That's going to do wonders for her husband's promotion prospects

We once went to dinner with a fellow with whom I worked and his wife, whom we had never had met. We ate at the Oyster Bar in NYC, which has its own cavernous charm, neither cheap nor expensive.

When the food arrived she took out an elaborate scale out of her bag and weighed all portions of her meal.

Start the psychiatric fund for the kids now.

"I have read that it has to do, somewhat, with taste receptors. Some can taste certain chemicals and some can't."

Thi is nonsense. There has been extensive research on food acceptance n human and other animals. It really boils down to one thing - young animals who are exposed to a wide varity of foods at a very young age are much more will to eat new foods later in life.

I am already peeved when people order salad with "dressing on the side", as common as that is. If you do not want other people preparing your food, you should not eat out.

I am a picky eater.

there, I've said it. Trust me, I'm not proud of it.

Yes, I was forced to eat *everything* as a child. You name it. And yes, I was served beets for breakfast because I refused to finish my portion at dinner the night before. I've learned to like many foods that I wouldn't touch before, but even those aren't very exciting by most standards.

My kids: a great eater, a so-so eater (he likes meat and potatoes basically!), and a horribly picky eater (I think she is a natural born vegetarian... she doesn't like meat, so therefore eats lots of pb for protein. ) My kids all love fruit, so they eat lots of that ...

kerouac, I hate a salad dripping with dressing - I prefer just a little so yes, I get it 'on the side'. Otherwise, it is ruined for me. (for many years, I ate salad without any dressing... so some dressing is an improvement!)

So... before the judgment of the parent, maybe there is something biological/genetic about it, because according to the 'experts', my parents did everything 'right'. And still look at me. If that is the least of my problems, I'll take it!

surfmom - :)

I'm pretty picky, too, but DH will eat ANYTHING!!!!!

One of my aunt's and uncle had three children. My aunt (by marriage) was raised in Nebraska and was a fantastic cook and served very well rounded meals. One of her children refused to eat any food that was touching the other food on his plate. Absoluetly refused say if a pea rolled up to and touched the mashed potatoes. One of their children ate so much of everything that constantly had her on a diet. The other child was stictly a meat and potato type of eater and whined and fussed at every dinner when she was reminded to eat her vegetables. She hated every type of fruit. She didn't even want to drink orange juice in the morning. She is the one that is now quite overweight so I assume her eating likes and dislikes haven't changed. The "no food touching any other food" cousin became a world traveller and so as an adult will eat anything, lol.

Consequently no one will convince me that it is the parents fault if children are fussy eaters. In some cases it is true but certainly NOT in ALL cases.

funny... my DH will eat anything. including the nasty leftovers that I refuse to. Of course, he has had to pull over on the Schuykill to get sick. Did he learn his lesson ? nope.

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lmhornet on Jan 2, 10 at 11:28am

"I have read that it has to do, somewhat, with taste receptors. Some can taste certain chemicals and some can't."

Thi is nonsense. There has been extensive research on food acceptance n human and other animals. It really boils down to one thing - young animals who are exposed to a wide varity of foods at a very young age are much more will to eat new foods later in life.


imhornet, with all due respect, 'tis not nonsense.
Had you bothered to read any of the posts here -- including those with links to Cornell University's recent studies -- you'd have a bit more appreciation for the <i>fact</i> that there is enormous variation regarding taste bud sensitivity.

As I and many others have posted, I was exposed to (and encouraged to eat) a wide variety of foods. My mother was an extraordinary cook. Not until I was in my 20s did I begin to become the least bit adventuresome. OTOH, my siblings are not picky eaters.

One of the reasons that many young children are picky is because their taste buds are more highly receptive.

My parents were (and still mostly are) meat and potatoes people, and rarely ate out. So my background was not very adventurous. Going away for university in a large city, friends who ate out,etc. broke me out of my blander ways. Now I'd say I'm somewhat adventurous.

To show a bias, I still think that there is a parental component to kids trying new foods, just like there is for other things, like sports. My experience is that some kids tend to say no to anything new, prefering the known to the unkknown. In my time, I was the kid who just had cheese on his hamburger, nothing else. It defined me in some ways, the "plain" kid.

As a parent, is it not a responsibility to expose kids to new things, be it piano lessons, travel abroad...or ketchup.

A friend of mine tells her kids...you have to try this food three times, on three different occasions. If you still don't like it, you don't have to have it anymor

I still hate pickles.

my DS [the naturally picky one, nothing to do with his upbringing of course] ritually tries a brussel sprout with his Christmas dinner every year, then gives them a miss for the rest of the year.

on that basis, he's tried them about 18 times. [he's 19!].

LOL, annhig..well I bet those 18 brussel sprouts he has eaten over the years has kept him healthy! I love brussel sprouts but most people I know hate them.

And I always chuckle at people when they have said they absolutely hate a certain food and than I find out that they have never tasted the food. But perhaps it is the aroma of the food that turns them off.

Worrying about my granddaughter. She is 2 1/2 and is taking after her Mom (big suprise). The only food contact I have with her is at her house, where I feed her those ready to eat trays of food, do you know what I mean, it has pieces of turkey, cheese and ritz crackers in it. Plus apple juice and milk, and snacks like craisins and goldfish crackers.

Guess it is too early to worry, but her Mom will not eat any seafood, any "meat on the bone" and not too many veggies.

Any recommendations for a Grandma?

cheryl, I've asked this question of various pediatricins (sp?)... they've all said,

=> 'multi-vitamin'.

= Encouraged pb for the protein for the non-meat eater (she doesn't like the 'white stuff' in the chicken tenders).
- When we've talked about fruit vs. vegies, basically it was okay to minimize vegies if extra fruit is eaten.

I hated it being a battle that I fought as a kid and don't make it one now. They do have to try food.

(btw, my one that is a non-meat eater has a VERY strong sense of smell... don't know if it is related or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is...)

Let me tell you about the French family that became our neighbors in northern California for one wonderful year. There were 3 kids, ages ranging from 10 years to 15. Those kids would eat anything and everything--it was an absolute joy to watch them try new things and like them. I was a little nervous about the candied yams for Thanksgiving, but without reason: down they went, with requests for seconds.

When we took the family out for dinner near their home in France the following year we watched the kids' careful perusal of the menu and choices of escargots to begin--just what we would have expected.

surfmom - my pediatrician said the same thing.

Fortunately, my younger son (the picky on) learned to like Carnation Instant Breakfast drinks at about 3. He called them his "milkshakes" - even tho he insisted upon the milk being warmed up! My pediatrician said that as long as he had a couple of those plus a vitamin.....no worries.

My older son (the better eater) really likes V8 Splash. If I could only get DS#2 to drink it!

Underhill, many years ago I was an au pair for a French family with two sons. One tried everything put before him. When I came back from Christmas with peanut butter, which he had not had before, he tried it immediately and pronounced it 'exquisite'. The other one had a completely different personality, including being picky eater, despite being French. He would have lived on bread and chocolate if his mother let him.

Picky eaters exist everywhere. I'm sure the characteristic can be enhanced when a child is never exposed to new things, when a parent caters to ridiculous dietary demands, and when a child's diet is heavy in the kind of over-processed, sugar-laden foods we eat more and more of. But a child's personality and biology has just as much to do with it. Is a vacation really the place to make a point? If someone is worried about accommodating a picky eater on a trip to Europe, so that the family can go out and have a relatively enjoyable meal together, we should give them constructive advice if we can, and stop thinking we can diagnose their parenting errors through our laptops.

And surfmom, I have to be the "leftover police" around here to keep my husband from eating things that should be thrown out. Now you have me thinking - maybe this whole picky thing is partly evolutionary. Someone had to be the one who said no, I'm not going to try that, just in case! ; ) Our picky kids may be part of the reason the species has survived so far.

I believe if I remember correctly, and I know I will be corrected if I am wrong, that for a long time potatoes and tomatoes were believed to be poisonous and thus people would not eat them.

BTW, our daughter was a great eater and ate everything put before her but..at about age five she suddenly for some months was a pain in the you know what. My good friend of many years and her children the age of my daughter (age five and six) took a trip to S CA basically to take the children to DisneyLand and Knox Berry Farm. Our daughter decided right when we started the trip she ONLY wanted chocolate milk and PB&J sandwiches and nothing else at all. I could have wrung her neck, lol. Within weeks she got over that strange problem. And I am sure she was quite hungry during the trip as not every cafe and restaurant had chocolate milk and PB&J sandwiches on their menu.

<<Picky eaters exist everywhere. I'm sure the characteristic can be enhanced when a child is never exposed to new things, when a parent caters to ridiculous dietary demands, and when a child's diet is heavy in the kind of over-processed, sugar-laden foods we eat more and more of. But a child's personality and biology has just as much to do with it. Is a vacation really the place to make a point? If someone is worried about accommodating a picky eater on a trip to Europe, so that the family can go out and have a relatively enjoyable meal together, we should give them constructive advice if we can>>

This is an eminently reasonable viewpoint, and one I largely share.

<<Is a vacation really the place to make a point?>>

I totally agree. We learned to just "go with the flow." As long as the kids weren't hungry and complaining, we were happy. So if that meant a quick stop for french fries or even just french fries for dinner - fine. Dietary requirements were put on hold (the vitamins were always at the hotel!) and we just enjoyed ourselves.