Picky Eaters Get It From Their Parents
We want to have children. Very much so. Not exactly right now, but you know, in a few years. But we also love to cook and experiment with new recipes in the kitchen. And the idea of having to constrain ourselves because of a two-year-old who refuses to eat anything that isn't a chicken nugget is not a happy one to us.
We always thought that the picky eater problem was more nurture over nature, but apparently some researchers in London have found that it's about 78 percent genetic. If the parents were picky eaters, their kids likely will be too. Our only consolation is that we weren't too picky, aside from our severe dislike of carrots and peas.
The reason for the pickiness, which usually begins to manifest itself at around age 2, fascinates us:
Most children eat a wide variety of foods until they are around 2, when they suddenly stop. The phase can last until the child is 4 or 5. It’s an evolutionary response, researchers believe. Toddlers’ taste buds shut down at about the time they start walking, giving them more control over what they eat. “If we just went running out of the cave as little cave babies and stuck anything in our mouths, that would have been potentially very dangerous,” Dr. Cooke said.
Makes perfect sense. So it's a survival mechanism. Remember that the next time your kid makes a face at the sight of broccoli.
Picky Eaters? They Get It From You [New York Times]
