Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion What do you do about extreme food pickiness?

My father felt the same way you do. As a result, it wasn't until my 20's that I discovered the reason I felt like crap ALL THE TIME was because I was lactose intolerant. I cut (lactose-containing) dairy from my diet and like magic I feel so much better.

Also, the whole 'clean your plate thing'... I personally feel it's a terrible terrible thing to teach a child. We (well, nearly everyone) are born with the built-in ability to discern if we are hungry or not. Forcing children to eat things they don't like, or when they are not truly hungry, over and over again, for years, destroys that built-in mechanism.

I, personally, try to cook meals everyone in my house enjoys, and thankfully my children aren't super picky regarding healthy foods (both kids like broccoli, carrots, peas, califlower, spinach, etc) but no one is required to eat, ever. If I cooked something new, they are not allowed to simply declare it 'yucky' or 'gross' - we make them at least taste it. If they don't like it, no worries.

People are missing the point here... there are levels of sensitivity below pure allergy. Some kids have food sensitivities that have real measurable physiological and psychological effects that don't involve vomitting, GI problems, rashes, etc. Young kids can't really explain this and may just appear to have unreasonable aversions.

My oldest has never eaten either pasta or cheese and usually refuses to eat bread. We rolled with this since he is good about eating veggies and meat. He is 2E with behavior issues. Since switching to a Gluten/Cassein free diet most of these issue have disappeared. His earlier food pickiness was a form of self medicating...

So while some food battles are purely over control, you should at least consider whether there may be more going on than that.

I don't see it as a power struggle and personally don't care if the child eats or not but the family eating habits will not revolve around one's child's "intolerances".

Eating "intolerances" is too much like chore "intolerances" or public behavior "intolerances".

It looks like a path for a child not to do what they are told and to get away with it.

What they do or do not want to eat as adults is up to them but as a child they will have the choice of eating what is put before them or not to eat. Food will always be available regardless.

Personally, I don't see why parents make food a battleground. Offer a variety of HEALTHY foods, and allow your children to eat what they like. Encourage them to try new foods, and do not punish them when they don't like something.

Food can be AMAZING. I would hate for my children to grow up resenting mealtimes, all because I was determined that they always eat what I felt like they should. I make sure they have a vitamin every day, just in case they are missing out on something, but honestly, I've not met kids that have access to healthy foods that refuse to eat ALL of them.

Usually what I see is a parent that's allowed their children to get a taste for crap food (chicken nuggets, soda, candy, etc) and then have to fight for their child to eat any sort of veggie. I am of the opinion that if you make sure ALL the options are healthy, you don't have to fight any more.

I've read that a parent may have to present a child with a new food seven times or more before they accept it-- even when there are no food allergies or sensitivities involved. I've found that to be true with my own children.

What I do is keep encouraging them, and eventually they do eat most things happily. If there's something they really don't prefer, I try to accommodate them by picking meals we'll all enjoy. When they refuse to eat a new food item or even an old one, I remember that it might be due to something physical and tread carefully.

As for me, I will fight to my dying breath to avoid biting into a plum.

The only thing I have refused is cooked bat on a stick during one of my deployments. Mostly because it looked very undercooked.

Epoh & raptor_dad: Yes, exactly.

We keep crap food to a minimum here. My kids will happily munch on raw peppers and carrots, and one of my them will eat enough broccoli for everyone if you let him. My eldest rarely eats meat. He just doesn't like it, and we respect that.

I grew up dreading mealtimes. It didn't do me any good.

Sorry Cawdor, you're just wrong when you presume that all intolerances are made up "intolerances." An "intolerance" landed my father in the hospital and nearly killed him when he was six because another adult pushed him to eat something because "it won't do you any harm!" I guess she thought my dad just didn't want to do as he was told when he said he didn't want to eat it. "Intolerances" have made me sick many times and even hospitalized me on one occasion. Were we making it up just so we could "get away with" not having to eat those foods again?

No, you are wrong making a statement without any proof backing up .. the burden of proof is on you for saying these "intolerances" exist.

My time as an ex-Drill Instructor had me break "intolerances' from a lot of kids whose parents never had a handle on them and never took time with them and just let them do "whatever"

Teaching 17-19 year old men how to shower, shave, put clothes away, behave in public, handle money, and other basic life skills showed me what types of parenting work and what does not.

The parents of those who had a lot of "intolerances" were always amazed of what they saw after 8 weeks with myself and the other instructors.

This is getting annoying. If you take a position that a commonly known condition doesn't exist, it's up to YOU to prove your point.

Try this Wikipedia entry and the umpteen peer-reviewed references it cites. When you've disproven all of these studies, you can come back to me and tell me that we all made it up.

Then don't respond ... I for one believe most of these "conditions" are pretty much bunk based on my experience "curing" a lot of kids from them in 8 weeks.