Sure, my kids have one or two foods they don’t like…lettuce, raw carrots.
But the kids my kids bring over are full-on nuts! Don’t like Mac n cheese, don’t like mayo, don’t like PB&J, don’t like string cheese.
My kids get one or two exceptions, but they’ve gotta TRY to eat things, and they’ve so far lived through it all…and discovered things they like as a result. Especially things they DIDN’T want to try in the first place because it seemed wierd. (e.g. edamame)
Maybe it isn’t the parent’s fault. I’ve always been a picky eater, especially as a kid. My parents tried to get me to at least try eating things I thought were yucky; I don’t recall it working even once. That is, they could make me eat it but I never liked anything they coerced my into eating.
Well, it’s pretty rude when you have a houseguest and you rattle off half a dozen things for lunch and can’t get a single hit.
My little girl doesn’t like any of those things either. It’s a rule in my house that you have to try everything. She’s very picky and it’s so random. She loves spinach and broccoli but won’t eat most candies. She loves crunching on iceberg lettuce but won’t eat it in salad form. She won’t eat sweet potatoes or sweet carrots; she won’t touch corn. Loves beans but not the green peas or green beans. Hates any type of nut. She likes peanut butter but not jelly. Loves fried potatoes but won’t touch mashed. I guess maybe it’s a texture thing with her.
She certainly doesn’t get this from me or her daddy, and we don’t encourage her silly little gagging displays. I can only hope she’ll grow out of it like her big sister did.
Yeah, I think some of this is learned behavior and some of it is just the kid’s personality. My oldest (7) will eat anything and he has really healthy tastes. He’ll choose a tomato over a cookie for a snack. He loves to try new dishes and is pretty adventurous when we go out to eat.
My youngest (4) would be happiest if we allowed him to subsist on hot dogs and marshmallows. He hates trying new foods and prefers to stick with the same few things over and over again. Luckily, one of those things is broccoli, so he hasn’t died of malnutrition yet.
They’ve been raised the same way, with the same parents, the same choices, the same levels of encouragement. I don’t think we made our youngest picky any more than we made our oldest a foodie.
Oh well in that case I’d fix what I wanted to fix without asking, have them sit down to eat and let them refuse it on their plates. Some kids think if they reject everything else they’ll get that pizza or McD’s. Those kids will stomach mac and cheese if they see they won’t get anything else.
I spent many meals sitting at the table, gagging and getting yelled at. You have zero control over gagging. I can remember my stomach turning and gagging the food right back out, then being yelled at while I cried and tried to swallow it again. It wasn’t fun or silly. I hope you aren’t too hard on her about it.
That sounds really aggravating. We once had some people over for dinner and, after I made their kid several offers to make something other than what we were having (in her defense, I made Indian, but had made pasta and some chicken for her since her parents had warned us she was “a little picky and likes bland food”), she demanded to her parents leave and take her to McDonald’s. And you know what? They did! Maybe they just hated my food (though they both had seconds before they took off), but still…
Anyway, I really don’t think that such picky eaters are terribly common, but dealing with them can be really annoying sometimes, especially when pickiness is combined with a lack of manners.
My little cousin has always been a picky eater, but I was surprised that he’s still doing the same thing at ten years old.
This kid will eat only white carbs, french fries, cheese pizza and chicken strips. We went to Chevys, and he ordered white rice and flour tortillas. We went to Chinese, and he ordered chow mein without veggies or meat- just plain noodles. We had a big family taco dinner, and for some reason they bought him his own pizza. At breakfast he gets chicken strips and toast. He glugs diet soda like it’s going out of style, and refuses to drink water. He won’t even eat bananas! No fruit or veggies at all!
He’s not my kid, so there is nothing I can do, but I’m surprised he gets away with it. I was picky as a kid, but I certainly would have never got my own pizza- at best I’d be told to microwave a hotdog from the freezer. I was always required to try a taste of everything- just one bite and then I could choose to eat or not.
He’s getting old enough that it’s going to start affecting his life. It’s getting tough to take him out, and soon he’s going to make himself a bad guest at places. He’s setting himself up to be unable to travel (we are a big travelling family) and he’s getting large and sluggish from eating so many carbs.
That is rude. My youngest daughter is a very picky eater, and you know what? When we go to someone’s house for dinner, and I know they’re likely to make ethnic foods, I pop a peanut butter sandwich (in a zip bag) and a small container of fruit in my purse. I always warn my hosts ahead of time that she’s a picky eater, but reiterate that I don’t want them to worry about it. My daughter then has to try a little of what is served, but if she doesn’t like it, I just put her sandwich and fruit on her plate. I certainly wouldn’t reward her pickiness by leaving a dinner party and taking her to McDonald’s!
Rushgeekgirl, I may be mis-remembering something I read you post, but isn’t your daughter autistic? I’ve been told by many professionals that one of the major symptoms of autism is texture issue. One of my 10YO’s best friends is autistic. He will eat applesauce, but not whole apples. He will eat sharp cheddar cheese, which is “crumbly” but not American cheese, which is “slimy”. He cannot stand to wear certain fabrics. Etc. And believe me, his mother is not the type to just spoil him and give into random demands. These are very real issues for him.
As to the OP, if you keep track of which kids are so picky, next time those kids are invited over to play, you could ask their parents to please send a nutritious snack for them, as they don’t seem to care for any of the things you have to offer.
Or not…I recall back during 6th grade, the class was required to go camping for a week. Naturally the only food we had was the food they cooked and served, no alternatives. The end result was that I didn’t eat at all for 3,4 days; and then made myself sick gorging when they finally served something I liked.
The kids will get their comeuppance when they grow into teenagers. My little brother bragged to a group of his friends about the meal he had last week, when he and my parents visited me; he ate jumbo day boat scallops and a delicious cold soup of ginger, carrot, and garlic. Most of his friends were all “I love nice dinners, you’re lucky”, while one very put off “Oh, I don’t eat fish, that’s grooooss, who eats a vegetable soup anyways”. They made fun of him mercilessly. Hey, peer pressure’s not all that bad.
This. I was a pretty picky eater as a child, almost totally due to texture issues. I’ve gotten a lot more adventurous as an adult and I like a wide variety of foods, but there are still things that will cause me to gag (if I try to eat them to be polite). I can’t control it at all and it’s really embarassing.
My cousin is a very picky eater, always has been. She is 19 now and is gaining weight at an alarming rate due to the crap she eats. No fruits or veggies at all, mostly fried stuff, only white carbs, no water only a certain brand of iced tea, etc.
When we used to go out together as kids we were very limited as to what restaurants we could choose due to her limited taste. It was, and remains, highly annoying.
[quote=“lindsaybluth, post:12, topic:550347”]
recipes?
/me looks hopeful as she loves ginger, carrots, and garlic in any form:D
Oh, I wish I had the recipe, 'cause I’d be toilet-papering my own house with it…we were at a restaurant. But if you ever make it to Pittsburgh, I’ll be happy to provide the place’s name! 
People who aren’t parents of my kid, do me a favor, and STFU about my kid being a picky eater. I didn’t “raise him” that way, and I’m not going to subject him to abuse over fucking food.
Having said that, I’m not going to take him to McDonald’s or let him cause a scene if we’re guests at someone’s house, either.
When you become masterful at making horses drink, maybe you can talk. Maybe.
Ill just have to surf around and see if there is a recipe on line …
Well then, you’ve summed up the problem. Shall he starve then?
This is new?
There have always been kids who were infamously picky eaters.