lizziea06

My bf's brother hates condiments. He's a 33 year old man who won't eat salad dressing, mayo, ketchup, mustard, ANYTHING.

I went to camp with a girl who was phobic about red food and beverages. So STRANGE!!!

kswl

Who knows? That's why, when people ask the question "nature or nurture," I just throw up my hands! It's on my very long list of questions to ask when I finally meet the Person Who Knows All the Answers.

missypie

Born, not made. I was a picky eater (figured out later that much of what I hated was TERRIBLY prepared by my mother); now I'm not. I was forced to eat as a child and will never do that to my kids.

Of my three kids, one is more adventurous than either my husband or I (He will order ANYTHING!); one is a normal eater; one is incredibly picky. I didn't do anything different with any of them.

Budman

My first thought when I opened this thread a couple of hours ago was "The OP must be having a slow day."

After seeing it gain so much steam since this short period (53 posts), I see why. It's now turned into a pi$$ing contest.

And we wonder why people get banned?

FainaAgain

I always had 2 dishes on my menu since the first-born: 1) take it 2) leave it

The older son woudn't try any new food We had to try it in front of him, then carefully he'd lick it or taste one drop. Now in late 20s his comment on Thailand trip: we got food from the road stands and only hoped it's not dog meat. He eats anything!

The younger one ate everything as a child, became the pickiest eater in his teens.

We came from Russia, a country with sever food shortage, and were happy to try anything here! So I think it's what in your genes, not how you're raised.

L84SKY

WHAT THIS HAS TO DO WITH TRAVEL!!

Vacationing with a picky eater can be frightful. Some of these parents are picking up travel tips so they can enjoy their vacations.
My sister is very picky and won't eat most things. I'll make put things that she says she hates, like onions. If I don't mention that they are in the food and she can't see them, she'll like it. It's all in the mind.

We are blessed to live in a country where we can be so choosey about what we eat.

travel_addict

L84SKY - my uncle swears he's alleric to garlic, but always seems to LOVE everything I make with garlic in it. Not that true allergies are fake, but in this case, I think it's all in his head too.

snowrooster

I love garlic, but my dh is overboard w/it - nothing can ever have too much garlic for him! When we eat out he orders the Caesar Salad often & he is rarely satisfied with the amount of garlic. I had to stop him from making his own because I could still taste the garlic in the dressing days later and it was a bit much!!

nytraveler

Largely made - except for allergies.

And IMHO this includes not only types of food you'll eat - but quality. If you grow up eating poorly made food you may be happy with that for life. I have a friend who will eat anything not actually spoiled - since his mother's cooking was so bad he was used to things that tasted funny or were burned or half-cooked. He thinks the rest of us ar "picky" because we want food to be tasty and properly prepared.

Also - he smoked for years - which may have permanently affected what few taste buds he had left after his mother had done her work.

Lee4

I have a niece who eats a very limited menu and has since she was a toddler. From what I remember, she pretty much eats chicken nuggets, plain baked potatoes, pizza, mac and cheese (only the kind out of the blue box), and hamburger patties (no bread) and some other things like that. She MUST have ketchup with almost everything!

Needless to say, feeding her can be a challenge. I think (can't prove it though) that these habits were developed over the years by the parents and other family members, not b/c she was born that way. If she had been exposed to more, maybe she would eat more variety now. She has a younger sister who is on the ketchup kick as well, so I think it won't be long until this child will also only eat a limited variety of foods. Her mother will actually only go to certain fast food places b/c that's what the little one "wants." Since when do children get to decide every meal? I hope that when my baby starts eating table foods, I don't make these mistakes and instead encourage him to try a variety of foods. I am somewhat picky myself but I was made to try foods while growing up and will still try things now. I have a few foods that I just can't eat--beans, things with mayo, but not much else. I was also made to clean my plate and I will not do that to my child! I do think that has an affect on weight gain.

AustinTraveler

I broke up with a guy once because he insisted on putting ketchup on everything. The final straw came at Thanksgiving dinner. Ketchup on turkey???

kswl

I know people who put ranch dressing on everything.

snowrooster

"Since when do children get to decide every meal?"

I totally agree. This makes me think of parents who have told me that their 3 year old won't go to bed until 10pm & I think "Who is in charge here?"

My parents made me eat everything on my plate as well but it was never a ton of food & was healthy (which would be different in a restaurant where portions are often huge). I don't force my kids to eat everything, just to try things.

Funny story about the person who thought anything that wasn't spoiled is good. Dh had a friend who's mother was a horrible cook (all pre-packaged processed stuff) so when this friend would eat at his house he thought dh's mom's cooking was AMAZING (even though dh admits his mom is just a so-so cook).

We also try to expose our kids to fairly spicy food so they get use to it - they need to be able to eat like us if they are going to go to New Orleans with us some day!!!

BTilke

I think to a certain extent some people are born gourmets, some are born gourmands, and some are born who simply eat to live. I am not sure that kids automatically stick to foods they are brought up with or that children who are picky eaters will remain picky eaters their entire lives.
In my childhood I was constantly exposed to several dishes that I loathed back then--succotash, stewed tomatoes, lima beans, souse. And I still loathe them with a passion decades later. It didn't matter that the rest of the family loved them. OTOH, I will happily eat sushi, spicy Indian food, and smelly aged French cheeses, and things that the supposedly non-picky eaters in the family won't touch with a 10 foot pole.
Also, being a picky eater is not always a bad thing. When I was young, I refused to eat salads with any dressing and I preferred my vegetables raw, not cooked. I got a lot of annoyed looks from adults, but I'm glad I stuck to my guns--salad dressings are often loaded with fat and useless calories and raw veggies are good for you!

BTilke

Also, before sticking a kid with the "picky eater" label, be brutally honest with yourself: is this kid really picky or am I just a bad cook? ;-)

tcreath

This is an interesting topic. I am, unfortunately, a very picky eater. Not my favorite trait, but its true. I am 27 years old and I am probably just as picky now as I was as a child, although my tastes have changed somewhat.

I honestly think its something that I was born with. Trust me, my parents weren't the type to give us junk food and McDonalds every night. We always had a well-rounded meal of meats and plenty of veggies, and I was expected to eat most of what was on my plate. This certainly doesn't mean that I liked everything though! I don't like very many veggies, and the ones I do like I can't eat due to health problems, I don't eat any seafood at all, and I don't eat any kind of "weird" meat. I barely stray away from chicken.

I hate being picky, but you can't help what you like and don't like. My husband and I travel a great deal, and its always difficult to find places to eat in foreign countries because he's just as picky as I am. Luckily there are usually enough goodies (crepes, croissants, cakes, etc.) to fill up on! We are off to Croatia in November and luckily there is a lot of Italian influence because otherwise we would be in trouble!

Tracy

tcreath

I did want to mention, but forgot above, that my diet is still fairly healthy. I don't sit around and eat junk food and mac and cheese all day. I rarely eat processed food, and I prepare almost all of my meals from scratch because I have various food alergies. I "sneak" veggies into foods I will eat such as sauces and stir fries.

Tracy

Birdie

Food has an enormous impact on my travel plans. The picky eater is not the one who is nervous about flying (reverse parallel?) but the other, adventurous eater is now a vegetarian so I had to put in the request for the special meals. I would love to go to tea in London but can't eat wheat and some will eat Indian etc while others won't.
I think we can assume that most of the posters here are the type to introduce their kids to a variety of experiences so it is interesting to see how that has played out with food.

cd

My husband was in school for ten years when our children were young. We were on a very strict budget. We never ate fast food, we never had pop or chips in the house. We simply could not afford them. I cooked a protein, a starch and a veggie every night. As adults, there is not much they won't eat EXCEPT they have had enought baloney and spam in their childhood to never touch it again.

LoveItaly

Well Tracy I sure understand as I have severe allergy problems too, I cannot eat corn or anything devrived from corn and I cannot eat any dairy product. So I love restaurants that has food I can eat. And the funny thing is I am not personally a picky eater..I love all kinds of food, but due to my allergies I sure have to be careful what I eat.

BTW, I read an article a couple of weeks ago where some serious research discovered that some children have stronger taste buds than other children and consequently a lot of food that is good for them really and truly does taste terrible to them, especially vegtables as vegtables taste quite bitter to them.

I think food can become a battle ground and one way children can feel like they have some control in their life.

I did what my mother did. I prepared meals and put it on the table. I certainly tried to respect the few foods my daughter did not like but I never made a battle ground over what she ate.

I have noticed that my grandson's that were quite picky about food when they were little eat so many types up foods now. So don't give up if your children are driving you crazy regarding what they will and will not eat, your little ones will probably begin to like more food selections as they get older. I would just serve good wholesome food and when they get hungry enough they will start picking at it, lol. I wouldn't only serve the foods that they demand, but that is just my thinking for what it is worth.