S/o where does picky eating come from?

[Anonymous]

Is it inherent?
Behavioral ?
Family- related?
A product of not being exposed to enough foods early on?

Where does it come from?

My kids aren't the least picky, so I always wonder when I hear about kids who only eat hot dogs or only eat Mac and cheese.

[Anonymous]

Is it part of being on the spectrum for some?

[Anonymous]

Heightened/overly sensitive - notices fine gradations of change in things like texture/taste sound.

temperament that doesn't like novelty - fearful of things being different.

usually kids are born with these traits but they can also be affected (both positively and negatively) by experiences.

For example, a kid who inherently just prefers that same cereal day afte day after day, if lovingly encourgaed, could be drawn to try slightly different tastes and textures and after 80 tries, the kid will accept the food as familiar.

If the child is routinely threatened and force fed foods he doesn't like or spanked if he refuses to eat them... the kid may go a different way.

[Anonymous]

Our first is a pretty good eater, likes many things and is willing to try new foods. He may or may not like them, but he'll take a bite.

Our second is picky, only likes a handful of things, and on any given day, may not like something he usually eats just fine. He definitely has texture issues, but that doesn't explain why he will reject chicken or a babybel, which are normally his favorite things.

[Anonymous]

60% lazy parenting
40% actual physical or psychological issues with the child.

[Anonymous]

Some kids just are born that way. Look up supertaster. It's a real thing that some tastes like broccoli are really strong to some people. Some picky kids are made, though. Formula feeding is thought to be related to picky eating, as the flavor is consistent day to day unlike breast milk. Giving you child what they want when they refuse to eat the three choices on the table that everyone else is eating can create picky eaters very quickly.

[Anonymous]

I think it's a combination of factors, and I say this as someone who was a picky child and has picky children. I've read everything I can about advice on eating and I understand research shows a strong genetic component to it. I know for me and my DSs texture is a huge aspect of it. Being more sensitive than average to tastes can also be a factor.

It can be made worse by never serving kids a variety of foods. If they learn they can get whatever they want, there is no motivation to try unfamiliar things. Some kids need lots of exposure, just at the looking at it stage, before being willing to try something. Personally, I like the idea of a "no thank you bite", e.g you must take one taste of everything served (even if you spit it out) since it can be a way to gradually expose kids to more variety without being too draconian. However, with my kids that did not go well mainly because of DH. DH can be very authoritarian and simply can't understand how it feels to be a kid who absolutely can't get himself to eat this food. So when we tried this approach around age 3-4 every single meal turned into a battle because he insisted on policing how big a bite was enough and he'd argue that the kid has to like it. I swear I was having flashbacks to my childhood table and we were all miserable. So I quickly ended that approach. Now they can eat or not, but I serve one meal and it normally includes fruit (which DS1 likes) and some kind of bread/pasta/rice/potato component (which DS2 will usually eat). DH still insists that they drink milk, which I think is silly because they get enough calcium from yogurt and cheese at other times of day. The kids have very gradually been willing to eat more foods and at least are being exposed to a variety of food on the table. I'm confident that as adults they'll eat like normal people and not expect to be catered to, even if they may not seek out every new restaurant!

[Anonymous]

Well as a former picky eater I generally think people stress way too much over it. I'm not picky at all as an adult.

[Anonymous]

For our daughter it's a texture issue. We went through some feeding therapy/occupational therapy to address it.

For me my mom told me I come from a long line of picky eaters. Looking back it was definitely a texture issue. But it also was a product of my mom letting me get away with refusing to eat a lot of food. Her mom had forced her to eat things she didn't want (serving the same thing to her until she ate it sometimes this lasted for a couple of days) and that made her do the kid vow of when I have kids I'll never...

We're trying to help our daughter work through her issues, introducing and reintroducing foods without being too neurotic about what she currently does and does not eat.

[Anonymous]

My brother and I were both formula fed. We were both presented with the same foods growing up. He's not a picky eater, I am. What barely tastes at all spicy to him will cause me to chug tons of water and leave me with a burned tongue for a day or two.

[Anonymous]

Developmental ped told me there was a picky eater gene.

[Anonymous]

I think it depends. My brother, now a grownup, still only eats pizza, fried chicken, burgers, cokes. Horrible. He was catered to as a child. So who knows whether his original pickiness had a reason, he was catered to with special meals and a lot of handwringing.

[Anonymous]

I have no idea.

My son won't eat broccoli but will eat cabbage.
He won't eat strawberries but he will eat olives.
He won't eat oranges but he will eat hummus.
Some days he will only eat the carb served, the next day he will eat a whole steak, and the rest of my steak.

He eats raw onions.

Who knows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well as a former picky eater I generally think people stress way too much over it. I'm not picky at all as an adult.

+1 on all of this. I was catered to too much as a kid. There's no picky eating in poor families, underdeveloped countries, etc.

I'm not a short-order cook. Our kids eat everything as a result.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well as a former picky eater I generally think people stress way too much over it. I'm not picky at all as an adult.

+1 on all of this. I was catered to too much as a kid. There's no picky eating in poor families, underdeveloped countries, etc.

I'm not a short-order cook. Our kids eat everything as a result.

I was a picky eater as a kid, and my parents didn't cater to it. I sometimes was forced to spend three hours sitting at my dinner place until I finished my food. My mother was absolutely not a short-order cook for me. I'm a picky adult.