I see all of these posts about "picky eaters" and I wonder what in the world is going on? All of these kids can't possibly have a medical issue. That is not statistically possible. Why is it that American kids are all of a sudden incapable of eating a wide variety of normal food? But if you dare suggest that the parent's are responsible by not feeding their kids right from the beginning, you are the most awful person on the planet. It's either American kids have somehow developed a strange disorder, or it's because they are being allowed to be this picky. I worry about the health of many of these children. They can't possibly be getting proper nutrients from those kinds of diets. No wonder little kids are getting diabetes. I think that new parents should have available to them classes that teach them how to properly feed their kids. I imagine many don't know the dangers or how to handle situations where their kids don't want to eat what they put in front of them. Society has lost this parenting knowledge that is normally passed down. I believe that so many get defensive about it it because they just don't know how to handle it. There needs to be more resources.
To some degree's I agree and other points not so much... I do say this respectfully...
When I was in school a long time ago, we had something called health class... where they taught you about the basic food groups, you know the pyramid and things like nutritional value, how the body worked and processed this food, and what happens when you don't eat right... which I don't think that this is something that is offered or study in classes nowadays... along with other class that were electives like Home Economic, which both boys and girls could take, how basic cooking skills, as well as budgeting and shopping for food.
Plus all this Vegetarian, Vegan, Paleo, Keto, Pescetarian, and on and on the list goes... Ways of eating or lifestyles... Then no carbs, no sugar, no this and no that, gluten free, gluten sensitive, lactose intolerant, or milk protein intolerant( which I am). Then comes in organically grown, organically raised, free range, no hormones, no high fructose corn syrup and on and on it goes... Then the issue of what kind of milk - whole milk, 2%, 1%, almond, coconut, and again every day more and more
Then adding in all food allergies, which true food allergies is something that I understand well as I have one which is not very common Coconut. Yet it is very common in foods, flour, oil, milk, so something that I have to be aware of... There is a difference is a true allergy with adverse reactions up to life endangering consequences or just someone wanting to be current.
Kids need certain things to grow and flourish, and keeping a balanced diet is important.
With some understanding you can get around what they like and don't like... For instance I don't drink milk, even as a kid, the smell of it just makes me gag, so my parents gave me other things like yogurt, cheese.. When my DD started drinking whole milk, I would fight the urge to gag, to make sure she got what she needed.
Goodness with all this.... how would anyone be able to wade through all this... if they don't know the basic of nutrition, and how the body works and what it need to maintain it.
Lets be honest... there are foods that we just don't like the taste of which is okay. It starts when they are young you have to introduce them to a variety of foods, and sure there are things that they won't like, still you have to give it a try and retry along the childhood road. For instant my grandson will not eat mashed potatoes, he like potatoes every other way, and he doesn't like cooked carrots, yet loves raw carrots.. It's all about finding a balance and what works, and developing from there. Yet when a kid only want chicken nuggets, and pizza, how did this kid get to this point?
We do avoid places where there is pretty much no hope, ie Biergarten, Liberty Tree, Epcot food booths. It's just too stressful to bother trying to accommodate him at some places. Luckily, he'so old enough that we would can send him to eat on his own and we can do our own thing.
