Like forcing vegetables. If I do not force DD to have fruit (and I have to blend it every morning or it doesn't get consumed) and eat her vegetables, she would just eat carbs. And she has bowel problems. It isn't an option not to force her. Not about to start giving her a laxative a day because she hates fruits and vegetables. So using this analogy... she has to be forced into healthy habits because of health concerns for her. She really has issues with the bowel.
I guess I should start by saying that I am only talking about my own experience, and I am not trying to say that my experience is the same as everyone's. But IME, when DD gets constipated, we talk about choices she could make in the future to prevent that from happening again, and she does adjust her diet. Also, we don't eat a lot of processed foods, so even when she is eating carbs, they are all whole grains, etc. So for us, anyway, fostering a love of healthy food is more important than the specific foods DD eats right now.
But I have never tried to force DD to eat vegetables, and now, she loves them. Sure, we went through periods when she wouldn't eat any. And for almost every vegetable we've introduced, she began by disliking it. But she tries them again, of her own volition, and learns to like them. Some days she wakes up and asks for green beans for breakfast. And I can't picture her doing that if we had tried to force her in the first place. So I guess it's a bit of a chicken/egg problem: You have to force your kid to eat vegetables because she doesn't like them, and she doesn't like them (at least in part) because you force them.
I think children who have been forced/pushed too hard in one particular direction may end up enjoying it less than kids who were allowed to explore and decide for themselves.
