Where did I put that soapbox? I know it’s around the tool shed somewhere. Ah.
For a project I’m working on, I’ve been reading a bunch of baby food books. Tonight it’s The Petit Appetit Cookbook by Lisa Barnes.
Most of what is written about parenting is classic wishful thinking. Take this, from _Petit Appetit_:
> The wider the variety of tastes and textures you introduce to your baby early on, the more foods they’ll eat and enjoy as children and later adults. This also means that if they are offered healthy foods from a young age, they will choose those same foods as they age.
As a former classroom teacher, I’m tempted to ask for a show of hands of who believes this to be true. Anyone? I don’t think Barnes even believes it. After all, as she writes on an earlier page, two- to three-year-olds “may refuse past favorite foods.”
Don’t get me wrong. Obviously I think you should introduce your baby to a wide variety of foods. It’s convenient and fun. But will it make them into an adventurous three-year-old? Not a chance. Why do people keep saying this, anyway?
I agree with you. We are lucky that we do have an adventurous almost 3-year old eater – most days. But even some of his favorites are no longer permissible on the same plate. Also, if I don’t keep the house stocked with junk food, my kid doesn’t eat it because he is not exposed to it. It works both ways. Perhaps that is what mainstream America should be thinking about when battling the childhood obesity epidemic (O.K., I’ll hop off of your soapbox…)
Don’t worry, it’s a big box.
Actually, I’m not sure if I do agree. Both my kids are darned good eaters. I think the issue is control: kids reject food because they can and because when they reject it, us grown-ups jump and kids feel powerful. In our house, we let them control other stuff—the girl child doesn’t have to wear dresses, she can wear what the heck she wants and she can make her own lunch, decide on her hair, pick clothes, etc. In return, she pretty much eats what is put before her.
jenn, I think what you’re describing is luck. I assure you that we don’t jump when Iris rejects food. She is also a “darned good eater,” but she hardly likes any of the same things she did when she was a baby. If your kids do, that’s cool, but it doesn’t mean it’s because of anything you did.
So why do some kids grow up into incredibly picky eaters? Surely familiarity is part of it — are there many Thai kids who grow up loving French and West African food but finding Thai mostly inedible?
ctate, I just don’t know, but I don’t think anyone else knows either. (And no, obviously Thai kids eat Thai food, but presumably most of them eat a subset of what their parents eat.)
When you say “familiarity,” are you talking about what’s in the house or intangible cultural factors floating around?
Frankly, I’m more interested in what happens between, say, ages 10 and 18, when most people’s diets become much more varied. I’ve said this before, but there are plenty of people who are picky eaters until their first day of college.
This is all hazy, little-understood, and ripe for idle speculation.
You’re right, that IS more interesting, and I’m curious too. Maybe part of what happens is that kids simply realize that being a picky eater is babyish and/or Not Cool (depending on the sophistication of the kid).
We had a kid at camp this summer who ate only graham crackers, granola bars, and applesauce. Her mommy sent us a note saying so. Amazingly, she appeared to be healthy; she also appeared to be VERY proud of being such a picky eater. (I think she was about eight.)
Wendy, there are several studies suggesting that children who are very picky eaters are, on average, indistinguishable from non-picky eaters in terms of height, weight, and intake of US RDA-type nutrients.
I think you probably have it right about realizing that picky eating is kid stuff. The usual anecdote I tell is about how I starting eating sushi in my 20s because of peer pressure.
Actually yes, I do believe this statement (as do most pediatricians and nutritionists). And yes, I do write that “two- to three-year-olds “may refuse past favorite foods†– all children have food jags and you need to be prepared. These refusals are actually less to do with food than it is control and independence.
Even if you believe your child will still only like unhealthy foods – where is the harm in trying to introduce a healthy variety? At the very least your family will get a balance – certainly better than all junk food. I agree with many other posts that there is a familiarity factor with food and children. For example my son will always choose a dark (usually bran) muffin if at a coffee house or bakery stand over a light colored option. That’s because we always bake with whole wheat flour at home and that’s what is familiar to him. I’m not saying he wouldn’t like those with all white flour (he’d eat those too) – but he gravitates to what he knows.
I don’t think of offering a variety of foods and flavors as “convenient and fun” (although it can be). The hope and focus is on trying to establish healthy eating habits.
Thanks very much for your comment, Lisa. I think I may have been unclear. I think Iris and her parents eat very well and do not subsist on junk food–it’s just that Iris, like most three-year-olds, eats a much less varied diet than her parents.
That’s not a “food jag”–it’s a phase than in most children lasts for years. By the time kids are old enough to outgrow it (in my case, I was about 11 or 12), they’re going to build their array of adult likes and dislikes based on what their peers eat. And that process lasts a long time, too.
So, again, I do believe in with presenting young children with an array of healthy choices. I also believe in allowing them to decide what to eat and what not to eat among the choices provided, and to let your menus be informed–not dictated–by your children’s preferences. I see a lot of parents get really stressed out about their obviously-thriving children’s diets. That makes me sad.
I should add that the recipes in Petit Appétit were some of my favorites in any of the kid-food cookbooks I’ve looked at so far.
Thank you mamster. I appreciate the clarification and glad you like the recipes. I’m happy I found your site and am always pleased to see people talking (even disagreeing) about children’s food and eating habits.
Hey, thanks for understanding. Probably it’s clear from my site that being an iconoclast is kind of my shtick.
It’s boeuf bourguignon…..no “ne” at the end. This is completely out of place here, but my teaching instinctss got the better of me and Icouldn’t help it. By the way, how do I underline?