Do all finicky kids grow out of their finickyness?

[StormRider]

My officemate was talking about her kids and how one was finicky with food. For example, he won't eat pizza. And it comes in phases. During a phase, he might only eat yogurt for lunch. This reminded me of another kid I once knew. He wouldn't eat any food that touched each other. If the mash potatoes touched the corn, he would refuse to eat.

If I were a parent, I would be extremely annoyed with having to deal with something like that. But I just realized that I have never encountered an adult that was finicky like that so it must mean these kids eventually outgrow this.

So, this leads to the question: Were you a finicky kid and when/how did you outgrow it? Secondly, do you now think you were stupid for being finicky? What was the real reason for your finickyness? Was it some sort of power/control thing to control your parents?

 

[MrChad]

I don't remember being finicky, but I'm sure I was at some point.

He wouldn't eat any food that touched each other. If the mash potatoes touched the corn, he would refuse to eat.

LOL, my gf still complains about food touching.

 

[TitanDiddly]

All? No.

 

[skim milk]

let them starve

 

[aplefka]

It's just a phase thing. I didn't eat some (or even most) new things when I was younger and now I'll try new stuff just to see how it tastes if nothing else.

 

[FoBoT]

no , not unless you beat them good

 

[ggnl]

I was pretty bad when I was a child. There was only a few things I liked to eat. I completely grew out of it by pre-teen years though. Now I'll eat anything.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

there is almost definitely a behavior dynamic between the kid and the mother that accentuates the childs behavior.

If it really bothers her, she should explore things she can do to shape the kids eating behavior.

 

[dullard]

Most grow out partially of their finickyness. But I bet rarely does anyone completely grow out of it. I think it has several different causes for different people and thus the results vary when they grow up.

I think you just haven't gotten out enough. There are a ton of finicky adults. I know many who won't eat onions, or who won't eat strawberries, or who won't eat cow eyeballs, etc. Would you eat dog meat? Ask that and most Americans would say no. You just probably aren't asking the right questions.

Studies show that kids taste flavors that adults can't and vise versa. An adult may like brocolli, but a kid tastes the intense bitter flavor that adults can't taste and often kids don't like brocolli. As time goes on, your taste capability changes, and thus your aversion to foods declines. The reverse is true too. Adults don't taste sweets the same as kids. A halloween nights plunder is heaven for a child and many parents cringe at eating that much sweet.

I personally limit my meat to chicken and beef with the occasional turkey and bacon. I do that since I've never had a good meat other than those. I'll keep trying others occasionally but I never like them. I don't think I'll ever grow out of being discusted by eating pig bladders. However I mostly grew out of the "food can't touch phase". Sure it tastes much better if they don't touch, but I won't skip a meal due to it.

 

[Jpark]

Originally posted by: ggnl
I was pretty bad when I was a child. There was only a few things I liked to eat. I completely grew out of it by pre-teen years though. Now I'll eat anything.

There was only a few things I liked to eat as well, although what I did like I ate quite a bit of it. Now there's not really that much I won't eat .

 

[Jpark]

Originally posted by: dullard
Most grow out partially of their finickyness. But I bet rarely does anyone completely grow out of it. I think it has several different causes for different people and thus the results vary when they grow up.

I think you just haven't gotten out enough. There are a ton of finicky adults. I know many who won't eat onions, or who won't eat strawberries, or who won't eat cow eyeballs, etc. Would you eat dog meat? Ask that and most Americans would say no. You just probably aren't asking the right questions.

Studies show that kids taste flavors that adults can't and vise versa. An adult may like brocolli, but a kid tastes the intense bitter flavor that adults can't taste and often kids don't like brocolli. As time goes on, your taste capability changes, and thus your aversion to foods declines. The reverse is true too. Adults don't taste sweets the same as kids. A halloween nights plunder is heaven for a child and many parents cringe at eating that much sweet.

I personally limit my meat to chicken and beef with the occasional turkey and bacon. I do that since I've never had a good meat other than those. I'll keep trying others occasionally but I never like them. I don't think I'll ever grow out of being discusted by eating pig bladders. However I mostly grew out of the "food can't touch phase". Sure it tastes much better if they don't touch, but I won't skip a meal due to it.

I never ate onions as a kid, nor did i eat tomatoes (same goes for dog meat, and cow eyeballs ). I still won't.

 

[imported_Strang]

Originally posted by: StormRider
This reminded me of another kid I once knew. He wouldn't eat any food that touched each other. If the mash potatoes touched the corn, he would refuse to eat.

If nothing else, the kid would grow out of that once they're on their OCD medication.

 

[FoBoT]

we have 2 kids

our first one would eat anything except tomatoes until she was about 9-10 years old, then she got just a little bit picky and i think that was partly due to some influence of kids at school (sometimes she would avoid meat, i think some nutjob at school was a vegan or something)

our second daughter was more selective on what she would eat from the beginning. she does eat salad and many vegatables, but does't like potatoes or spicy food. she does ok, but is much more restricted in what she likes vs. our first kid

i may have thought that our (parents) habits would be a part of it, but since we had 2 fairly different experiences, i dunno that is was much of a factor. both myslef and my wife have a pretty varied/wide pallet, we'll try just about any food

 

[Jpark]

i knew a kid who would use a single piece of silverware for each thing on his plate. It would have to be clean, not wiped off with a napkin, but soap scrubbed clean.

 

[TheShiz]

the finicky eaters who don't grow out of that nonsense are usually just unopen to change, they have engrained that they don't like something so much that I think it is purely psychological, if they tried something with an open mind a few times I think they would find that they enjoy a lot of the foods they avoid. that said, I eat pretty much anything, but as a kid i didn't like mushrooms and onions, now i love them.

 

[Gurck]

I was phenomenally finicky as a kid, and my family not only didn't mind but seemed to encourage it... I would only eat pb&j's for a long time, I recall eating them on thanksgiving once, eating them instead of hot dogs, instead of pizza, etc... :Q I might be the exception rather than the rule, but I'm normal now. There are a few things I'm not particularly fond of, but I'll eat them anyway, for the most part. I draw the line where most people do - at liver

 

[Nitemare]

Green peas and lima beans still make me gag

<---31

 

[Attrox]

When I was a kid I only eat 1 kind of vegetable (chinese brocolli) and absolutely dislike any other vegetables. And I only ate chicken if they are fried. Now I eat pretty much everything common to people except seafood, but that's just because I can't stand the smell *yuck*

 

[asm0deus]

i have a friend who wont eat vegetables, i think hes gonna die young. eventually they teach you in health class about the food pyramid, i think thats when they should grow out of it.

 

[Yo Ma Ma]

Most grow out of it, to some degree. At the same time, adults have a lot more control over their environment so they are still 'picky' but it's more pre-emptive and you don't notice it as much.

 

[mobobuff]

Most do, yeah. Oddly, when I was little I LOVED eggs in any form. Now I hate them more than anything.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: jpark932
I never ate onions as a kid, nor did i eat tomatoes (same goes for dog meat, and cow eyeballs ). I still won't.

A lot of people don't eat onions for one reason or another. What I never know though, is it limited to any specific onion flavor or just onions in general? You have
[*]The hot, burn your tongue red onion.
[*]The sweet vidalia yellow onion.
[*]All levels of spice in between the two above.
[*]The green onion which half tastes more like a green pepper and the other more like a red onion.
[*]Then there is cooked versions of all of the above. A carmelized onion tastes absolutely nothing like a raw onion.

Are you against all of those? Or just specific parts of the list? I won't judge either way, I'm just curious.

 

[Kelemvor]

I'm 30 and much finickier than I was as a little kid. I don't each much of any fruits and a few different vegatables. Burgers and Pizza are my favorites.

 

[Argo]

I used to be finicky with food, but I'm not anymore.

 

[deerslayer]

I'm still finicky, but not as bad as I used to be.