What happens to incredibly picky eaters in adulthood?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I was watching a preview for a program on TV where they estimate what kids will look like in adulthood if they continue their dietary habits. This made me wonder about incredibly picky eaters in general. I know there have been some posts about picky eaters before, but what I’m curious about is what happens to these kids when they become adults? Do they live their entire lives subsisting on their only preferred food (like chicken, hot dogs, pie crusts, etc)? Do they tend to develop obesity? Do they grow out of it?

As a child, I used to be an incredibly picky eater. But gradually over time, I began to enjoy more and more foods. The more foods I discovered I liked, the more adventurous I became. Some attempts were very positive (Calamari) and some weren’t so positive (still don’t like sushi). But I can honestly say I’m nowhere near as picky of an eater as I used to be. However, I know people who were pickier than I was, which makes me kind of wonder their fate…

2

My girlfriend’s best friend’s husband is an incredibly picky eater. And he’s close to 30 now. When they go out for dinner, it’s always to the same restuarant. If they go out for dessert, it’s always to same cafe.

Suffice it to say, I don’t enjoy going out with them when it comes to dinner, repitition to this degree bores me.

3

My brother and SIL are friends with a couple where the woman is a freakishly picky eater.

She will eat: chicken with NOTHING on it (not even salt and pepper).

Plain rice.

Brocolli with nothing on it.

Carrots with nothing on it.

White bread.

Thats about it. Not surprisingly, she’s really, really skinny. Honestly, if that’s all you eat, it’s got to get boring so you don’t eat too much. Oddly, her husband has put on weight since they’ve been married, but I think that has more to do with getting three squares a day, as opposed to what she’s cooking. (He was super thin before they married.)

So - to answer the OP - they get taller.

4

Only one anecdotal bit of information here, but…

My younger sister (now 42) was BEYOND picky as a child. I think there were about 5 things she would eat. She only gradually started coming out of it in her early to mid teens. About 13 or 14 IIRC.

She now can eat more food than I’ve ever seen such a small person eat, and loves a variety of it.

She only JUST started to be a bit oveweight once she hit 40. Not much, just a bit chunky, but despite her incredible appetite in her 20s and 30s, she remained very slim up until just a few years ago.

Ate more than some men! :smiley:

I guess she was making up for lost time.

5

I was an incredibly picky eater as a child. When I hit 20 and moved out and got a job, I had the worst eating habits of anyone I knew. McDonald’s and pizza were just about all I ever did. That was also when I went from being vaguely fit to being decently overweight, and I haven’t shed that. This was about a three-year period in my life.

If it weren’t for my wife, who enjoys a variety of food and has introduced me to a variety of tasty dishes, I would probably still be in the same eating pattern. I am still not a healthy eater by any stretch, but I can live on much more than burgers and pizza. (I’m 30, by the way.)

6

I have a friend who’s wife is an incredibly picky eater and a sister who is also ridiculously picky.

I tend to avoid socializing with either of them as food is an important part of being social. I think a lot of picky eaters grow out of it because adults just don’t put up with it in other adults.

7

You know, not to pathologize anything that’s outside the norm, but that sounds borderline pathological to me. I don’t understand why someone would limit the pleasure that can be found in food like this. It almost sounds like a food version of agoraphobia.

I’ve wondered too what happens to picky eaters when they become adults. I have some picky eaters in my family and in-laws, but they’re nowhere near this level of picky (there’s more like five foods they won’t eat rather than five they will). I feel a little sorry for picky eaters, too, because I love food in all varieties so much.

8

As a grown-up picky eater, I do eat a lot more things than I once did, and I try to be pretty quiet about things I don’t eat and just hope that my dining companions are polite enough not to pay attention to what others are or aren’t eating.

But here’s the thing, I don’t get pleasure out of eating. If I could take a pill and get all my nourishment I would be so happy. I would still go out to the occasional restaurant, or get the occasional craving. But frankly, a fancy restaurant with food lovingly and/or stylishly prepared is pretty much wasted on me. I will enjoy the ambience and the wine. The great benefit to these gourmet restaurants is that they don’t give you much and they don’t overload the plates (an overloaded plate, even of something I like, can make me lose my appetite instantly).

Now there are things I like to eat, but the things I really like are uniformly bad for me. Little white donuts. Brownies. Dove bars. Buffalo wings. Really hot Thai food. And some days even a little white donut won’t tempt me. Oddly enough, the full-size version of the LWD does not appeal to me at all. Never. Nor do the chocolate ones. They would go stale in my cabinet, if this kind of donut could go stale, which I think they don’t, ever. I seem to favor things that are either bite-sized or liquid.

But other than that–nothing has “happened” to me.

9

I feel the same way. I don’t “enjoy” eating anymore than I enjoy taking a shit, or breathing, or sleeping (actually, I do kind of enjoy that). I don’t even like eating in restaurants because hey, you don’t know where that food has been. I think of food as fuel, if it’s tasty or interesting then that might make it go down better but I won’t go out of my way for a “taste experience.”

Except for tomatoes, pickles, cucumbers, and the very occasional bit of corn, I don’t eat any fruits or vegetables, which many people think is weird, but I just can’t get over it. I just try to avoid those foods that contain fruits and vegetables which sometimes requires a little stepping (damn restaurants and their compulsory salads) but it’s not hard to accomodate my “pickiness,” and I’m not overweight at all despite it (not liking eating in the first place has something to do with that, I’m sure). OTOH, I love sushi, one of the only foods I get pleasure out of eating, plus a lot of other “weird” foods like falafel and curry.

So yeah, to answer the OP, picky eaters adapt. Or change (my diet used to be a lot more picky than this). Or explain it away.

10

Huh. I’m only a semi-picky eater, really no more than average, but it seems to me one of the advantages of growing up is you can eat whatever you want. And if that means plain white bread or eggs cooked just so and no other way, that’s your choice.

No, I don’t normally hang out with overly picky eaters, because I do like to try all kinds of different foods. But at the same time, I understand their point of view, too. I don’t like it, however, when they constantly limit group activities, like work lunches, etc.

11

Almost exactly what **Hilarity N. Suze ** said. I eat more of a variety than I did as a kid, but there are many things that I won’t touch. Cheese for starters (though I looooove pizza. I don’t understand it.) Most condiments(pretty much any that aren’t tomato based)any seafood other than shrimp. I could go on and on. So how did I turn out? Just fine, thanks. I don’t have a weight problem or any health issues (that I know of). My biggest problem is with the people who have a problem with my food choices. What the heck do you care as long as I don’t make a pain in the ass of myself (which I don’t)? And for the people who say they won’t socialize with “picky” eaters, is it because they make a big deal about it? I honestly don’t understand why anyone would be concerned with what anyone else eats or doesn’t eat.

12

My old roommate is a picky eater. Unfortunately, he wan’t any kind of non-starchy vegetable. Almost everything he eats is from a fast food restaurant. The unfortunate effect is that he’s between 350 and 400 pounds. If my group of friends is going out for dinner, we know that it will be at one of five restaurants (3 of which are steak joints), because he won’t go otherwise.

I was a picky eater (as George Carlin says, “Picky Eater” is a euphimism for "Big Pain In The Ass) as a child and still am in many ways. But I’ve expanded my diet to include many things that I would never have touched as a child. And yes, I’m about 15-20 pounds extra now. But luckily thats’ coming down.

One of my coworkers has a husband who eats 5 things. I remember that mac & cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches are two of them. She never has trouble cooking for him.

13

That should be, “…he *won’t eat * any kind of non-starchy vegetable”

14

I could have written this for the most part. Sign me up for the pill too, or people kibble if that idea ever gets off the ground. I’m willing to try different foods, but chances are high that it won’t make the list of “stuff I like”. There are foods that I like, but not to the extent that I’d be too dissapointed if the world supply ran out forever. My allergist has recommended that I stay away from lots of different foods, so there’s lots of things that I can’t eat too.

I agree with this. As long as someone’s not making gagging sounds while you’re trying to eat, what difference does it make what food they’re eating?

15

Count me in as one who is just not all that interested in food. If I didn’t have kids at home–I probably would only cook “real meals” about once every two weeks. I could easily live on such simple meals as toasted cheese sandwiches, scrambled eggs, edamama, garlic bread, peanut butter etc. I do like to cook, occasionally–what to have for dinner does not drive me in the least. It’s a ton of work and never goes away.

I like going to restaurants and getting a good meal–but a good meal to me is something simple and unpretentious–like calamari or something with pasta. I don’t want to “tempt my tongue” with chocolate beef whatever and other exotic, “gourmet” fare. If you ask me, too much attention is paid to the food and not enough on the company and ambience. I would rather have an fascinating convo in a pizza joint than excellent food with boring discourse.

So, I’m picky–sure. What of it? Why do I have to like jerk chicken or fajitas?

When I go out with friends, I order what looks appealing to me. I try to divert the conversation from “this is so delicious!” etc–unless something is wrong with the food, the goodness of it is assumed–could we move on to other things?

Anyway–I am almost 44 and doing fine. I do take a vitamin, just as an insurance policy, since I don’t eat alot of red meat.

16

I was a picky eater when I was a kid. I wouldn’t eat fish or most vegetables. I’m a lot less picky as an adult. I’ll try it unless it is something like organ meat. I’m still not fond of steamed or cooked veggies, but I’ll try it if I’m invited over for dinner.

17

My mother-in-law is a grown up picky eater. She still eats like a child.

She’ll eat hamburgers, deli ham, white bread, orange juice, shrimp either breaded and deep fried or drenched in butter (ala Red Lobster’s Shrimp Scampi) but not prepared any other way. She eats most fast food, and drinks a lot of Pepsi.

She won’t eat fresh vegetables or salads. The only veggies I’ve seen her eat are canned corn and canned green beans.

It’s not just that she doesn’t like exotic or unusual food, or doesn’t like certain things - there’s a lot of mundane, plain food she won’t eat that I could never imagine an adult refusing to eat. She won’t eat bagels, or sub sandwiches, or any bread other that plain white bread and white hamburger buns. She eats chicken noodle soup, but no other kind of soup. She’ll eat things like roast beef with gravy, but not if you put any herbs or spices on it. It’s not that she prefers it one way or another - if you say “Oh, I put some fresh rosemary in with the roast” she won’t eat it.

She came to our Easter Brunch, where there was such exotic things as an egg bake thingy that consisted of eggs, crumbled breakfast sausage, and cheddar cheese, a broccoli and ham quiche, and bagels. She didn’t take even one bite of any of the food.

She’s a really sweet woman, always happy and nice to be around, but it’s really a challenge to have her over for dinner or take her out to eat. Hubby and I have talked about taking her on vacations - to see relatives, or a museum in a city, that kind of thing - and it always comes back to us going “What are we going to do for food? Eat Taco Bell 3 times a day for a week?”

At least with a picky kid, you can feed them something and the adults can eat something else. With a picky adult, all your food choices are determined by the picky eater. That’s fine every once in a while, but the hell if I’m going to spend several days eating crap because so-and-so refuses to eat anything at a real adult restaurant.

18

Oh, and for the second part, I’m not overweight. That’s probably partly because I’m still young and fairly active. Also because a lot of the things in the stuff I like category tends to be healthy (fruits, vegetables, certain kinds of fish etc.)

19

This is something I’ve given thought to recently. In fact, I have a section on how to either be, or deal with, a picky eater in social situations in the etiquette seminar I do for college audiences.

Generally, picky eaters (whether they have aversions, are vegetarians, have religious limitations) are seen as downers in a social situation, putting the breaks on everyone’s fun. They are the chronic complainers, and who likes that? Of course, this isn’t true of all, or even most, people that I’d consider picky. But the Picky Eater ™ exhibits this behavior.

Bottom line- food sharing is one of the most fundamental rituals of human life. Always has been. So to be seen as someone that turns their nose up at food that is offered is somehow breaking the social contract. People react badly to this- and quite often, the reaction is completely out of proportion to the ‘damage’ done. And it is compounded by the fact that Picky Eaters ™ really don’t get the significance of food in social transactions. it can be very frustrating.

I was pitted some time ago when I suggested that people with extreme food aversions may need some sort of medical intervention, either physical or psychological. That’s because the existence spelled out to me (the ‘food pill’ people) sounds like a hellish existence, and I’d seek help for it. I don’t know that I’ve changed my stance, but try to concentrate more on keeping the peace and making sure everyone is having a good time, regardless of their preferences. But food is a big deal to me- cooking, experimenting, you name it- and being unable to share this interest would have to limit my social time with someone, just as my inability to play golf would for others.

And, full disclosure, I have 3 sons, two of whom are not picky at all, and the third (my middle son, of course) that I fully expect to subsist solely on white cheddar cheese-its, boiled chicken, and Dr. Pepper in his adult life.

20

I guess I’m still a kind of a picky eater. Certain foods (broccoli, brussel’s sprouts, cauliflower, zucchini, etc) actually make me gag when I try to eat them, and because this isn’t pleasant for me, I tend to avoid them. However I am aware of the nutionional benefits of these types of foods, so I try to find a comprimise. Uncooked spinach, and salads in general are tolerable, and I also like a lot of different kinds of salad dressings.

Bread is an interesting story for me. When I was young, I used to only eat white bread. After a while though, white bread began to taste so…bland. Now, I eat whole wheat bread any chance I get (sourdough is also good) not just because it is better for me, but because I think it tastes better :slight_smile:

I don’t know what the problem people have with big portions on plates, personally. If I get much more food than I can eat, I intend to save some for another meal in the future. Generally I’ll eat the stuff that doesn’t taste good reheated first (like french fries) and save the rest for another meal later.