Posted on 10/11/2007 3:59:30 PM PDT by 68skylark
A WEEK’S worth of dinners for young Fiona Jacobson looks like this: Noodles. Noodles. Noodles. Noodles. French fries. Noodles. On the seventh day, the 5-year-old from Forest Hills, Queens, might indulge in a piece of pizza crust, with no sauce or cheese.
Over in New Jersey, the Bakers changed their November family vacation to accommodate Sasha, an 11-year-old so averse to fruits and vegetables that the smell of orange juice once made him faint. Instead of flying to Prague, Sasha’s parents decided to go to Barcelona, where they hope the food will be more to his liking.
And at the Useloff household, young Ethan’s tastes are so narrow that their home in Westfield, N.J., works something like a diner.
“I do the terrible mommy thing and make everyone separate dinners,” Jennifer Useloff said.
All three families share a common problem. Their children are not only picky eaters, prone to reject foods they once seemed to love, but they are also neophobic, which means they fear new food.
But for parents who worry that their children will never eat anything but chocolate milk, Gummi vitamins and the occasional grape, a new study offers some relief. Researchers examined the eating habits of 5,390 pairs of twins between 8 and 11 years old and found children’s aversions to trying new foods are mostly inherited.
The message to parents: It’s not your cooking, it’s your genes.
The study, led by Dr. Lucy Cooke of the department of epidemiology and public health at University College London, was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in August. Dr. Cooke and others in the field believe it is the first to use a standard scale to investigate the contribution of genetics and environment to childhood neophobia.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The rule at our house is if you don’t eat it, you don’t eat. Takes care of picky eaters. :) Our children must try everything on their plates before leaving the table. After trying a food at least several times on different occasions and they still don’t prefer it then that is fine, but 9 times out of 10 if they try it often enough, they learn to like it.
Doesn’t like most kid staples, e.g., pizza, hot dogs
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count your blessings :)
Re#23 LOL. Good point. The problem is that she does like many candies/sweets and could live on cinammon toast. Physically, and fortunately, she is a waif and very active...
I had a turtle burger when I visited the Cayman Islands many years ago... it wasn’t half-bad (I still prefer beef or buffalo though).
My father, with his well-honed social and child psychology skills, simply said, “Eat it and like it.”
Re#20 They will. It may take some time. I always had an aversion to spaghetti. Now, it is fine. But it did take 25 years. ;^)
I believe that if they only want plain spaghetti for every meal then they should get just plain spaghetti for their meal.
When they are invited over to other peoples' houses for meals, rather than being required to be polite and eat what is in front of them, the host should be expected to cook them exactly what they want. Either that or they should allow the childrens' mother to cook their favorite foods for them.
Even if what they want is technically unhealthy for them, denying them what they want will only cause them to be traumatized and hurt them later in life.
The same advice should be followed with regard to what activities children want to engage in (or not engage in), when if ever they want to do their homework or help around the house, and whether or not they choose to participate in family outings and activities.
Anyone who punishes a child for not eating what is put in front of them should be arrested for child abuse.
/sarcasm
I don’t think it’s that uncommon. There are things I didn’t like as a kid that I like now (raspberries and sardines come to mind.....but not together). But there are still things that I’m sure I’ll never like (mustard and pickles are my top two things I detest).
Oh bs...All of my 6 children eat differently while I will try almost anything. All are meat eaters except the 8 yr old. She will eat any veggie but really doesn't like eating meat. So I make extra veggies for her. Our rule is you have to at least try it. If you don't like it then you can have eggs or a PB&J sandwich. I gave up on trying to please everyone. I have noticed that the ones who didn't care for lobster & seafood as children now love it.
But venison was a very small percentage of what mom served, and I didn't care for most of it. She whipped me up something I would eat for a while, but somewhere around age 6 she simply said "if you want something else you make it". So when I didn't like what was served I did. It was a rather poor menu, but I survived. I got to be a better cook as I got older, and when I had pony up the effort to make my own meals some of mom's cooking became less distasteful.
I have outgrown most of my dislikes. I still don't care for seafood with the exception of tuna and, of all things, Maryland Blue Crabs. Lima beans, brussels sprouts and asparagus still suck but I like nearly any other veggies. (for those of you who can't get past that "straw like" dry taste of raw broccoli flourettes try eating them with red flame seedless grapes - it's excellent). My kids will eat nearly anything - I'm the only one in our house who doesn't care for some foods. In fact our youngest is from China; we will need to keep her away from the pets...
I think the idea that picky eating is genetic is silly. Did my genetic code alter as I aged? Or were my food "aversions" simply overcome by maturity and a desire to eat something other that macaroni & cheese and other foods that are easy to cook. You can decide for yourself.
I was a very picky eater as a small child. I was small and sickly all the time. THen somewhere around the 4th grade I did a complete 180. I began to eat like a horse. I ate everything in sight from that time until about age 28 or so. Instead of getting yelled at by my parents to clean my plate, I was yelling at my parents for not making enough food. I became uncommonly strong and fit. Then I started getting picky again but for different reasons. My guts started to complain about certain things. I had to give up sweets and pop and greasy and spicy foods. Now it’s strictly bland stuff. Veggies, watery soup, plain meat, etc. I never eat dessert. If I go to a restaurant I almost always get a club sandwich because I know my guts can handle that. And now I’m not quite so healthy either these days. Bad joints, stiff muscles, etc. A serious sinus infection once a year or more.
I’ve heard people say that the way you come into this world is the way you go out of this world. It’s starting to look that’s what’s going to happen to me.
My granddaughter has really worried me. Getting her to eat anything at all is a chore. She has always liked green beans, period. She will tolerate carrots. She likes dry cheerios, hates peanut butter and anything sweet. Lately she has begun to eat a little bit of chicken & stars soup, if she can help “make it”. She’s 3.
I’m impressed. THat’s actually a darn good idea.
On the positive side, she's doing a little better now at accepting new foods. But on she's coming to the age where eating disorders sometimes crop up, and I don't know if I'm seeing some warning signs in her.
She usually does better when away from home.
I agree with you in the point: eat what is in front of you or do not eat. To this day there is one thing that my Father made me eat, to which I promptly hurled on the dining room table: creamed spinach. I hate it and ever since then*(over 36 years ago)* - I will not eat it, it makes me ill./Just Asking - seoul62.......
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