Are you a fussy eater?

[epicuric]

I think you are right that these things to do with heads, insects etc are cultural - but then isn't a lot of picky eating down to that too? I mean, how can we differentiate between that which is culturally determined and that which is... well what? If it isn't to do with nurture in some shape or form then we would have to accept that some people are born picky.

I guess the simplest definition of a picky eater would be someone from the same region or culture who won't eat foods that are commonly eaten by most others. I think its a more complex issue with children though. There is certainly an element of some parents encouragingly bad eating habits, but tastes develop with age. I hated cheese until about the age of fourteen. One day for reasons I don't understand, I cut off a chunk of farmhouse cheddar that I found in the fridge, and a lifelong passion was formed. My son, on the other hand, when still in his high chair would love to share my breakfast of grilled mackerel. Now, as an adult he won't touch fish. Nature or nurture?

 

[epicuric]

I personally think all of this, from picky eating to allergies all traces back to childhood and the eating habits that we develop. In the case of being picky once it's allowed to happen it remains with people often for the rest of their lives. As to allergies I believe that in the early years if we don't partake of certain foods we don't build a tolerance to components of that food that might later develop into such food allergies.




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I had wondered whether the increased instances of allergies and intolerances can be attributed to greater awareness, diagnosis, or in some cases fashion, or are there underlying physiological reasons? For instance the huge increase in carb/sugar consumption over the past 40 years.

 

[Lullabelle]

When I was growing up you ate what you were given or you went hungry end of!

One of my colleagues has a son who is now a teenager and working- as a kid he wouldn't eat peas only petit pois- same thing but she gave into him at an early age and even now won't eat peas only petit pois....

Maybe it is nature and nurture, we have more food and choice available so we can afford to be picky, maybe it is a bit of attention seeking, fair enough if it something you simply do not like, for me it is avacado, but then I wouldn't order something that had it in.

 

[Morning Glory]

I had wondered whether the increased instances of allergies and intolerances can be attributed to greater awareness, diagnosis, or in some cases fashion, or are there underlying physiological reasons? For instance the huge increase in carb/sugar consumption over the past 40 years.

I am quite skeptical about this and suspect that the food industry aided by health food bloggers and health food companies have a lot to answer for. One of the latest scandals is gluten. It is true that a very small proportion of the population are gluten intolerant.

Individuals with celiac disease, a hereditary autoimmune condition that affects about 3 million Americans, or roughly 1 percent of the population, must avoid gluten. Those with extremely rare wheat allergies must also remove gluten from their diet. In addition, those with gluten sensitivity, a condition that affects 6 percent of the population (18 million individuals), should also avoid gluten.

That doesn't explain why an estimated 30 percent of shoppers are choosing "gluten-free" options, and 41 percent of U.S. adults believe "gluten-free" foods are beneficial for everyone, especially when many of those foods are often lower in nutrients and higher in sugars, sodium and fat than their gluten-free counterparts. And much of the growth in the category is coming from cookies, crackers, snack bars and chips.

http://health.usnews.com/health-new...1/think-youre-sensitive-to-gluten-think-again

The same is true in the UK - we now have whole sections of foods in the supermarket labelled 'gluten free' and guess what? These products are more expensive than the gluten equivalent.

 

[Lynne Guinne]

And often loaded with sugars or fats to compensate for the lack of flavor or texture had that same product contain a proper flour, @morning glory. I completely understand the food industry identifying foods that people with true gluten intolerance or sensitivity need, but the idea of gluten being the enemy of all people is so wrong.

...far too many children’s whims and fads are pandered to by misguided parents.

YES! When our nieces were small, my BIL would pop right out of his chair the second one of the girls would make a face or say "ewwwww!". Take the offending plate away so as to not traumatize the dear child, microwave a hot dog, and all was right with their world.

Then our younger daughter married a man who was born in Taiwan and did not move to the U.S. until he was in his early teens. He also does much of the cooking in their house. BwaHaHa! All of a sudden, our niece was exposed to all sorts of icky and disgusting foods...and felt compelled to try them so as to not offend her husband. I give our niece a lot of credit for trying and actually enjoying these new foods. She now has a much wider, adventurous palate than I do!

 

[Elawin]

Most food was still on ration when I was young, so the choice was rather limited, but I was still somewhat picky even in those days, and I wouldn't drink water under any circumstances except in tea. When rationing finished, we did tend to go a bit overboard at times, but the pickiness continued. Later of course I realised that the reason I didn't like certain foods was because I was allergic to them - bananas, celery, oily fish and shellfish spring to mind. As more and more processed foods appeared, the list of allergies increased, presumably because of the artificial sweeteners, colourings etc. Then in from the 1970s I was having problems stomach problems - It was only when I swapped back to good old fashioned silver top milk and the problems ceased completely that I realised it must have been the homogenised milk which became the norm then that was giving me the problems. My daughter wasn't really picky but she wouldn't drink milk even as a baby. It now transpires that she is lactose intolerant. She is also pulses intolerant - even when she was growing up she would pick the kidney beans out of a chilli because she said she didn't like them. One of my granddaughters was terrible when it came to eating; that was an intolerance or allergy to certain flavourings/colourings that are used in common tinned foods, crisps, and chocolate bars. None of our intolerances or allergies are a "fashion". We have all ended up at least at our GPs' surgeries, if not at our local hospitals - the last time for me was when I had two sips of tap water.

I know several people who eat gluten-free foods simply because that was the fashion. I doubt whether it did any of them any good in the long term. The same for all these people who go on "diets". Unless there is a specific medical reason, eating sensibly is far better for you.

As far as organic food is concerned, I eat it because it is my personal choice, whether it is fruit, veg, meat or dairy. I don't want to eat food that is full of chemicals, thank you. Besides, in my opinion, organic food has far more flavour and is much fresher than a lot of supermarket food. It may be more expensive, but in the long run there is far less waste, plus I know where it comes from. It also reminds me of the food I did eat when I was young, when nearly all of the food we had was home-grown or home-reared.

 

[Morning Glory]

When I was a kid I was the opposite of a fussy eater - in fact, I was hungry for new tastes. My family ate rather bland food. lots of fresh vegetables, not much meat, virtually no fish. No garlic. Cheese was probably the tastiest thing we ate. Oh, and Marmite. I remember thinking there must be more to it than this! It was a revelation to me when I grew up and tasted olives, garlic, French cheeses. I

 

[Elawin]

When I was a kid I was the opposite of a fussy eater - in fact, I was hungry for new tastes. My family ate rather bland food. lots of fresh vegetables, not much meat, virtually no fish. No garlic. Cheese was probably the tastiest thing we ate. Oh, and Marmite. I remember thinking there must be more to it than this! It was a revelation to me when I grew up and tasted olives, garlic, French cheeses. I

Same here, except we did have curry regularly, thanks probably to my Grandad being in India a lot. The first "foreign" food I ever had was spaghetti - with eggs - and of course the infamous Vesta Chinese food. It was a revelation when I went to stay in Austria for a while. Strong black coffee, sausage, fresh made bread, dumplings both sweet and savoury, beer with nearly everything, schnapps, and not forgetting those cream cakes - they were to die for. I wasn't picky there - perhaps I was just brought up in the wrong country