Alison’s cousin came to stay over the weekend, and I found myself exasperated at the child’s refusal to eat any of the food I had to offer.
She’s always been a picky eater, and believe me, I get the whole picky thing. As a child, and actually through to my early twenties, my hypothalamus failed to notify me when my body needed fuel. As a result, I never felt hungry. And if food looked funny, smelled funny, or felt funny, I didn’t eat it.
So, yeah. I get it. My history of pickiness is the reason we have a household rule that the kids have to try at least one bite of everything I put on their plates, healthy or not.
However. In my opinion, this not-quite 7-year-old’s eating habits go beyond being picky. She will not eat anything that is not deep fried, unless it’s ramen noodles or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich – and even then, it has to be on white bread, no crusts.
Her visit was unexpected, and so I had nothing to feed her int he pantry. Blythe and I had to make a quick run up to the corner market, otherwise girlfriend was going to starve the whole time she was here. And yes, I told her that I was not happy about spending $20 on “junk” because she won’t eat a damn banana or whole wheat noodle.
The child does not consume anything with any nutritional value. N-O-T-H-I-N-G.
I know I go above and beyond when it comes to serving whole, nutritious foods in my household, and I also understand that not everyone eats that way. If it weren’t for Blythe’s food allergies, I’d probably even allow my kids to eat a deep fried this or that on occasion.
My in-laws insist that Alison’s cousin’s greasy food habit is normal, and my kids’ love of fruits, veggies, and whole grains is an oddity.
It’s hard for me to believe that in this age of information, serving kids nothing but hollow foods is standard. But then again, childhood obesity is at an all-time high, and you can’t go to a restaurant without seeing corndogs and chicken nuggets on the children’s menu.
So help me out, my friends. Where on the spectrum does your family fall?
Do your kids refuse to eat anything that isn’t fried or sugar filled? Are your kids fruit and veggie junkies? Or do they fall somewhere in between, in a happy medium?
18 replies on “Food vs “Food””
It’s pretty sad. The parents are setting their child up for obesity, heart disease and diabetes. Navigating the world of food is hard enough when you AREN’T a picky eater. I know – I’m a compulsive overeater and am just starting to learn to deal with it.
When all you know is junk food, I feel like hope is lost. So much of what people consider food, I can’t imagine giving to a child – cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets, soft drinks. It seems like abuse to me.
We fall into a happy medium, I think. My 2 year old loves fruits and veggies (broccoli is a snack food around our house). I serve at least one fruit or veggie at every meal and snack. She also eats a lot of other good things – yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, whole grains, pasta, etc. On the other hand, the kid loves pizza, ice cream and macaroni and cheese, so we compromise with organic versions where we can and very small portions and figure that 90% of her diet is very healthy and it will all work out on the end. Our trip up is eating out – so many places don’t offer fruits or veggies as sides (unless you count fries, which I don’t), so, for instance, today, she had a grilled cheese sandwich and fries for lunch *sigh*. We just made sure to give her extra fruits and veggies later.
I feel like, overall, she eats pretty healthy. I can’t imagine having a child who only ate things that were deep fried – and Ramen? Just the sodium content in that makes me a little cringey.
I, personally, don’t go overboard to make everything organic, natural, or even, quite frankly nutritious.
V, however, has different ideas. She would rather eat fruit and veggies over pizza and chips any day. If you give her juice, she asks for water. Anything deep fried will have the batter completely removed before she will eat it. We make sure to have lots of healthy food for her to snack on in the house because she demands it. And our coaxing at dinner time is always around trying to get her to eat a bite of meat not the broccoli she would rather be eating.
The other day I had a friend and her 3yr old over. We brought a bunch of snacks out to the backyard that they could munch on as they played. Veggies were completely eaten. Bread rolls they each had a bite and left in favor of more veggies.
*shug* Who am I to argue. If I was smart I’d be taking lessons.
My daughter is only 4, but she’s not that picky! And I hope she never will be.
Of course she loves chicken nuggets and pb&j, but she only eats wheat bread (has never had white) and cannot have any other treats for the day unless she eats fruit first. And always has a veg with dinner (no dessert without it. And dessert is ONE cookie or something small).
My daughter is not a great eater, but I think those parents are just making an excuse.
We probably fall close the middle but definitely leaning more towards the healthy side. My daughter will eat almost anything she is offered. She adores fruit of any kind and is great with most veggies. We eat mostly lean meats. Her diet is fairly balanced. Now we do eat out occasionally, however, I’m always careful to pick the healthy side choices off the kids menu. I never order fries for her, which isn’t to say she never eats them. She eats them at home where I bake them, and she does get a few off our plate if we happen to order them.
I have a friend whose son sounds a lot like the child described. He won’t eat anything even remotely healthy. My friend has tried, her daughter eats a lot of healthy foods, but her son just won’t. Unfortunately she gives in and gives him the unhealthy food he demands so she has definitely lost that battle.
I think it is sad when kids don’t understand the value of healthy eating and at such a young age are already in a rut.
I think we’re in the middle. We went out for lunch today and my 3 year-old had mini-hot dogs off the kids’ menu, but with a side of fruit (instead of fries) and she ate all of the broccoli out of my steamed veggie side. So… a main course of junk with a side of healthy, I guess? When I cook at home, it’s generally healthy, and she eats what I make.
That said, I don’t deny her the occasional treat because of my own personal issues. (When I was a kid, my mom was always on a diet and we were never allowed to have junk food in our house, so I ended up hoarding candy & junk food – NOT what I want for my own kid.) And I let her drink juice sometimes(the 100% kind) because she has major constipation issues and that’s the only thing I’ve found that really helps.
So, yeah. I guess we’re in the middle there.
If you raise ’em on whole grains, they’ll love whole grains. Cade does not know what white bread or pasta is like. He grubs on wheat bread and pasta and thank goodness I do whole grains ’cause otherwise he’d be a blimp!
This sounds like our family. A healthy balance is all we can ask for. They have to know that stuff is out there and how to eat it in moderation, if possible… Thanks for your post!
P.S. The USDA counts fries as a vegetable in school lunches. Sad, but true.
When I brought home a bag of mixed frozen fruit my son acted like he just received the best gift ever. My kids will grab fruit before any junk. U wish they liked veggies but everything I try they hate. I bought a cookbook that has recipes for kid friendly food that hides veggies from the kids. Keep your fingers crossed my too smart kids don’t figure it out please.
My daughter eats her share of mac’n’cheese, don’t get me wrong, but it’s heavily weighted by lots of fruit and veggies and whole grains. I’ve talked to her since she was two about carbs and proteins and she gets it. If they’re offered the healthy stuff from the get go, it will (eventually) get to a point where they prefer it.
My kids love their fruits and veggies, and eat whole grains, etc.
At school, they do not eat particularly nutritiously, but at home it is fresh and whole grains most of the time. This being said, they still love mac n cheese pizza and pasta with classico red sauce.
I’m ok with that!
Sadly, her eating habits ARE normal. Normal, that is, for kids these days who are plagued by diabetes and obesity.
I would say my daughter falls somewhere in between a veggie/fruit lover and a junk food lover. The key for us, is simple: we don’t have a lot of junk in the house so she (and we) don’t have access to it. It’s fine to enjoy it on some occasions, but not on a day to day basis, in my opinion.
Nope. Your children are not odd. She’s the one with the eating disorder. The rule in our house is you eat what we eat. You don’t like it? You’ll be hungry. We have nephews and nieces who grumble when they visit, but eventually they will eat something I’m serving. If not, they are free to be hungry. I don’t cater to picky eaters.
I am of the school of thought that if you never fed them a hotdog or chicken nugget in the first place then they will never know the difference and eat the healthy options on their plate. That is exactly what I did and my kids love to eat veggies and fruit for snacks. They didn’t even know what a chicken nugget was until we went to a party and the kids were all served nuggets and my son replied “I don’t like this, can I have a bowl of spaghetti and a salad please” Your child will form his or her tastes based on what your put in front of them. Good for you for choosing healthy food.
I was her as a child (nutritionally only). And now I’m overweight with a diet pepsi addiction. Luckily for me, A took after her dad and loves fruits, veggies, even broccoli. Blech.
Also, today she told me it wasn’t fair that other kids get to drink soda and she doesn’t. Tough. I’m a hypocrite. It’s taken me 28 years to finally change my diet to healthy food, and I want better for her. We do love us some pizza, though.
I have to say, my daughter who is 2.5 is getting my food habits which is not good. We aren’t terrible on the food scale – but we’re more towards the junk than the healthy. She likes certain vegetables – cucumbers with dip, corn, celery occassionally and adores certain fruits – strawberries, grapes, bananas, pineapples. But, we also don’t eat the healthiest and I daily tell myself I’m going to change that.
Working full-time and being pregnant is my excuse now. I hope that when the next baby comes along, I can make a much better effort to eat and introduce healthy foods to my daughter because I don’t want her to end up being as picky as I was!
I think a happy medium is REALLY important. My mother was all about the healthy food when I was a kid. As soon as I had my own money and was able to drive, I went NUTS. I ate nothing but crap ALL. THE. TIME. My sister is the same way. Restriction just turns something into an obsession. Not good. So yes, healthy 90-95% of the time, treats 5-10% of the time I think would have worked really well for us, and curbed that OMG FREEDOM feeling we both experienced. 🙂
I’d say we’re somewhere in the middle…my kids are pretty average. Yes, they love “treats” like candy, soda, chips, and chicken nuggets…but they can also be found begging for a watermelon at the grocery store. Or grapes. Or strawberries. Or tilapia!
We have the “you must try 3 bites” rule in our house. I don’t care if it sounds pushy or cruel…it’s a way to ensure that they try new things. And because of this rule, my kids happily eat things like jicama and fennel and bell peppers.