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Love of Vegetables Starts Extremely Early IMHO
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kshama2001 wrote: »MikePfirrman wrote: »I remember not liking certain veggies as a kid but my parents made me eat them. I had to eat what they ate and that was that. I always smh when people say their kids won’t eat something. They are kids. What they eat is up to their parents. I understand giving them some choice and introducing things gradually over time. I get that. BUT, if your kid eats no veggies it is because you don’t make them eat them.
I love all veggies now and learned to like them as a kid because my parents made me eat them.
One thing I can honestly say I grew into was Brussel Sprouts. Hated them as a kid. Couldn't stand them. But that's really the only veggie I can think of that, as a kid, I didn't like. Again, maybe that's the bitter thing that @cwolfman13 is referring to and they are really bitter if not made right.
I love them roasted now with olive oil and sea salt. Also love them nearly charred with balsamic glaze. I believe how you cook them makes all the difference.
I don't think we used to get the same quality Brussels sprouts as we do now. Back then they were bitter and I'll use the word "stinky" because I can't think of a better word. Probably been in storage a long time before they were at the grocery. Possibly similar flavors that made me dislike cabbage rolls. The Brussels sprouts we get today are often fresh and crispy. I like to roast them for sure. I bet a bagel if I boiled some for an hour I'd hate them.
Funny story you don't need to bother reading:
I used to be the primary cook when I lived with a certain woman for nine years back in the 1990s. Neither of us ate meat at the time. I found a recipe for stuffed cabbage rolls in one of Mollie Katzen's cookbooks. I think that's where it was from. Could have been Laurel's Kitchen. I don't remember obviously. That stuffed cabbage took a lot of work to prepare. I didn't like them AT ALL. My ex said she liked them. Well, not too much later, I made them again. Why? Because she liked them, and I sure liked her. Well after I made them the second time she admitted that she actually didn't like them either. I wish she would have just told me the first time.... My vegetarian Shepherd's pie (based on another Katzen recipe but altered quite a bit) she did love. My tzatziki? Good stuff. Potato/onion/carrot kugel? The bomb. Spaghetti pancake? Damn fine. Just not those cabbage rolls. I still won't eat 'em.
Yeah, please tell me if you don't like something so I don't bother with it again.
I like stuffed cabbage rolls, but not all the effort that goes into making them. This is my new recipe. I love it! I half it - I don't see how you could possibly fit it into the pan otherwise - and it still makes a ton.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/14690/cabbage-roll-casserole/
Interesting recipe. I wouldn't call them cabbage rolls though. That recipe wouldn't have worked for me at the time because ground beef back then came from animals. I think the recipe I made was from Laurel's Kitchen. The stuffing was crushed nuts (pain to get the right size), onions, brown rice, raisins, and spices. The sauce was tomato based but also had onions, broth, and spices. I just never thought the flavors went well together. I love cabbage by the way. The recipe starts with a warning:
Not to be undertaken when you're pressed for time.
Laurel claims it's worth the effort. @mtaratoot claims..... no way.
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My husband and my son liked junk foods a little too much plus their other bad habits. Now my husband in his 60's and my son in his 30's are willing to eat healthier meals with vegetables to improve their failing health. They come to enjoy healthier foods and better health now a day. I'm happy that they realize that good diet and healthy life style are important for them if they want to live a long and happy lives.🙂6
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My brother and I never liked and still won't eat fresh tomatoes, and these were home-grown tomatoes. I think it's partially a texture thing, but I also don't like it if I have a bite of my OH's sandwich and it is contaminated with raw tomato. I also don't like fresh tomatoes cooked at home, but am fine with canned tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, sauce on pizza, store-bought jarred salsa, etc.
I used to not like cheese but grew out of that.
As an adult, I spent three years in yoga communities, which ruined cooked oatmeal as well as tofu for me. But I can eat chicken day in and day out and never get sick of it.1 -
MikePfirrman wrote: »@Speakeasy76 -- I am guilty of that, but I also would parent shame myself. My wife put a lot more effort into making sure my kids always ate healthy than I did. I did it because she told me to, to be quite honest. I don't know if I believe it's parent shaming as much as convenience foods that weren't available, as much, years ago, that are available now that don't have the proportion of vegetables in them. But you bring up many, many great tips.
I just bring it up as a dialogue more than anything. Curiosity. And there are plenty of things that I never ate before that I eat now. My Mom was a second shift nurse and not a particularly good cook. I'm a very good home chef, so I cook and use flavors that my parents would have never used -- all the time. So I also understand those that say you can grow into new flavors. But I do believe early exposure to a wide variety of foods helps with that open-mindedness. Though, again, my Mom wasn't a great cook, we hardly ever ate out. It was simply too expensive back then for a family of 8.
My mom, in particular was eager to try new foods when they were on offer, even if she suspected she might not like them. However, we lived in a rural area (rural poverty area, actually), and at a time (1950s-60s when I was in childhood formative years) when there were not the large range of imported or non-USAian cuisine options that are common today. Pizza was a little bit exotic, and we didn't have an opportunity to try semi-authentic Mexican food until my high school Spanish class took an evening field trip (parents invited) to a restaurant in the scary neighborhood of the bigger city a decent drive away.
I think my mom's attitude "infected" me: I try things when I have the chance, even seek new things out. Because of that, I routinely eat many, many things that I never had when growing up, some of them just because they weren't common locally (eggplant, say), others because they just weren't available (tofu; tempeh; various other fruits, veggies, grains and such that weren't in stores there/then), very spicy foods, fermented foods (the only one I recall was sauerkraut), etc.
Because I'm vegetarian, I don't eat animal or fish flesh and derivatives, nor insects, but I'd 100% try them if I did. As a child, I did occasionally have meats that many people find off-putting, so but there's a lot in the meat/fish realm I've never tried, since I've been vegetarian since 1974 when I was 18. (Examples: My mom like beef tongue, made it once in a while; I tried it, didn't like it, wasn't required to eat it. I've had most of the innards of things like chickens at one time or another. We ate beef liver regularly, and I liked it well enough as a child. I had various kinds of game like venison, squirrel, various waterfowl, rabbit - my immediate family didn't cook these routinely because my dad had given up hunting/fishing, but various cousins hunted, my step-grandfather fished, and relatives would serve these or give us some to cook.)
I feel like exposure to food open-mindedness (modeling of it, actually) had more effect on my adult attitudes than did the breadth of what I ate as a child. My dad wasn't super adventurous and eager to try things like my mom was, but he would try things. Overall, both my parents were intellectually curious, despite not being formally highly educated, and I think the food attitudes were an expression of that.3 -
My family had a large garden growing up and I was expected to partake of its bounty. I didn't like half the stuff we grew and it became a battleground and I was not allowed to leave the table until I ate at least half of my vegetables. Of course, my parents were not the best chefs when it came to vegetables either. It wasn't until I was in my early 20s that I realized you can eat greens raw (like spinach, kale, etc.) While there are a few veggies I will still not eat (brussel sprouts and cauliflower), there are some I can now tolerate when made correctly (broccoli and squash come to mind) and some I truly love (roasted beets, especially the golden ones are the bomb!) ...
I made veggies in my house seem like forbidden fruit. My kids always wanted what was on my plate so I made sure I had plenty of veggies, even if I didn't care for some of them. I always served some raw and some cooked. My kids preferred the raw when young because then they got dipping sauce. To this day, my youngest will eat carrots and broccoli raw with siracha and bbq sauce! And both my boys are big salad eaters ... my youngest has to drown his a little bit but he gets his veggies this way.4 -
Growing up my Mom always cooked a vegetable with our meals. I was never a big fan of bitter vegetables or anything bitter for that matter since my taste buds were super sensitive. I always had major issues with ketchup even though its not bitter and still don't care for it to this day. Needless to say as I got older my taste buds calmed down and I was able to eat a greater variety of food so it sometimes just takes time if your kid is a super taster.
I really feel bad for my niece she can only eat a handful of foods (PB&J, some fruit, pancakes, some breads, and some other sweets) since she was a baby. It's definitely psychological in nature and they think it stems from a reaction from certain foods she had as a baby that later caused her to identify anything outside of her select foods as suspect. Therapy helped a little but she still eats this way at 17 even though she can eat other foods without problems. Veggies of any type have always been a no go for her.
Starting kids early sounds like a great idea but listen to the kid they might have some underlying issues too.5 -
My mom, in particular was eager to try new foods when they were on offer, even if she suspected she might not like them. However, we lived in a rural area (rural poverty area, actually), and at a time (1950s-60s when I was in childhood formative years) when there were not the large range of imported or non-USAian cuisine options that are common today. Pizza was a little bit exotic, and we didn't have an opportunity to try semi-authentic Mexican food until my high school Spanish class took an evening field trip (parents invited) to a restaurant in the scary neighborhood of the bigger city a decent drive away.
For most of my childhood I actually thought I didn't like pizza. It wasn't a thing in northern Scotland in the 1960s so they didn't encounter it until we moved here. My parents must have eaten it at a restaurant with friends and then my mother decided to replicate it at home. I don't know what she used for crust but it was rock hard and cardboard flavoured. For sauce she used plain tomato paste. I can no longer recall what toppings she used other than a lot of mushrooms, which ended up as dried-out mummified little things. It was absolutely awful.
I thought all my friends were nuts when they raved about how great pizza was. Of course, I eventually figured out that my mother's creation was NOT pizza and that I thought (real) pizza was great too.3 -
My mom, in particular was eager to try new foods when they were on offer, even if she suspected she might not like them. However, we lived in a rural area (rural poverty area, actually), and at a time (1950s-60s when I was in childhood formative years) when there were not the large range of imported or non-USAian cuisine options that are common today. Pizza was a little bit exotic, and we didn't have an opportunity to try semi-authentic Mexican food until my high school Spanish class took an evening field trip (parents invited) to a restaurant in the scary neighborhood of the bigger city a decent drive away.
For most of my childhood I actually thought I didn't like pizza. It wasn't a thing in northern Scotland in the 1960s so they didn't encounter it until we moved here. My parents must have eaten it at a restaurant with friends and then my mother decided to replicate it at home. I don't know what she used for crust but it was rock hard and cardboard flavoured. For sauce she used plain tomato paste. I can no longer recall what toppings she used other than a lot of mushrooms, which ended up as dried-out mummified little things. It was absolutely awful.
I thought all my friends were nuts when they raved about how great pizza was. Of course, I eventually figured out that my mother's creation was NOT pizza and that I thought (real) pizza was great too.
LOL (of empathy). When I was in junior high or high school, if I had a friend sleep over, we'd get Appian Way (brand) pizza in box. It had (IIRC) a dry mix for the crust, a can of seasoned tomato paste, and a goodly container of that dust-type dried parmesan cheese (equivalent to the Kraft kind in the green can). We would then put on extra things, like canned mushrooms, questionable-quality pepperoni, and I don't recall what else (if anything). It was a treat, kind of exotic and fancy. Rather new, at the time, to our locale. I'm sure there were probably pizza parlors in the city (25 miles away), but nothing local.3 -
For me, no comparison. I enjoy vegetables more as life goes on. My repertoire of vegetables has grown exponentially and as a chef so has my vegetarian and vegan appetizers and entree's over the last 20 years.4
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Sigh, I remember sitting at the dinner table for hours sometimes because either I or my younger brother didn't want to eat what was served. My Mum is not the best cook - she burns toast, boils vegies to mush and generally is a meat & 3 veg every night person.
Somehow she and Dad managed to turn me in to a person who loves a wide variety of veggies and flavours. About the only two veggies I won't eat, but are capsicums/peppers and brussel sprouts, but there is also a lot I haven't tried yet but am willing to give it a go.
My partner will only eat potatoes (any way but boiled) and mushroom sauce after I remove the actual mushrooms. He has refused to eat roasted potatoes I made because I also roasted my pumpkin pieces on the same tray (not touching). He says his parents made him eat vegies until he was old enough to refuse.3 -
Just an FYI for people who are interested in this topic and why it may be difficult for "kids today" to eat vegetables. I am taking a pediatric feeding disorder course, and based on the current definition at least 25% of kids (and possibly up to 40%) have one. However, one of the most limiting factors in being a non-picky eater is lack of exposure to the food: "early satiety with less variety." Variety increases volume.3
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My parents liked all fruit and most vegetables, which made it easier to like them since we had their example. A few vegetables were never eaten because my father didn't like them (i.e. zuccini and eggplant) and I didn't even know they existed until after my parent's divorce. Since they were children of the Depression, there was very little waste of food in our house. We were told to clean our plates if we wanted to eat dessert. We did, so we did. They also encouraged eating veggies by things like putting peanut butter on broccoli (my brother still eats it that way) and with playing Popeye after eating spinach. "See how strong you are now!" There were also lots of casseroles, soups and stews so vegetables were pretty well disguised. I still do that.
My husband OTOH, never learned to eat vegetables. I think money was so tight in his household his mother just didn't make food that her two sons wouldn't eat. His adult kids also don't much like them, nor do the grandchildren. Having a good example matters. I make vegetables for dinner, because I like them, but I don't expect him to eat more than a bite or two because he just isn't interested.3 -
I am pescatarian and have been for 20+ years. I distinctly remember an adult asking my then 3 year old what their favorite food was and they said broccoli, wherein this adult told them, broccoli? It can’t be broccoli! Don’t you like ice cream? Candy? It’s such a socialization issue, you don’t get broccoli as a treat,… saying it’s your favorite will get negative responses or surprise. My daughter loves Brussels sprouts and is vegetarian now 21 years old. The idea of “hiding” vegetables is so dumb to me, they need to own the “liking” and take it with them for their lives. I remember my father trying to tell my kids at a young age that broccoli was better dipped in ranch dressing, but they were unconvinced. We need to change the paradigm, not play into it. (Sorry, this sounds preachy, but it is a passion as vegetables are so good!!!!!! )8
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I didn't like vegetables as a kid and I still don't like them today. But now I have the freedom to not eat them.
Most vegetables are almost devoid of energy (calories), it's not in our natural instincts to consume them. Eating vegetables is almost the equivalent of eating nothing in terms of energy.
It's why the majority of children hate vegetables.0 -
My kids (3 and 5) love veggies, though they have a strong preference for them to be either raw, fresh veggies, or frozen ones still served cold and crunchy. Once they're cooked, it's pretty hit or miss, but you can't get them away from raw peppers or carrots or even celery. (Granted, they WILL sit there and just eat the peanut butter out of the celery first, though,)2
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MikePfirrman wrote: »...Is it me or is it too late after year 3 or 4 to start kids on vegetables?
No. It's not too late to start the kids on vegges at year 3 or 4. Or ever, really. Mostly because a liking of veggies is more nature than nurture, best I can tell.
Because...
People have genetic differences that alter how they perceive bitterness (they are 'bitter taste receptor genes' One of these is called TAS2R38). If a person has genes that makes them perceive a higher level of bitter, they are going to like fewer veggies. if they perceive a lower level of bitter, they are going to like more veggies (at least based on bitterness). Age is not going to make this different in any way.
This can LOOK like nurture...because the family is being raised with similar exposures to veggies, and lo and behold, they like veggies the same. Except they also have the same genes. So the deciding factor for if nature or nurture is the issue would be finding cases where you have different genes between the two parents...which is what I had.
I grew up with lots of veggies (farm mom) - hated them then, hate them now. I still eat them, but I don't LIKE them. They taste unpleasant (and I have been VERY creative with these suckers).
My kids' dad grew up with lots of veggies - liked them okay then, really likes them now.
We have 2 kids. Also had lots of veggies from early, early on. One of them didn't mind veggies much, and likes them now. One of them is just like me: hated them then, still hates them now. They will eat them, but only if they can alter the taste enough that they can't taste them anymore.
And both me and the veggie-hating kid perceive most veggies as quite bitter and unpleasant tasting. And the kids' dad and my other kid don't find them very bitter at all, so I'm guessing this is a big part of their liking of veggies.
Another vote in the nature column: children like sweet tastes more than bitter ones. That is not due to them being introduced to veggies too late, or not getting enough variety, or not being forced to eat veggies. That's literally their biology.
"Children are born preferring sweet tastes, which attract them to mother’s milk and even act as an analgesic. They prefer higher levels of sweet than do adults, with preferences declining to adult levels during middle to late adolescence, which coincides with the cessation of physical growth." ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC4654709/#:~:text=Children's%20preference%20for%20sweet%20and,to%20bitter%20tastes%20until%20adolescence. )
Children also are physically more bitter sensitive than adults are, and that changes around adolescence. So a lot of those folks who say that they 'learned to like' veggies? Maybe they did. Or maybe they just matured and started having less trouble with bitter foods as the rest of the population does, you know?
I'm not saying that how we feed our kids doesn't matter. One has to get used to new foods, and introducing a lot of foods when young can be a great thing. But I am saying that I have yet to see any evidence that actually supports the idea that introducing veggies young is what gets kids to like them (that seems to also take into account genetics and other physical factors).
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I did not have kids but my sister had two. Funny enough, with her number 1 she craved meat and potato type meals. With number 2 she could not go in the grocery store as the smell of meat and blood made her sick. So she ate mostly fruit and veg with number 2.
Child one is a meat and potato lover.
Child two loves fruit and veg.
I wonder if there has been any study of food preference looking back to a mothers gestational diet?
Had I never had a doughnut, I would not crave one would I!?!1 -
DebbsSeattle wrote: »I did not have kids but my sister had two. Funny enough, with her number 1 she craved meat and potato type meals. With number 2 she could not go in the grocery store as the smell of meat and blood made her sick. So she ate mostly fruit and veg with number 2.
Child one is a meat and potato lover.
Child two loves fruit and veg.
I wonder if there has been any study of food preference looking back to a mothers gestational diet?
Had I never had a doughnut, I would not crave one would I!?!
I only have anecdotes myself but based on my own experience (six pregnancies and six children) and that of my friends, this is not widespread at all though we've all heard of it. I did not experience intense cravings at all for particular foods for any of my pregnancies though I am prone to intense morning sickness and did have food aversions based on smell. My appetite in general increases after the sickness resolves or if it abates for a while. But it has had no bearing on what my children have liked to eat as they got older. The way nutrition passes to the baby in utero wouldn't reflect the taste of the food.
That said, it is true that the taste of breastmilk can change based on what a mother eats, and babies might react to that (I have had a couple babies refuse to nurse, for example, if I have a glass of wine - there's no risk of the baby being intoxicated but it can affect the flavor). And I think there's some evidence too that pregnancy cravings might reflect nutritional deficiencies that can be common in pregnancy. But unless there are extreme circumstances these won't affect the baby either - one reason calcium is so important in pregnancy is not for the baby's sake but for the mother's - if the mother doesn't have sufficient calcium in her diet her body will take calcium out of her bones to grow her baby. This is why it used to be pretty common for women to lose teeth in pregnancy..
As far as your last point, I think that might be even more true - rather than not being exposed to healthy foods, I think there might be more danger in overexposure to the hyperpalatable - kids do naturally seek out sweet taste, which would naturally be satisfied by fruits, but if the typical response to that interest is constant junk food, fruit's never going to appeal as sweet enough. This seems to be something you can train yourself (or your kids, if you're responsible for them) out of, eventually, though, so it's not like the damage (if you want to call it that) is irreversible.1 -
My sibling and I grew up eating the same meals, which were vegetable-heavy, and I love pretty much all vegetables while my sibling can't stand most of them. I've heard that pickiness with food is mostly influenced by genetics but not sure how true it is.
Weirdly my biggest food aversion has always been milk, which we were forced to drink big glasses of at least twice a day. Milk still grosses me out to this day (unless it's in coffee or something) so I use plant-based milk. The annoying thing is I love cheese and yogurt and I didn't even realize until I was an adult that they contain just as much calcium as milk. So I don't know why my mom was so insistent on forcing me to drink milk when it disgusted me (other than that she was generally mean and sadistic).
I'm also not a huge fan of meat especially if it has bones, skin, cartilage, etc. in it. I don't know why people are so obsessed with meat because I really don't think it's the be-all and end-all of food.
Also you definitely can start liking vegetables later in life. My partner is on the spectrum and an extremely picky eater but he has broadened his palate a lot over the course of our relationship because I've experimented with cooking vegetables in a way he likes.1 -
siberiantarragon wrote: »My sibling and I grew up eating the same meals, which were vegetable-heavy, and I love pretty much all vegetables while my sibling can't stand most of them. I've heard that pickiness with food is mostly influenced by genetics but not sure how true it is.
Weirdly my biggest food aversion has always been milk, which we were forced to drink big glasses of at least twice a day. Milk still grosses me out to this day (unless it's in coffee or something) so I use plant-based milk. The annoying thing is I love cheese and yogurt and I didn't even realize until I was an adult that they contain just as much calcium as milk. So I don't know why my mom was so insistent on forcing me to drink milk when it disgusted me (other than that she was generally mean and sadistic).
I'm also not a huge fan of meat especially if it has bones, skin, cartilage, etc. in it. I don't know why people are so obsessed with meat because I really don't think it's the be-all and end-all of food.
Also you definitely can start liking vegetables later in life. My partner is on the spectrum and an extremely picky eater but he has broadened his palate a lot over the course of our relationship because I've experimented with cooking vegetables in a way he likes.
Milk has been pretty aggressively pushed to parents as absolutely vital healthy food. It's less processed than cheese or yogurt, and has been subsidized/price controlled in some areas which makes it more accessible. It is also really nutritious, which makes sense given its original intention.
Milk alternatives have become much more common than they used to be, and there's increased awareness of things like lactose intolerance (afaik it's really only people descended from Northern Europeans who are the most likely to be able to tolerate cow's milk - other cultures drank other milks).
So if that's your only evidence, I'd cut your mom some slack. She was likely just doing her best with the information she had.
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As a father of four, we heard lots of strategies over the years to encourage our kids to eat more veggies, from varying how they are cooked, to color, to enforcing negative consequences or not allowing them to rise from the table unless they ate the veggies.
For our kids, peer pressure proved enough. Specifically, the rule is "no dessert unless you eat your veggies." If they're willing to skip dessert in order to not eat their peas, fine, off you go. But it only takes once or twice for them observing their siblings enjoying dessert they are denied before they ask if they can have their veggies, lol. (My youngest sometimes asked what dessert is, and based her decision upon the answer.)
It's usually easiest for them to just "get it out of the way" and start their meal by clearing their plate of veggies, draining their cups in order to choke the last few bites down, before they move on to enjoying the rest of dinner.
Now my kids are almost all grown. My two sons are young men who both love their veggies, my two daughters are in high school and roll their eyes but eat without verbal complaint.1 -
My mom fed me all the vegetables and we had a garden. It was a naturally desired food source for me. My husband grew up on meat and potatoes. His mom never made them eat anything if they didn't like it. My husband came to me hating salad, fruit, vegetables. I sat him down with a satsuma one day and made him peel and eat it. He grimaced the entire time. But years later he eats more prodice than me and he loves it. He LOVES it. Whenever his parents come for dinner his mother sometimes will say, oh, he won't eat that he hates salad or he hates that vegetable. She's always shocked when he eats it and likes it. You can change your tastes in adulthood but it took effort.2
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My mom fed me all the vegetables and we had a garden. It was a naturally desired food source for me. My husband grew up on meat and potatoes. His mom never made them eat anything if they didn't like it. My husband came to me hating salad, fruit, vegetables. I sat him down with a satsuma one day and made him peel and eat it. He grimaced the entire time. But years later he eats more prodice than me and he loves it. He LOVES it. Whenever his parents come for dinner his mother sometimes will say, oh, he won't eat that he hates salad or he hates that vegetable. She's always shocked when he eats it and likes it. You can change your tastes in adulthood but it took effort.
This is probably the attitude I like the least!
We had family visit not too long ago and one of the children asked to try a homemade jam, and before I could even respond his father said, "Don't try it; you won't like it!" (I mean, it was jam, so not exactly the healthiest thing in the world, but still!) The kid was insistent, dad relented, and I gave him a little bit. He didn't ask for more, but he did actually try it (and said "thank you," too!)
I really dislike wasting food, but I'm not going to cry over a teaspoon of jam, if that was the concern. Whenever my kids try something new I just give them a bite or two, with the option for more if they so choose. Some are naturally more adventurous and some are less, but I'm not going to throw myself in the way.0 -
I have three daughters- the older two always ate all the vegetables and loved them. They were never picky about anything. My youngest has an extremely keen sense of smell and is what I would call a "super taster" and an extremely picky eater. She's 8 and no vegetable has crossed her lips in years..... we're currently taking her to occupational therapy for food issues. So yeah, three kids raised in the same home under the same circumstances and methods, vastly different outcomes. Take from that what you will, but I see it as evidence that liking vegetables is at least in part a trait you're born with.0
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StealthyJen wrote: »I have three daughters- the older two always ate all the vegetables and loved them. They were never picky about anything. My youngest has an extremely keen sense of smell and is what I would call a "super taster" and an extremely picky eater. She's 8 and no vegetable has crossed her lips in years..... we're currently taking her to occupational therapy for food issues. So yeah, three kids raised in the same home under the same circumstances and methods, vastly different outcomes. Take from that what you will, but I see it as evidence that liking vegetables is at least in part a trait you're born with.
I think genuine supertasters are now believed to be a genetic variant, analogous to the genetic variant that predisposes people to find that cilantro tastes just like icky soap. ("Genuine supertaster" as opposed to discretionary picky eater triggered more by social or psychological factors, though I admit that's a bit of a circular definition.)0 -
StealthyJen wrote: »I have three daughters- the older two always ate all the vegetables and loved them. They were never picky about anything. My youngest has an extremely keen sense of smell and is what I would call a "super taster" and an extremely picky eater. She's 8 and no vegetable has crossed her lips in years..... we're currently taking her to occupational therapy for food issues. So yeah, three kids raised in the same home under the same circumstances and methods, vastly different outcomes. Take from that what you will, but I see it as evidence that liking vegetables is at least in part a trait you're born with.
I think genuine supertasters are now believed to be a genetic variant, analogous to the genetic variant that predisposes people to find that cilantro tastes just like icky soap. ("Genuine supertaster" as opposed to discretionary picky eater triggered more by social or psychological factors, though I admit that's a bit of a circular definition.)
I was having just this discussion with a friend last night! I was telling him about my "chocolate parsnips" I made last night. He said the only parsnips he even remotely likes are dredged in flour and sauteed. He said otherwise he doesn't like them, and his sister can't stand them. He suggested his sister's response was similar to the "soapy cilantro" genetic "defect." I kind of doubted that there's a specific genetic alteration that predisposes someone to dislike parsnips.
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StealthyJen wrote: »I have three daughters- the older two always ate all the vegetables and loved them. They were never picky about anything. My youngest has an extremely keen sense of smell and is what I would call a "super taster" and an extremely picky eater. She's 8 and no vegetable has crossed her lips in years..... we're currently taking her to occupational therapy for food issues. So yeah, three kids raised in the same home under the same circumstances and methods, vastly different outcomes. Take from that what you will, but I see it as evidence that liking vegetables is at least in part a trait you're born with.
I think genuine supertasters are now believed to be a genetic variant, analogous to the genetic variant that predisposes people to find that cilantro tastes just like icky soap. ("Genuine supertaster" as opposed to discretionary picky eater triggered more by social or psychological factors, though I admit that's a bit of a circular definition.)
I was having just this discussion with a friend last night! I was telling him about my "chocolate parsnips" I made last night. He said the only parsnips he even remotely likes are dredged in flour and sauteed. He said otherwise he doesn't like them, and his sister can't stand them. He suggested his sister's response was similar to the "soapy cilantro" genetic "defect." I kind of doubted that there's a specific genetic alteration that predisposes someone to dislike parsnips.
Who knows: Reportedly, there are certain bitter compounds that only genetic supertasters perceive, and the rest of us find literally tasteless. I'd observe, piggybacking on a sentence I just wrote in the produce thread, that a "dug after hard frost" parsnip tastes noticeably different from a earlier-dug one to me, generally. Sweeter! Maybe others elsewhere don't readily have both versions to compare.0 -
Honestly, I think it depends on how you cook it too. No kid is going to like unseasoned, overcooked peas for example. But seasoned with some firmness still? May have different results!
Now I'm a incredibly picky eater. It's mainly sensory issues and not wanting to leave my food comfort zone. My parents fed me fruits and veggies early on as a kid, and I love them now. I will devour an entire tray of roasted brussel sprouts, but will barely touch grilled ones. It's about finding what your kid likes, and being patient when introducing new things. Their pickiness is built to keep them from poisoning themselves after all! (But not stop them from eating dirt I guess. Ah well.)0 -
I could always eat anything and everything whereas my two siblings were more picky. I'm the middle child and would devour veggies and fruits as a kid, and spicy foods! I especially always loved tomatoes and would pick them fresh off the vine and eat them like apples or with some salt and pepper, but my little brother hated them with a passion. My mom gave us the same meals and I'm not aware that she did anything differently when we were babies.0
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I could always eat anything and everything whereas my two siblings were more picky. I'm the middle child and would devour veggies and fruits as a kid, and spicy foods! I especially always loved tomatoes and would pick them fresh off the vine and eat them like apples or with some salt and pepper, but my little brother hated them with a passion. My mom gave us the same meals and I'm not aware that she did anything differently when we were babies.
I've always done what is called in some circles "baby led weaning," though IMO it's really "I don't feel like doing extra or paying extra for specialized baby food." Basically, baby sits at the table/on my lap and is offered safe food from the same things everyone else is having, maybe cut up or mashed a little more than it would be for an older person.
My 9 month old is without a doubt the most enthusiastic about food at her age. Her older sister had to have occupational and nutritional therapy shortly after turning one because she wouldn't eat anything and her growth sharply slowed down as my milk supply lessened. Even now I really, really have to push her to get her to try things. At almost three, she has a less varied diet than the baby. It can be discouraging, because I want her to not feel so limited. She does get a multivitamin every day, but IMO picky eating really only "works" if you're guaranteed to be able to get what you like. Maybe I'm too pessimistic but I'm not sure that's going to be the case for subsequent generations, as it was for many of us who grew up in the twentieth century.0
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