If you're an adult in charge of feeding children, researcher and nutritionist Flavia Fayet-Moore has a challenge for you: unlearn some stuff.
That might seem counterintuitive as far as parenting aspirations go.
But Dr Fayet-Moore argues that damaging food myths have prevailed for too long, and they're not helping our children.
Ingrained beliefs influencing Australian eating habits have been "passed down generations and generations", she tells ABC RN's Life Matters.
"And it's now time for us to unlearn that."
From pregnancy and breastfeeding to parenting school-aged children, as part of the ABC's Your Move initiative, Dr Fayet-Moore and physician and ABC broadcaster Norman Swan offer some advice for raising well-rounded eaters with a healthy relationship to food.
Worry less, trust more
"The big, important thing for parents to remember is that food is an experience," Dr Fayet-Moore says.
"Let [kids] put the yoghurt in their hair. Let them gnaw on meat as much or as little as they want. That's all part of the experience of making food fun."
She recommends parents try to avoid worrying about whether or not their small child is eating enough.
"As parents, it's really important to trust [children] … Trust that they know when they're full or when they're hungry.
"If the child turns their head … then they don't want any more. If a child stops eating, take it away. You don't have to force them to eat."
Dr Fayet-Moore wants parents to ditch the habit of forcing a child to finish a meal.
"That's something that I think is passed down through generations, [from] when there was war and food was rationed. It was very important to finish what's on your plate."
Today, however, she argues it's better — and healthier — to tell children "to eat until they're full".
"Stretch receptors" in our stomach tell the brain when we're full, Dr Fayet-Moore says, although she notes that there's a 20-minute lag, so it's important to eat slowly.
And if there's a particular food you want your child to be eating, you'd better eat it too, she says.
Not only that, she recommends you "say how much you actually enjoy eating that food".
"If you want children to snack on veggies and hummus, then snack on veggies and hummus so they can see that. Role model.
"Practise what you preach — but don't preach," Dr Fayet-Moore says.
If you nag, you might get results opposite to the ones you're after.
"There's evidence that if you tell a child to eat something, they don't. And if you tell a child not to eat something, they do," Dr Fayet-Moore says.
Fussy about flavour in utero
Repeated exposure to different flavours is important, from as early as the foetus stage, Dr Fayet-Moore says.
Recent research tracking foetuses' facial reactions in response to food showed that a foetus smiles after the mother takes a carrot powder pill, and screws up its face after she takes a bitter kale pill.
Dr Fayet-Moore says the research demonstrates that our tastes are "preset", so babies require some coaxing in order to enjoy bitter vegetables.
It's important to encourage this because they are full of nutrients that are "important for our gut health, our brain health and for our bodies", she says.
Babies don't "like bitter foods innately" and it can take multiple attempts, even up to 20, before a child will want to eat it, Dr Fayet-Moore says.
When introducing solid foods to a baby, she recommends starting with bitter food like kale, rather than sweeter foods like fruit, sweet potato or carrot, which "we know babies are going to like".
Dr Swan says in pregnancy, a varied diet is important.
That includes a range of colourful vegetables. "You don't want to have a monotonous diet," he says.
The Mediterranean-style diet and South-east Asian diets like that of Vietnam, are the best, he says, with a "variety of vegetables, not much red meat, but plenty of protein".
This, he argues, "will set you and the baby in good stead for the rest of your life".
Take heed of the evidence
Dr Swan agrees with Dr Fayet-Moore that there are commonly accepted rules worth reconsidering around food and children.
"You got to be careful … because some of [the common food rules] have led to … the increase in allergies that we've seen around the world," he says.
For example, paediatricians have long advised parents to avoid feeding babies eggs, fish and peanuts in case of an allergic reaction, Dr Swan says.
"Well, the reality is in countries where they just throw stuff on the [highchair] tray and allow the baby to eat [by] themselves from an early stage, they have quite low levels of allergy."
However, Dr Swan is not recommending that parents go it alone without following guidelines.
"You've got to talk to your obstetrician [or] your GP about what is actually evidence-based," he says.
After that, "put a variety of foods on the highchair tray".
"Often, that's the time when [a baby] will actually take things like broccoli and greens because it's there before them. They will chew them and enjoy them along with meat and pasta and so on," Dr Swan says.
"You'd be surprised what they will put in their mouths."
Knowing what's cooking
Another way to help kids eat and enjoy a range of foods is to get them involved in the process of preparing it.
"[It] will do wonders for getting them to eat the food," Dr Fayet-Moore says.
"It's so important to teach little kids to cook. There are so many little things they can do."
Children can get involved by helping to choose food at the shops, chop vegetables with a kid-safe serrated knife, or simply by tasting some of the raw ingredients.
Not only will they be more likely to eat the food they're helping to prepare, they'll learn valuable life skills.
Kids who grow up without being exposed to the cooking process can grow up with "absolutely no idea how to cook", Dr Fayet-Moore says.
Raising a child to be a healthy eater who is happy to eat a range of things isn't easy, she says — but it's not impossible.
"It takes effort. It takes time … But it's doable. And that effort pays off in the long term."
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