One of my sons loves artichokes, mussels, and pomegranates. But for the other, it’s: goldfish, goldfish, goldfish.
Here’s some information that might have kept me off Lexapro: The New York Times reports that, although environment has an influence, it’s genes that determine a picky eater.
A University College London study, which was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in August, examined the eating habits of 5,390 pairs of twins between 8 and 11 years old and found children’s aversions to trying new foods are mostly inherited.
Had I only known, my son could have been spared all that cajoling, nagging and even yelling at innumerable dinnertimes that will probably put him on Lexapro later in life.
And as I child, I too was among the fussiest of eaters. But not now …. I love it all! (no bleu cheese.)
Really, all we need to do as parents is hang in. Here’s Harriet Worobey, director of the Nutritional Sciences Preschool at Rutgers University: “Unless it becomes a huge issue, it tends to be a little more fleeting than parents think,” she said. “I know a year can seem like five to parents, but these food jags are normal.”
I would really like to know why it is our tastes change, why a picky eater as a kid can evolve into a gourmand. I believe much of the aversion to foods experienced by kids has more to do with the tactile sensation than it does with taste per se. How else to explain things like aversions to different forms of the same food (baked vs. mashed, for example)?
MFagelson:
For me, as a picky eater, it was the smell…
Eleanor
MFagelson:
I believe that is part of the pickiness. I’m definitely a picky eater, and I would say that the number one reason why I dislike a lot of foods is due to texture. I hate onions in my food, to me the crunch while eating them is disgusting. I also dislike tomatoes (but Love tomato soup) and the main reason is that tomatoes always seem to wet and soggy. It really does have more to do with texture or smell than taste, I believe. If it was taste, then we wouldn’t avoid things we’ve never tried.
My daughter was an extremely picky eater. She’s 24 now and still somewhat picky, but better. She doesn’t eat meat (drove me crazy when she was a teen! I used to call her a “noodle-a-tarian”) and says it’s the texture she doesn’t like.
I don’t remember being a picky eater myself, but back then - in the ’50s and ’60s - we didn’t have as many food choices. I’m sure my parents never offered me “artichokes, mussels, and pomegranates,” for example. Now that food is shipped from everywhere, to the U.S., the choices are much greater. Personally, I think that’s unnecessary and wasteful of fuel. IMHO! In the meantime, I’ve grown to become a very plain eater. I could eat rice, beans and a salad forever …
Deborah