Picky children eaters

I don't have kids, but as a child, I was a very picky eater. However, I was allowed to choose and prepare what I wanted to eat. We never had big sit-down dinners. I usually just made ramen noodles or a sandwich and sat down in front of the television and ate. If more children were able to do this, their parents wouldn't have to deal with them saying,"I don't want to eat this." And then throwing a tantrum until you give in.

I was a picky eater, but mom did not cater to my pickiness. If i didn't want to eat then i didn't eat. Mom was a firm believer in a child will not intentionally starve themselves. Mom also packed a healthy lunch for me with foods that she knew I was going to eat. My two year old is pretty picky, so I have been catering to some degree because she was not putting on weight quickly enough for the doctors liking. Most of my changes have been small, whole grain pasta because she loves pasta, thickening soups with pureed veggies instead of flour.

Well, I've got no kids myself, but thinking back to my own childhood in the dim and distant past, I would always clear my plate of whatever food was put on it. By contrast, my sister was a very picky eater and on one memoriable occasion she refused to eat what our mother had made for us, so mother told her that she'd sit there until she did eat it! So she sat there in front of the stone cold food for hours and hours but she never did eat it!

Not really...it is like that here too. Dinner is fixed and served. My teen is the toughest. She doesn't complain but there are times when she doesn't finish her plate ,but then sneaks back into the kitchen later for what we call "Kimber food"..lol.

100 years ago! Wow, you look awesome for your age! My kids are picky eaters, particularly my daughter. My son will have a little grumble about a meal that he does not like but he is better than he used to be. He finishes most meals. When he was younger, my daughter used to influence him a lot at meal times. When she would not eat, he would stop eating and refuse to as well. My daughter will still refuse to eat something tat she does not like. She is eleven now and still just as bad as she was when she was younger. She finishes most meals, but will drag it out over the course of an hour to the stage where her meal is old and not so nice as it would have been and we have been waiting for her so that we can do the dishes. As we got into raw foods a few years back, it was incredibly painful trying to get them to eat the same salads and meals that we were eating. We used to give them green smoothies too every day, but there were so many tense moments that we relaxed their eating. We now give them vegan or vegetarian meals that they like but put more veggies in than we would have in the past. We throw in the odd salad as well, but they are better at eating them if they know that something else yummier is to follow. This gives them more incentive to eat it all and quickly.

During their toddler stage, yes my kids were picky eaters. Really, I had a hard time looking for food on what kind of food will I prepare for them to eat plenty. They don't like vegetables so what I did I put it in a blender and would give it to them good that they'll eat it and thought it was mashed potato. It's pretty hard as a mom but you've got to have patience since you don't want them to starve at the same time waste the food that you prepare. Now that they are older enough, I will always remind them to empty their plates since its not good to left plenty of food on their plates when other street children don't have anything to eat.

My little one is a picky eater and hates his vegetables :( But I don't make anything special for him. He has to eat what everyone else eats. But I might try to get innovative with mixing things up and cajoling him to eat his meals. I've seen a few families where each member has a different preference and what they like is cooked for each meal! I do have a cook now (for the past few months) but prior to that I am the only one cooking and I'm not going to stay in the kitchen all day and cater to everyone's wishes. My father had the same rule...no wasting food. So, we need to serve ourselves only what we need or start with smaller portions and have second helpings if we needed. It was easier for him to re-inforce his rule since we all sat down to meals together. We don't do that in my home now and I find it difficult to enforce any kind of rule. Each one has their meal when they are hungry and I seem to be the only one having it at the dining table :(

I'd say I had a similar thing growing up. it always baffles me that there are people who make a separate meal for the children, as if children can't eat what adults eat. I know people who eat normal food, and feed their children separately on things like chicken nuggets and alphabet potato shapes and the like. it's ridiculous. we didn't have a lot of money, so there was no way that was happening. if it was something like a curry, I might occasionally have been served a less spicy one, either by mixing yoghurt with my serving only, or by dishing mine up then adding more spice. I was never made to eat everything on my plate though, as this practice caused my mum to become bulimic when she was a child. so she never expected me to eat something if I didn't want to. but my meal would be what everyone else was eating. and if I didn't eat it, there wasn't anything else.

I was guilty of being a picky eater as a child. My parents tried everything they could to get me to eat. Now that I am an adult I have grown out of my picky eating habits., I think it is just a phase that children often go through. You can't force a child to eat. They will eat when they are ready and often their eating habits will change as they grow and develop into adults.

Hi! I can say i am happy when it comes to food. My only child loves to eat anything, i mean she is not picky at all. I cook and include veggies in our menu almost everyday. My daughter loves it too. I am really grateful. I hope every child in our generation today would eat every food that is cook and serve by their parents so it won't be a problem anymore. Happy eating!

My daughter when she was small was so picky with what she eats. This gives us a hard time in giving her meals. When i cook or the maid, when i am at the office , we would ask what she wants, so it could be cooked for her. She would always want the same food, but we discovered she likes those foods with lots of soup. To compensate for some nutrients that she may not be getting from her being so picky, i would buy fruits (she likes almost any fruits) which she eats with gusto and give her vitamin supplements her pediatrician prescribed. Well, she grew up healthy. She may be on the slim side but i thank God because she seldom gets sick.

I am a mother of a 5 year old kid, picky? yes definitely, he is a very sweet boy but doesn't want to eat anything that I would prepare him. So what I do is that even if he eats thesame choice of food all the time i still give it to him. I know that it should not be like that but what can I do, should I try to really push him to eat? Well for me as long as he eats that's all that matters.

It is mainly caused by the current culture that we have. It is not only about food and children. Each and everyone of use have become choosy or picky at different aspects because of the vast or wide choices around us. In terms of picky children, they are like that because that's what they see around them. They were asked what they want and they see children around them with a wide variety of things or foods to choose from. Years ago, it was not like this, because people had a different set of culture which halts children to be picky and pushes them to eat what is on the table. hope you got my point

I was an extremely picky eater. My parents "catered" to me slightly, by making sure to include at least one dish I'd like in every meal. They still strongly encouraged me to try other things, which worked in most cases. They were also proponents of the "include several healthful options in each meal, and insist that the child pick at least one of them" method. It worked in that I got to choose *which* item I ate (there was always at least one thing in the bunch that I liked, for example, broccoli. mmm, love it) The one dismal failure was when my father made the mistake of saying "You're not leaving this table until you eat that fish stick." It was the nastiest fish stick in creation, and because of that experience, I have not eaten seafood ever again in my life. I just can't get over the revulsion for it, all based on that one horrible experience. I'm still semi-picky today, having gone vegetarian about 7 years ago. I'm a lot more adventurous in my food choices now than I was as a child, though. There are things I disliked intensely when I was younger that I now love. Onions, for instance. I can't understand why I ever disliked them.

I was raised the same way. So were my children. My son didn't like beans so He had to at least eat some a bit or two. I tried to dress them up so he would at least tolerate them He did learn to like them as an adult. My Grandmother was a really god cook so no one would leave any thing on their plate. We learned also not to take more than we could eat. We also heard about the starving children in China. I never used that one on my kids. I have a granddaughter that only eats pasta dishes pizza and top ramen noodles.Then only chickens. She does eat some fruit but prefers junk food. She will help cook but won't eat it. Shes old enough to cook for her self. She wants to be a chef too. She likes to cook some sausages but burns it and thinks it good.

Same here, we ate what was given to us. We heard about the starving children in China and India, too. When my kids were growing up I did the same thing. They got what I cooked and if they didn't want to eat it, tough. So they weren't too picky! If you were picky in my house you went hungry. The exception was if they were sick.

Until now I am a picky eater. I choose the familiar food almost all the time. As long as it suits my taste. Its probably in the time when my parents were away working so my grandmother makes up the meals. I'd get veggies and healthy food when my parents were around. Most likely its the upbringing of the child.However its the child's early nutrition thats a priority. However when they get older thats when they become responsible for what they eat.

My two sons were a little bit picky, they want to eat meat but not all times I follow them. I insist on them that they should eat vegetables and fish at home dining because during school days I prepare for them always meat foods.