Marley is a very picky eater. As a baby she ate almost everything that I put in front of her until she was 18 months old. It was like a light bulb turned off. She started refusing all the food I normally prepared. Her doctor and many friends and relatives told me not worry, that kids only eat what their bodies need. Being a first time Mom, I still worried. She's healthy but I worry that she's missing out on a crucial developmental stage of trying new flavors and textures.
For Christmas my sister in-law gave me a fabulous cookbook called The Sneaky Chef. This cookbook for kids "hides" vegetables in favorite dishes like pizza, mac 'n' cheese, hot dogs, etc. My first reaction was, what a wonderful concept!
I was going through the cookbook yesterday to pick out a couple of recipes to make this weekend and I started thinking. Is this concept really fabulous? It certainly makes meal time less of a struggle for a parent but is it truly a good idea in the long term for kids? The vegetables are pureed, so that children do not detect them and the flavors are hidden-hence the sneakiness. Shouldn't a child be offered the cauliflower in it's unpureed form to be able to enjoy it as an adult? If children are only eating vegetables that are hidden, won't they miss out on a developmental stage of being introduced (even if it's over and over again) to certain foods?
Like Marley, I was a very picky eater as a child. As an adult, I will eat certain foods that I would not even try as a child. Although, I am still picky. Certain vegetables I still won't eat but it certainly was not a lack of my parents trying.
Any thoughts about this would be greatly appreciated!
I am still going to make a couple of the recipes today. The corn muffins with zucchini sounds delicious! And I am not a fan of zucchini at all.
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3 comments:
I recently read an article in the Science section of the New York Times about picky eaters. Turns out, genetics is largely to blame. I, too, was a picky eater (although when I was about 30 I started trying - and liking! - all kinds of ethnic foods). I think you should always serve food that make children cringe, even if you know they won't eat it, and have a "no thank you" portion. Meaning, they must try it but if they don't like it, they don't have to finish it. You can still hide the food if you want, but it's better for them to try the real deal. Good luck and let me know how it goes.
my son is a human dustbin but when he was about 18mths he went through a stage of turning his nose up at things. One day he would eat it the next he wouldn't. I read somewhere that just because they refuse it one time doesn't mean that they don't like it and so you should keep offering it for 10 times before deciding it is a NO food. Sneaking food might not be a long term solution but it is a good way of making sure they are getting all the vitamins etc. that they need. My nephew isn't as fussy now (at 5) because his mom lets him help to prepare the meals, now he wants to eat the food he has 'cooked'
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