Does your childhood diet affect your eating habits?

cdjs77

I'm a little bit bored at the moment so I thought I would see what other people on here thought of this. A friend and I were discussing the other day how the way we were fed as children affected the way we eat now. I was skeptical at first but the more I thought about it, the more I came to realize that, aside from vacations, my first few months of living on my own, and moving to a new country, I've always reverted back to the way I ate when I was younger. Even today, walking home in the blistering heat, I started craving a big slice of melon like I always had in the summer as a kid, rather than ice cream or a popsicle (even though I walked right past someone selling them). So I'm curious, do you think your childhood diet had any effect on how you ate as an adult? If it was different than how you eat now, do you find it hard not to revert back to eating that way?

c_tap77

This is a really interesting question!

When I was young my parents used to encourage my sister and I to eat lots of fruits and veggies and healthy things.

Then (I think some due to peer pressure and some because it was just so dang tasty) I went to high school and college and started eating the crummy stuff they served in the cafeteria.

I'm just starting to get back into a pattern of eating better and working out again. But I actually don't find it all that difficult to incorporate more fruits and veggies into my diet--probably because that's what we ate when I was growing up.

chezjuan

It definitely has an effect on what kinds of foods I buy and eat. My parents avoided added sugars/flavors/colors for the most part and also mainly bought thing such as natural peanut butter (peanuts being the only ingredient.) They also kept a garden and generally grew tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, zucchini, broccoli, and other staples. When I shop, I tend to buy items similar to what
I had as a kid.

lyndausvi

I can't speak for the rest of the people in the world, but for me yes. My mom's idea of veggies was throwing frozen veggies in a pot of boiling water for 30+ minutes. Never any seasoning. We rarely had fruit in the house. If we did it was an apple or box of raisins. Never had salads, ever. We would have corn on the cob and tomatoes in the summer. That was about it.

Not only on the veg and fruit front, but our weekly meals were the following. Baked chicken breast, shake-n-bake pork chops, steak, pasta and meatballs, pizza night or fish sticks, and some sort of roast (beef or pork). EVERY NIGHT (except pasta or pizza night) had potatoes. I'm not kidding. All the food was OVERCOOKED.

It's taken me 25+ years plus marrying a chef do know what fresh and seasoned veggies and fruits taste like. And I can't tell you how much more I like things like fish and other properly cooked proteins taste like. My taste buds are way more adventurous also.

MelsAuntie

Absolutely. My father hunted and fished, and grew amazing vegetables in his garden. My family always raised poultry, ducks and geese especially, squab and rabbits for the table. So I learned early to love meat and great garden produce.
Mother, who hated cooking--hated it, so that years later if I said husband and I were having friends over for dinner, she'd say in dismay, "You don't have to COOK for them, do you?"--Mother cooked all pasta until it was mush, all vegetables until very soft, and all meat until it was like shoe leather, otherwise " it will make you sick". So I learned how NOT to cook and developed a lifelong interest in proper cooking, to respect the food and do well by it. Mom could not understand al dente vegetables or pasta, she'd complain I hadn't cooked it enough, and my desire for rare beef and lamb...!! She was sure I was going to kill myself.

artsycella

Hm... I guess you could say that it affects my eating habits, but not because I end up eating more like I did as a child.

My mom never liked cooking, so meals at our house were pretty simple: a protein (usually steak or pork, mom didn't like chicken), a microwaved frozen vegetable (sometimes plain, sometimes with whatever sauce came in the packet) and a starch (usually a boxed pasta, rice-a-roni, boxed potatoes au gratin, etc.). Basically, whatever was easy to get on the table.

Even as a youngster, I wasn't crazy about that type of food. The truth is that my mom and I have really different tastes in food--I have always loved fruits, vegetables, beans, etc. With a few exceptions, she really doesn't. So the kind of food I make now is very, very different than what I ate as a kid.

Once I became an adult and moved out on my own, I struggled to learn how to feed myself well. It's taken a long time, and a lot of experimenting, and a lot of eating out, but now I cook at home most of the time. And I cook fresh, often local, often organic food from a variety of international cuisines. I grow fresh herbs and some vegetables, subscribe to a CSA, often make my own pastas, breads, sauces, gravies. I cook something new almost every night of the week and delight in trying new recipes. My cookbook collection is starting to pile up on the floor.

The funny thing is that I doubt I spend more time in the kitchen on weeknights than my mom did. I probably do spend more money on food, though.

The one thing I will give my mom and my childhood eating patterns credit for, though? Loving food. My mom and I may love different kinds of food, but she taught me an important lesson about enjoying eating. That's probably worth all the Hamburger Helpers I suffered through. ;D

cleotherio

I was raised vegetarian. I didn't try any meat at all until I was about 12 years old (teenage rebellion). I'm a total omnivore that eats bloody rare steak now.

creech6317

I think it does very much so. As a kid, my mother was always into trying different foods from different cultures. We would always have to try something before we could say whether we liked it or not. That has opened my food expieriences hugely. My ex was always meat & potatoes. He was very unwilling to try new things and that leaves you with a very limited choice of options, especially when trying to get healthy and change your diet.
We also rarely used salt in anything we cooked (my grandfather was on a low sodium diet) to this day I rarely use salt on things.

usmcmp

My parents fed us well and always healthy. Dinner out was a rare treat (birthdays) and fast food was only allowed during vacation.

When my sisters and I grew up we all started eating fast food as often as possible. My sister's still eat that way and I struggle to drive past those places without stopping.

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

I've always made my own food choices. I decided to go vegetarian when I was 7 but I was eating somewhat unhealthy. I'm still vegetarian but I've gotten much better about eating fewer carbs and more protein. No one else in my family is a vegetarian or has eating habits similar to mine. I also do IF and no one in my family does that either. The eating habits you were taught as a child can influence your current eating habits, but at the end of the day everyone is responsible for what they eat.

StacyReneO

Most definitely. We ate a lot of processed foods because a) my father was a single dad with a 70 hr a week job and b) it was the 70's and no one knew that processed food was bad. That being said, he only bought Roman Meal wheat bread, raisin bran or corn flakes cereal, lots of veggies (canned), only apples or oranges for fruit and snacks where wheat thins or plain pretzels. There were no cookies or sweets. I think this has helped me make healthier choices throughout my life.

pluckabee

In my house fruit was truly a treat.

My mum used to get huge trays of exotic fruit (from god knows where) and there was always this air of excitement and celebration about it. We used to fight over the fruit and it was gone almost as soon as it came.

To this day I don't really like 'normal' fruits like apples, bananas and oranges because they are far less exciting to me than mango, watermelon or pineapple.

I was always quite thin as a child and because of that I'm actually actively trying to eat MORE like I did when I was a kid and less like the hedonistic teen years where I gained weight pretty quickly.

ames105

I think it contributed a bit to the start of my weight gain. My dad got home from work at 3:30 and we ate dinner before 4pm. We were always eating a '4th' meal around 8pm. Also, it was the mid-70s, money was tight, we ate low cost, high fat very filling meals....velveeta hot dog casserole, etc.

But, everything I put in my mouth since I was about 10 has been my choice, every cookie, candy bar, piece of cake, slice of pizza, hamburger, french fry. Gorging til I was sick and trying to fill up empty places in side of me with food has all been on me. Now I've basically just swapped out exercise for food and it made a huge difference.

WannabeStressFree

It's funny.
My Mom always was working so we ended up eating junk food all the time as kids, she's not a big fan of cooking either. We were chubby kids.

I on one hand, loved and still love veggies and fruit, I'd beg her to buy them and I was the only one who ate them. I also ate junk food but I feel I was always healthy because I always liked all kinds of foods. My sister was picky and always defficient in iron, etc.
Once I moved to the big city, I looove the options of all kinds of foods, and since I try to eat healthy, it's good I like veggies and fruits (though I still love junk food).

One thing that has persisted is our lack of portion control, which is something I still struggle with. We were never denied food as kids so we ate as we pleased (too much!).

cdjs77

Interesting responses! It's also interesting to see how people's parent's eating habits steered them away from how they ate when they were younger.

In my house fruit was truly a treat.

My mum used to get huge trays of exotic fruit (from god knows where) and there was always this air of excitement and celebration about it. We used to fight over the fruit and it was gone almost as soon as it came.

To this day I don't really like 'normal' fruits like apples, bananas and oranges because they are far less exciting to me than mango, watermelon or pineapple.

I was always quite thin as a child and because of that I'm actually actively trying to eat MORE like I did when I was a kid and less like the hedonistic teen years where I gained weight pretty quickly.

Same here! I have always been at the lower end of my BMI and I think I can credit it to how my parents presented us with healthy options. My parents always bought more "exotic" fruits and when my dad would come home from the grocery store, he would announce "Guess what I got you guys? (Insert fruit here)!" I was always really excited about it, so I saw it as a treat. Even though I gained some weight recently, I lost it pretty quickly when I went back to how my parents used to feed me and I had not trouble swapping out ice cream for fruit (I think I even got sick of processed sugar "sweet treats" after a while).

chubby_checkers

I think so. We had homecooked meals every night with salad and a vegetable or two. Always carried lunches to school and had fruit and vegetables included. I was still fat, though. Once I went to college, I ate a lot of crappy food because we never really had it growing up.

My fiance grew up in a household where if it didn't come out of a box or can, you don't eat it. The only fresh produce I've ever seen at the house is potatoes and onions. He still tends to eat this way, while I try to limit that type of thing. It's a struggle.

RGv2

I think so, and I also believe it's important to teach kids moderation vs. just flat cutting specific foods from their diet.

brit__2006

I'm not sure if the foods directly impact my diet today, I mean yea I ate what I wanted then and now the unhealthy stuff is in moderation, but I've realized one thing that has been crucial to my diet.
CLEAN YOUR PLATE! I remember this every single time I eat, and there have been numerous times I've overeaten because throwing the extra food away was a waste.
I've gotten better at it, but sometimes I still realize I do it.

abbylg1983

It's true for me. When I was a kid, my parents both worked a lot and my mom had night classes. My dad was usually in charge of dinner and we had spaghetti 2-3 nights a week, pancakes 2-3 nights, and probably ate out 1-2 times (by eating out, I mean usually fast food or pizza- we didn't have a lot of money growing up). Vegetables were usually corn or green beans, which I grudgingly ate, but did not like. I always did eat a ton of fruit.

I have modified my diet signifcantly since joining myfitnesspal, but before that, meals I made myself were usually either spaghetti, scrambled eggs, or campbells chicken noodle soup, or hot dogs. That is exactly what my daughter now eats, plus fruits and vegetables (her favorite is green beans and steamed broccoli). I never did learn to really cook. When my daughter gets a little older (she's not yet 2) I'll probably start trying cook more things.

Also, my mom got sick of me eating cheetos, and touching things with my cheetos hands. She instilled a new rule- put your cheetos in a bowl, eat them, then wash your hands and put your bowl away. More than 20 years later, when I eat things like chips or cheetos, I put a handful in a bowl, and when that handful is gone, I put the bowl in the dishwasher and wash my hands. I didn't even realize it until my roommate pointed it out to me a few years back.

JustJennie1

I think so.

When I was a kid while my parents bought soda and junk food it wasn't a "free for all" in that we could have it any time we wanted. We had to ask if we could have the snacks and sodas and more often than not the answer was no. My mom made us well balanced meals too. There was always a meat item, starch item and a veggie item and to this day when my husband and I make dinner I make sure that there's a starch and a veggie with it too (except if I'm making a salad for dinner).

I think the fact that the sodas and junk food were treated more like treats makes me view them the same way now. I'm not really one to buy chips, soda, ice cream etc. because it was never something that I needed to have and even on the off chance I do buy it (like because I'm starving and I decided to go grocery shopping) I can put it in the cabinet and not touch it for months.

kjoy_

I actually just wrote a blog about how my upbringing now influences my emotional eating habits as an adult. I just hit save as I saw your topic pop up.

You can read it here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/karahjoy/view/90-days-trigger-free-558240

But long story short- yes. A large portion of my good childhood memories involve food, and I believe it's the underlying reason why I eat what I do and how I do today. Not saying that's the case for everyone, but I often crave the nostalgic feelings I get from eating foods I grew up on.