Reply to I make my kids separate meals from us for pretty much every meal and I think it's better

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Reply to "I make my kids separate meals from us for pretty much every meal and I think it's better"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]People are conflating "kid-friendly" foods with foods that are marketed and targeted at kids (or at parents who want to feed kids with minimal effort).

[b]Serving rice and beans that are more mildly flavored to kids while the adults eat a spicier food with more components is not the same as just heating up some frozen nuggets or, oh my god, giving them a luncheable. 
[/b]
Yes, some kids are adventurous eaters and enjoy spicy foods. I know there are people who think these kids are made, not born, and to some degree that might be true. But I've also encountered families where one kid is adventurous and another is quite picky, and while no child has an identical experience as their sibling, I find it hard to believe that their parent's approach to food was so fundamentally different as to be the cause for this. There have also been studies that show pickiness in kids has a genetic component even when you control for things like what foods the child is offered. So while you may have kids who will eat anything you serve them, someone else might not, and that person still wants to serve their child a nutritious, well-rounded diet.

Thus: you can serve your kid healthy, kid-friendly foods. For a picky eater, this will often mean offering fewer combined foods (deconstructed everything), leaning more on fruits and legumes than vegetables (the cliche about kids not eating their vegetables is cliche for a reason), doing healthy versions of pancakes and muffins that have vegetables and fiber in them, etc. This doesn't mean just giving up and feeding your kid whatever they want, being a short-order cook, or feeding them unhealthy processed foods. It means accepting that your child is not going to eat certain things and making sure there are healthy alternatives they will eat available.

I also just question anyone who says things like "my kids eat what I eat" or "I don't give them the option" because I've had a kid who would happily go on a hunger strike to avoid eating foods that trigger her disgust impulses (which, for a time, included like 95% of all foods). I don't actually think you would starve a child like that rather than just going ahead and feeding the child something she will eat, especially if it's a healthy option. I think you just got fortunate in not having a child who'd rather go hungry than eat what you have served.[/quote]

See the bolder is both what I understood the OP to be doing and I would consider it eating what the adults are eating: everyone gets beans and rice!  So I find OP’s premise weirdly combative but her substance totally fine.[/quote]

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