# Is guys that only eat chicken fingers a thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 31, 2023, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382 "2023-10-31T17:16:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382/1 "2023-10-31T17:16:37Z")
About 10 years back my niece and her fiance’ were in town and we were to all go out for dinner. My niece let us know that we needed to choose a place that had chicken fingers on the menu because that was pretty much all her fiance would eat. Her explanation being he was a really pick eater. Then I hear on a morning radio show made up of 4-5 males, them making fun of one of the hosts because all he eats is chicken fingers. Won’t even eat pizza, hotdogs, hamburgers, etc. Then, just the other day I hear a dating segment on the radio where a gal never called a guy back for a second date because he took her to a nice Italian place then embarrassed her by demanding that the waiter let him order off the kids menu. For… chicken fingers! His excuse was he has food sensitivities and it’s all he can eat. So, it there actually a segment of the population so picky about what they eat that they won’t have anything but fried boneless chicken strips? ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382/2 "2023-10-31T17:22:40Z")
Maybe? The pickiest eaters I know are all boys from ages 5-30 who only eat chicken fingers. Maybe they eat other things, but there’s always unique conditions (no cheese or no sauce or no veggie, etc). They’re harder to please than strict vegans. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382/3 "2023-10-31T17:33:41Z")
You never met the Lil’wrekker. Pickiest eater I’ve ever encountered. Lived on chicken nuggets and boxed mac n cheese for years. Leaning on her mid-20s now and has finally come out of it. I’ve heard the chicken finger thing in young men. I assumed they eventually grew out of it. Maybe the chicken nuggets, finger, strip makers put addictive substances in them. Hmmm? ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382/4 "2023-10-31T17:49:43Z")
Not chicken fingers, but this guy died because he would only eat a few different things: > **[DEAD AT 20 .. THE BOY WHO ONLY ATE CHIPS AND TOAST](https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/dead-at-20--the-boy-who-574249)** > > SCOTT Martin's distraught mum Margaret told how she desperately tried to wean her son off his fatal diet of chips, toast and baked beans. “He was fine when he was younger. I could get him to eat properly. But as he grew older he ended up with just toast, beans, chips and the odd tin of spaghetti. He hardly ate any fruit.” ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382/5 "2023-10-31T18:17:00Z")
A refusal to eat anything but “chicken tendies” is part of the stereotypical portrayal of a “neckbeard” on Reddit. Other attributes typically include the noted neckbeard, a lack of hygiene, wearing a fedora and trench coat (and usually a katana), being obsessed with anime and having semi-permanent residence in their parents’ basement. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382/6 "2023-10-31T18:23:05Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Lived on chicken nuggets and boxed mac n cheese for years. She must have taken her cue from my younger son. Those two items, plus hot dogs, were virtually his entire food intake during junior high and a couple of years of high school. Now, at 30, he’s quite the cook and loves to try new and exotic dishes. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382/7 "2023-10-31T18:27:08Z")
I have a friend who subsists almost entirely on chicken fingers, french fries, and pizza. He just doesn’t like other stuff. He will eat other stuff if he’s hungry enough. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382/8 "2023-10-31T18:39:16Z")
I know from personal experience that if you have kids who are going through a picky eating stage, chicken fingers are often your best shot at getting them to eat something. I don’t personally know of anyone who carried that diet into adulthood though. Poking around on google I did find a lot of posts (especially on reddit) from adults who would only eat chicken fingers and fries when they went out to eat. It wasn’t their only diet at home though, but it was their only acceptable meal when eating at restaurants. So apparently it is a thing. One of the reddit threads even questioned why this was a thing. > [@filmore](#): > > Not chicken fingers, but this guy died because he would only eat a few different things: I’m surprised that was fatal at such a young age. Lemmyy Kilmister from the band Motorhead was somewhat infamous for his diet. He hated vegetables, so his diet was pretty much just meat, potatoes, and a hefty amount of Jack Daniels for most of his life. It’s exactly the type of diet you’d expect to put someone in the ground early (especially when his lifestyle included heavy drug use), and yet he lived to the age of 70. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382/9 "2023-10-31T18:41:04Z")
Is this not a self-limiting problem since the person perishes from scurvy (even before liver failure or heart failure)? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382/10 "2023-10-31T18:51:17Z")
There’s actually a DSM-5 diagnosis for unusually picky eaters: [Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder](https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/learn/by-eating-disorder/arfid). An example from a news source that may or may not be as reliable as the Daily Mirror: > **[Woman hasn't eaten fruit or vegetables in 22 years, lives on chicken nuggets...](https://www.wionews.com/world/woman-hasnt-eaten-fruit-or-vegetables-in-22-years-lives-on-chicken-nuggets-due-to-phobia-460508#)** > > A British woman has said she hasn't eaten fruit or vegetables in 22 years and claims to be perfectly healthy on a diet of chicken nuggets, fries, and potato chips. > > Summer Monro, 25, has an avoidant restricted food intake disorder (ARFID), which... As to this woman being “perfectly healthy”, 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382/11 "2023-10-31T19:02:39Z")
Eating potatoes is cheating on the chicken-only diet… ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382/12 "2023-10-31T19:04:06Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > A refusal to eat anything but “chicken tendies” is part of the stereotypical portrayal of a “neckbeard” on Reddit. Other attributes typically include the noted neckbeard, a lack of hygiene, wearing a fedora and trench coat (and usually a katana), being obsessed with anime and having semi-permanent residence in their parents’ basement. And immortal beings fighting each other for the “ultimate prize” of absolute knowledge: [![](https://www.writeups.org/wp-content/uploads/Connor-McLeod-Highlander-Christophe-Lambert-a.jpg) ](https://www.writeups.org/wp-content/uploads/Connor-McLeod-Highlander-Christophe-Lambert-a.jpg) “I only eat chicken fingers…and haggis.” Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382/13 "2023-10-31T19:23:46Z")
The first moon conspiracy theoriest I ran into had an odd diet. My roommates invited him over for a dinner party but it turns out he couldn’t eat what we were serving. He was on a very particular diet consiting largely of hamburgers, french fries, and toast, so I drove him to the nearest McDonald’s where he regaled me with his moon conspiracy theories. I was around 24 at the time, and this guy was in his late 20s or early 30s. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382/14 "2023-10-31T19:23:58Z")
I seem to recall the Dope concluding that a person could survive almost indefinitely on oatmeal, potatoes and milk. And of course, all of these restrictive diets open wide if the person will also swallow a vitamin pill. Not saying it’s the healthiest choice, but you can live on it. As for these guys, what gets me is their enablers. Why are they not pushing him into therapy for this? I might date a man like that, but not if he wasn’t working on it. I sure as shootin’ wouldn’t be signing up for a life of mid-grade chain restaurants. I mean, fried chicken is amazing. I’m not disagreeing with them on that. But there is more to life. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382/15 "2023-10-31T19:32:42Z")
I have food fetishes. Usually they play out (god I wish I had Tacos right now) I can’t imagine eating the same food everyday, every meal for years. I love chicken as much as the next person. I’d get sick of it in about a day and a half. Maybe these are people on the spectrum? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382/16 "2023-10-31T19:34:35Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > The pickiest eaters I know are all boys from ages 5-30 who only eat chicken fingers. Well, the other tech in my office is 23, and he eats chicken tenders almost exclusively. > [@Hampshire](#): > > Then, just the other day I hear a dating segment on the radio where a gal never called a guy back for a second date because he took her to a nice Italian place then embarrassed her by demanding that the waiter let him order off the kids menu. I laud her for dumping that weirdo! 😳 ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382/17 "2023-10-31T19:36:40Z")
I’d notch this behavior as a parenting problem. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382/18 "2023-10-31T19:37:25Z")
I imagine these guys eventually stop getting invited over to eat or go out to places where chicken strips are not served. Could be a lonely life. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382/19 "2023-10-31T19:39:41Z")
I have known several really picky eaters. I was also pretty picky as a child, but got better around junior high / high school. But the really picky ones I know still eat a larger variety of foods than just chicken fingers. But at least one of them might match the OP’s scenario in part: if they’re eating at a place they don’t know, they will always order chicken fingers because it’s the least likely to be dramatically different than what they normally get. It’s often heavily processed, fried, battered and thus unlikely to expose them to tastes or textures they dislike. So it’s risk avoidance when they are outside of their food comfort zone, rather than an exclusive thing. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382/20 "2023-10-31T19:40:19Z")
Oh, no no no. Don’t go there. My other 3 kids were not into eating just one or two foods. Just the Lil’wrekker. I’ll brag, she was/is a very bright successful young woman. Never a problem except she drives too fast for my tastes. I think I did rather well with her. TYVM [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-guys-that-only-eat-chicken-fingers-a-thing/992382.md?page=2)