some facts about picky eaters

[dragons in the flower bed]

A locavore with a kid on the beige diet shared this with me. There's some good objective information about our little neophobics towards the end there, including a study comparing the genetic influence to the environmental one.

[MaMa2005]

Oh, I can so relate. My DH is a super picky eater and it began manifesting itself when he was only 6 months old. He was on vacation with his parents in NYC. They ran out of baby food and bought what was available. It was a different brand than they used in Alabama. DH would not eat it. It got so bad that after not eating for 4 days, his parents cut the vacation short and flew back home.

 

DH is still horribly picky and I have spent the last 30 years trying to expand his taste buds, but most of the time it has been to no avail. I truly believe his problems are genetic.

[sbgrace]

That was interesting. Genetics account for 3/4 sounds about right to me. I've got one kid who will eat "anything" and one who is extremely picky and they are twins exposed to all the same foods and attitudes environmentally.

 

Just serve good food--a child will eat when they get hungry enough. Not true as it turns out. If I had two eaters like my good eater I would probably think I had something to do with it but I know better!

 

My picky eater is still very picky. But at five his twin had an anphylactic allergic reaction that necessarily restricted many of picky kid's favorite (and only) foods which we could no longer have in the house. And picky kid made an easier transition than I expected over-all. I was shocked. I think it was probably age. Had it happened at three we would have been sunk maybe.

Edited August 18, 2010 by sbgrace

[cathmom]

Interesting...one of my twins has been refusing dinner for a while, unless it's macaroni, spaghetti, or pizza. Guess what? He's 4. :D

[athena1277]

Now I know why my 3yo has suddenly quit eating foods he used to like! There are several foods that he always ate without problem that he has been refusing to eat the last few months. Maybe next year he will eat them......

[Wheres Toto]

Sounds like my son. He ate all kinds of things as a toddler but from about 2 years old on it went downhill. He's turning 5 this weekend so maybe things will start getting better? Although he has some minor sensory issues that I think contribute to his problem - hates anything that gets his hands wet or dirty (even eating an apple is too messy for this kid :glare:).

 

I hope it doesn't mean my just turned 3 year old is going to start getting pickier. So far she eats a pretty good variety including fruits, vegetables and yogurt.

[LibraryLover]

I've never been able to see the horror in little kids wanting the same familiar foods over and over again. Find the healthiest versions of whatever they like and let them eat it. It saves tiny children and parents much angst. Over and over and over I've seem mac & cheese toddlers grow into young adults who live to try new restuarants. Picky eaters are a lot cheaper to feed, ime. lol

[Carrie12345]

That was my oldest. He'd eat anything until he was almost 2, then he ate pretty much nothing but chicken nuggets and Gerber pasta pockets until age 4. After that, it was a ssssllllloooooowwww transition to nearly-normal eating. Like, 6 more years.

 

We once wound up pretty much starving him for 3 days before I realized how awful I was, and then stocked up on chicken nuggets!

[Maverick_Mom]

I feel better. :)

 

My first child ate anything and everything. We could take her anywhere.

 

So I sort of expected the same behavior from my other children. Nope. Didn't happen. They have all been frustratingly picky in their own ways. But they are healthy, and they have all made enormous strides, on their own timetables, in progressing to new and different foods.

 

It's just nice to know, after all, that it wasn't (necessarily :D) bad parenting that caused them to be picky eaters.

[Corraleno]

Interesting article! I'd never heard that picky eating peaked at age 4, but that was certainly the case with DS. He's 12 now, and I've been able to get him to eat most foods by introducing them in tiny portions and tiny morsel sizes. In other words, when I made stir-fry or vegetable curry, I would run his portion through the blender, give him a small amount, and let him add whatever sauces he wanted, cover it with cheese, wash it down with fruit juice, or whatever. Gradually over time I increased both the morsel size (less time in the blender) and the portion size, and now he'll eat a big bowl of curry straight from the pot without any extra sauce or cheese. He will eat quite a few vegetables — broccoli, spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, cauliflower (he actually likes this with cheese sauce) — as well as beans and meat. He still prefers "soft" meat like chicken and ground beef, but I'm not a big meat eater either, so that's mostly what I cook anyway. I'm still working on the salad thing; I started by giving him the tiniest piece of lettuce (like the size of a fingernail), then increased the size, then gave him 2 pieces, then 3, etc. Now he will eat a very very small portion of salad, but it's still a work in progress. He really does not like fruit, except for apples, so I make a lot of fruit smoothies and 100% fruit sorbets (hooray for Vitamix!).

 

The picky eating is definitely a sensory thing for him, in terms of both texture and taste. We watched a documentary about "super tasters" — people who have more than the normal number of tastebuds so things taste extra strong to them, and we discovered that DS is indeed a "super taster." That explained a lot! (I wonder if that is also part of the genetic component of picky eaters?) The texture of foods is also a HUGE thing for him, and he's generally very sensitive to all those kinds of things (seams in clothing, hair on his face, socks rubbing, shoes too tight, etc.). That's part of why running things through the blender was so helpful — it separated the texture issue from the taste issue, so after he was used to the taste, then we gradually increased the texture.

 

So for those of you with super picky little ones, hang in there! It is possible to gradually get them eating a more varied diet. DS is never going to be the kind of person who orders a salad for lunch, but if he has dinner at a friend's house he's at least capable of eating a small portion of everything they serve without throwing up at the table! The last time we visited my parents, they stocked up in advanced on frozen organic nuggets and fries, and were astonished that DS is now able to eat "normal" food along with everyone else.

 

Jackie

[KidsHappen]

My 17 year old literally went YEARS where she would not eat anything that wasn't white. White bread, rice, potatoes, califlower (?), milk, and orginally chicken. She soon gave up the chicken. She was a well established vegetarian by the age of 11 and still is to this day. However, she is also my most adventurous eater now. Spices, flavors, exotic vegetables just no meat. She also learned along the way that a lot of her problems were due to texture not taste.

 

The younger two are also pretty picky but in an unusual sort of way. They love fruits and vegetables and are willing to try new things but if they try something once and don't like it, they aren't going to try it again. One of them is also a vegetarian and the other only eats a small selection of meats. Neither one seems to consume enough calories to sustain themselves but the weight and BMI are good so I try not to worry even though the veggie plays serious competative sports everyday. They are like the child described. The eat larger breakfasts, smaller lunches and frequently no dinner at all.

 

I don't worry about any of them as they all eat a larger selection of foods than I did at their age. Of course, I still don't eat very much but eh, that's another story.

[cottonmama]

The genetic thing sounds right to me. My dh is still very picky and explains that many of the foods he won't eat simply cause him to gag. Other foods taste bitter even though they shouldn't be. (Oranges and other citrus, for example.) He is also incredibly sensitive to spicy food -- he'll often object to a food when I don't even notice that it's spicy.

 

In contrast, the foods that I say I don't like just have a mildly unpleasant flavor or texture. I figure if dh and I are experiencing foods so differently, it can't all be left over from when he was a toddler and didn't get the "right" foods. I can only assume that there's something legitimately different in how we physically perceive food.

[abbeyej]

The year my dd was 4 was *so* hard. That summer after her birthday, she cried about food at least once a day (and I often did or wanted to as well). Personally, I'm very glad that I never relented and let her eat nothing but beige food (which would have made her very happy). It was not my goal to torture her! But we also just kept plugging away requiring her to eat small amounts of healthy, fresh foods (without the option of cereal or pb&j, etc, instead). There were times when she just chose not to eat until the next meal.

 

But now, at 8, I don't think anyone would classify her as "picky". She'd still *rather* have white flour goodness with butter and sugar (in various forms), but she's happy and flexible when it comes to whatever food is put in front of her.

 

I think for so many people, by the time the child hits four they think, "This is hopeless! I've been trying so hard for *years* and it only gets worse!" So that's about the time they give in -- not realizing that that's also the time when the child is nearly past the worst of it. ... And then, of course, by four many kids are heading off to school and it's easiest to pack simple, processed, kid-friendly foods (or they're served that stuff in a school cafeteria)... So it makes it that much harder to outgrow.

 

I'm not *blaming* anyone for this. I had one kid who loves food, happily tries new things, thinks critically about what goes into a good meal... And I have another who would be happiest eating nothing but white flour and ice cream. I didn't *do* this to them. It's how they came. ... I just think that for many people realizing that this is part of a phase and that it's worth continue to offer good food (and not allow easy-outs to kid-food for every meal not eaten) past that magic age of four is really important. Don't just think, "Well, I tried really, really hard. This kid is hopeless. I might as well just give in and buy chicken nuggets and frozen pizza forever"...

 

It *can* change.

 

Honestly. The girl will eat kale. ;) And green beans. And asparagus. And broccoli. And raw bell peppers for a snack. And Ethiopian collard greens. And seaweed salad. And tons of fruit and whole grains and Indian potatoes-with-peas and... All sorts of things. She may still wish she could live at Cinnabon. ;) But it's not torture for any of us anymore.