It's Your Fault Your Kid's a Picky Eater

on August 17, 2011 at 2:15 PM

picky eaters
Yes, that's a grilled cheeseOr at least it's probably my fault, but maybe you're doing a better job at getting your baby to eat broccoli and beets. Dr. Andrew Weil of the integrated health and wellness movement writes today in The Huffington Post about how adults who are picky may have their childhood to blame. That means moms, right? At least that's how I'm taking it, as I serve up my homemade mac and cheese yet again this week.

Weil asks us why in the world we insist on giving children different food than adults. And he's got a great point. Have you seen what kind of crazy "kid" food is being marketed on TV, in the grocery store, and in parenting magazines? It makes you wonder how kids ever graduate from blue yogurt to asparagus risotto.

Dr. Weil also points to the anti-rice cereal movement as possibly being a step in the right direction to creating healthy eaters. While I don't think rice cereal is to blame for all picky eating (after all, a zillion more babies ate rice cereal than turned into picky adults), I get his point about introducing a diverse amount of flavors as your baby's first foods.

We actually did cook and mush up edamame as my daughter's first baby food, and she rejected it in two seconds. But now, as a pre-schooler, she totally loves eating edamame. So maybe reverting back to the rice cereal didn't cause permanent damage to my gal. Of course, with baby number two, we didn't even attempt the more intense flavors based on our negative experience with my daughter. Is this why he won't go near a vegetable?

Taking the long view, I've been known to be a picky eater. Not to the degree that Weil describes, where I always go for cheese pizza, pasta with butter, and grilled cheese sandwiches. I just have some texture issues and certain animal things I won't eat. I was raised a bit on bland food, and my mom readily admits to giving us rice cereal.

We are a product of our environment, to some extent. And since there's no harm in introducing exotic foods (except restricted foods by age), why not add a little color into your baby's diet? Even more fun, let your little one loose in the produce section and see what she picks out. You might be surprised. At least I was, when my toddler suddenly started eating sardines last week.

Do you feed your baby only white foods?

About the author April Peveteaux

writes about anything that gets stuck in her craw. A mom of two in Los Angeles, she can't believe she practically lives in the country now after attempting to raise kids in Brooklyn.

Filed Under: baby health, solid food

Comments (19)

xavierlogan09

on Aug 17, 2011 at 2:19 PM

my son's favorite food is mashed potatoes. However he eats alot of different foods. He isn't picky at all. The only time he eats different food than us is if i make pork chops. He doesn't eat them. I am very picky. That is because my mother didn't make me eat healthy. I am not doing that with my son.

Report this comment

sarapunkinpie88

on Aug 17, 2011 at 2:20 PM

My babys first food was avocado. After that it went banana, sweet potato, Apple sauce, then baby rice cereal mixed into some of it.

mustbeGRACE

on Aug 17, 2011 at 2:24 PM

(Delete)

on Aug 17, 2011 at 2:23 PM

Often kids on the autism spectrum are picky eaters.

They cannot help it and in the most severe cases, very rarely, will starve themselves to death rather than eat sensory offending foods.

So, it's no one's "fault" and you apparently don't have enough onfo.

Please be careful what nonsense you post here.

Facebook comment from Ashleigh Munson

on Aug 17, 2011 at 2:35 PM

Mine HATED rice cereal. Her first solid was cream of wheat, which she loved. We did they whole array of vegetables too. She's not a picky eater at all. She's not much into meats though, but she loves her "trees". (Broccoli!)

LDurk

on Aug 17, 2011 at 2:37 PM

"Often kids on the autism spectrum are picky eaters.

Please be careful what nonsense you post here."

No one is saying you should force feed kids foods, and not let them have anything else if they don't want it. It's suggesting that maybe children don't like a wide variety of foods because they weren't offered them. That's not "nonsense", it's common sense.

hutchfam2007

on Aug 17, 2011 at 2:47 PM

My daughters first "food" was rice cereal followed by applesauce and bananas followed by a whole variety of purees (which i am NOT fussing with next time around btw).

She is a pretty picky eater now...? idk. Hubby says I "let" her be picky because if she doesnt eat the dinner I offer her and is hungry later I will let her have a snack. Im picky, so I understand how she feels. When I try to eat foods that I do not like I get nauseous.... but I have gotten MUCH better in the last 5 or so years with what I will eat.

Facebook comment from Stacey Busenbark Sanders

on Aug 17, 2011 at 2:56 PM

I fed both of mine diverse foods. My 3 year old is a wonderful eater and will try anything, has always been that way. My 2 year old on the other hand will only eat vegtable matter if I mix a puree in with his bland food-that child will not eat rather than have a taste of something he doesn't like the looks of. (and I refuse to make multiple dinners so you go hungry in my house if you don't want whats on the table) I do belive its sometimes just the kid vs. what you fed them as an infant.

SandMsMama

on Aug 17, 2011 at 3:02 PM

I've thought that picky eaters were a result of their parents only giving them a few veggies and fruits for the first year. You HAVE to introduce them to a variety if you expect them to eat a variety. I have 2 kids and neither are picky, so I guess I'm doing something right :)

Nonmember comment from me

on Aug 17, 2011 at 4:08 PM

I agree that it's the parents fault. I don't know that it is all about the first year though. I waited to feed my daughter till she was about 8 months old. I did feed her rice cereal. But she eats everything. Actually she doesn't like sweet potatoes. other than that she eats anything.

vanessa5470

on Aug 17, 2011 at 4:51 PM

Hmm...I fed my 2 now yr old rice cereal and he's not a picky eater at ALL. I come from Colombian parents and a grandmother who only cooked foods from scratch. I had never had Hamburger Helper, frozen dinners or anything or the sorts until I moved out of my mom's house at 22.

I do the same now with my own family, I've never cooked anything different for DS and even though he won't exactly eat everything off his plate he still tries things.

I actually think it has more to do more with what a mother eats during her pregnancy. Exposing fetuses to different tastes via the placenta seems to translate into life outside the womb. In my own case, I ate a variety of foods and DS is now an eating machine.