Reply to S/o where does picky eating come from?

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Reply to "S/o where does picky eating come from?"

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[quote=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![/quote]

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