The first time my mom gave my younger sister a taste of mashed banana when she was a baby, my sister screamed and hollered like she was being poisoned. My mother was really confused by her behavior as I had loved mashed banana as a baby. She even went so far as to take a taste of the bananas, to make sure that they hadn't gone bad. They were perfectly fine. To this day, my sister still isn't particularly fond of bananas.
Yesterday, the New York Times Dining and Wine section ran an article on kids who are picky eaters and a recent study that may have confirmed that being a averse to new foods may well be a trait that is based in biology. It seems that it's fairly normal for kids to be off-put by new foods as that was a way for them to be protected from the hazards of the world back in our caveman days. They have some good suggestions from the experts on ways to handle introducing new foods to your reluctant kids and mention a book by Jessica Seinfeld (wife of Jerry Seinfeld) on ways to hide healthy food in with the stuff your kids will eat.
For those of you out there who are parents, were your kids picky eaters? If so, how did you handle it?
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1. Picky eaters in my family? Aw heck no. I grew up in a "This Is Not A Restaurant" family, and so too my children. If you don't like what's planned, you can wait until the next meal comes along. Complain often enough, and *you* get to cook the next meal. My daycare children have learned this, too, and not a single one is under weight or undernurished. You have to watch the food = love, love = food thing with kids.
Posted at 6:41PM on Oct 11th 2007 by LizA