, positive dialogue around food is key. We talk about foods your tummy bugs love, foods that help you grow, foods that feed your muscles, foods that help protect you from a cold. We talk about how some foods are fine for everyday whereas others are sometimes foods. Curiosity outlasts rules and it's the bit that sticks for life.

27. Healthy boundaries aren't restrictions. Saying yes to everything can do as much harm as saying no to everything. So many of us, including myself, are scared of creating food issues - which is a valid fear - but setting no limits at all isn’t the answer. Try creating structure without pressure or heated emotions. Talk about everyday foods v sometimes foods. Make main meals normal, rather than giving in to perpetual snacking. ‘Not now, but we’re having dinner in 30 minutes’ is a boundary, not a restriction. If my kids want something crazy sweet when we’re out, I often say 'not now, but let’s try to make that at home.' They get involved in the process, excited about it, it’s fun, and you can control the ingredients more. It's the language and the balance that matter more. 

You don't have to overhaul your whole kitchen overnight. Pick two or three of these this week and see how they go.