Exclusive: Matt Edmondson just shared his genius parenting hack for picky eaters – and we're not surprised it works so well

Matt Edmondson is a picky eater himself and he's shared the genius parenting method he uses to get his kids to stop being so fussy at mealtimes, and it actually works.

We've all been there - or at least known someone who's a fussy eater - and had that battle with mealtimes when you just want your kids to eat more veggies and would try anything.

Well, GoodtoKnow caught up with Radio 1 DJ Matt Edmondson, who is dad to Ivy, five, and Willow, two, with his wife Bryony, at this year's Toy Fair. He shared the two methods he uses to curb his picky eater kids (and we think the second is pretty genius).

Matt confessed, "I'm a picky eater so it's quite hard because I'm trying to preach something I don't necessarily practise myself. A couple of things we do, with dinner we say you don't have to eat it, it's up to you how much you eat, it's up to us what is for dinner so there's no point in complaining about it. If you don't like it, just don't eat it but obviously then you might go to bed hungry. And that tends to work."

But if you want to nip a food whinge in the bud when you know too well that they've tried it and loved it before, Matt has a different method and it seems pretty foolproof.

He explained, "If ever I get one of them to eat a food that they haven't tried before or one that they've complained about before and may seem to enjoy, I get them to do a video message to themselves in the future where they say, 'Hello, Ivy? It's me! Ivy! I've just eaten some broccoli and it was really nice. You don't need to stress out about it, you like it.'"

He added, "And then the next time she stresses out about it I play the video and I label it in my notes on my phone and, yeah, it works. The next time she complains I say to her 'You wouldn't lie to yourself'." And he's got a point!

Matt also shared a general parenting tip he uses to get his kids to do things, such as getting ready for bed. He said, "I basically try to gamify things, so I'll say, 'I bet you can't get your pyjamas on in 30 seconds'. That will get them going. my wife doesn't like me doing it she's like, 'No, they have to learn that sometimes in life, things aren't just a game' but I will very much level the fun - you can make anything a game."

In other family news, here's how to eat more veg and fruit (without spending loads of money) and when you've done your shopping try making one of these 50 healthy family meals.