/b/ - Random

I think so. I remember my French teacher made a point of introducing her kids to all of the veggies and foods she hated so that her kids wouldn't be picky eaters like her. Of course, there are some foods that people still seem to hate even from childhood to adulthood. Also, as an America, it's clear that some people here grew up only eating pizza or other junk so that's what they prefer to eat every day, even in college.

>>34810
* as an American. lol

One thing I've noticed as I've gotten older is that my ability to consume and enjoy sweet things has diminished, and I enjoy food and drinks that I would have found too bitter when I was younger. I do think children are more attracted to sweet food. It makes sense because they're constantly growing, and sugar is a good source of "cheap fuel" nutritionally speaking. There's also a developmental stage during which children hate new tastes and flavors - it's suspected to be an evolutionary defense against poisoning, or something.

However, I think the number one culprit in children hating vegetables is that their parents can't cook.

>>34809
Parents are shit, yeah.

>>34810
That was kind of your teacher. My parents never fed me a vegetable, and they told me it was because I didn't like them but surely if a child dislikes broccoli you don't give them corn dogs and instant ramen to make them eat. You're only giving them bad habits. I gag on vegetables today and it's a struggle eating healthy. Guess I'm salty about it.

>>34814
I agree about the sweet thing. I can't eat nearly as many now, I'm not as drawn to them. I think there's something to that, but I also think a child could be trained to eat healthy if a parent never slacked on what they fed them. No "fast food nights", no frozen foods. Children have preferences but I very seriously doubt a kid who never had a donut would crave it. I also agree that some parents can't cook, but that sounds like an American/Canadian problem overall. Mexicans usually can cook, but their cooking is somehow even worse (health wise) than frozen food anyway.

>>34827
Hear, hear.

I guarantee you can find some veggies for any kid if they're cooked properly. So yes a lot of parents cant or dont have time cook.

>>34809
Depends, I remember forcing my parents to buy veggies for me up to this day.

Kids hate vegetables because human body designed for meat. Kids just feel the natural discuss of vegetables more strongly.

I was a picky eater for a very long time.

The problem for me wasn't that my parents only fed me junk food, it's that they legitimately did not know how to properly cook vegetables or most healthy foods.

For like 22 years I thought I just didn't like the taste of them, when it turned out that my parents just weren't very good at cooking outside of very basic dishes.

I guess it took me so long to figure that out because I never really went over friend's places to eat until I went to college.

>>34942
uhh, you went to restaurants and stuff though before college, right?

>>34969
Usually not the nicer ones. We were broke when I was younger and I lived a pretty sheltered life.

>>34986
If you fold the napkins in your shirt, it feels more fancier.

My friend eats only “American food” so a bunch of chicken and burgers and that’s it. She’s from Alabama so I’m assuming that’s all they feed her and when I try to get her to eat new foods she hates it by the way it looks. She won’t even drink a basic smoothie

There seems to be at least some sort of genetic component to picky eating. My parents couldn't cook to save their lives (and usually didn't; I grew up on frozen food), and the restaurants in my area were all absolutely terrible, just chains and diners. I sought to try new food whenever I could and ended up being a great cook with a great perception for flavor. I thought I hated veggies and seafood for ages, but it turns out that I had just been forced to eat garbage for most of my life. My SO spent most of his life in boarding school and didn't even know what garlic tasted like but will now try anything as well.

My theory is that people who are strongly inclined to become picky eaters will do so regardless of how they're raised, people who are strongly inclined to be adventurous eaters will do so regardless of how they are raised, and everyone in between is at the mercy of their parents.

>>35006
>she's from Alabama

She never had a chance.

Honestly though, American food is delicious. A shame it will probably kill you in big enough quantities. I think if you eat nothing but American food though, your palette might be simplified. Eating "complicated" foods is always an uncomfortable experience for me.

>>34814
a persons taste buds change with age, children are repulsed by certain tastes as an evolutionary trait to stop them eating wild berrys.
ive found the older people get the more salty they prefer their food.

When I was a toddler I loved vegetables and my parents fed me well. Then as a kid up until I was like 16 I was an insanely picky eater, I didn't like vegetables and minced meat, I think it's a normal thing to be a picky eater as a kid. My mom was the same and today she eats everything.
Today I eat almost everything except for dairy based sauces, I hate cream but that's about the only thing I dislike and avoid eating.

>>34809
I was a typical fat fussy eater as kid that no miner wants to have. My parents tried to make me eat veggies and cottage cheese and such but they eventually just gave up and dealt with having a fat daughter that only ate carbs and processed foods.

As an adult I've become less picky. I think this was because I found new ways to prepare and eat healthy food that I enjoyed (mom never seasoned food so salt and pepper was a game changer). There's still basic healthy food I don't like (raw celery and carrots for example), but I am always finding new food that I do like.

Some of it has to do with genetics as well. The only child that was picture about food iny my family for the past four generations was my brother and food textures, and it was due to autism. He's taught himself how to enjoy more textures as we've become adults and now he can eat things he always enjoyed the taste of but would make him barf. To keep up with the generations, my 14yo son enjoys hot sauce on everything now, but we fed him everything natural from the first day he could eat real food. Teens will be teens though, and men naturally prefer spicier/saltier foods in the first place, so he's been given a good foundation at the very least. It's a big precursor to cooking as well since your child won't want to give up the lifestyle of a really good, home-cooked meal.

its true, im from poor slavic country and had to live with grandparents to make ends meet, i ate what was on the table and never complained, now im 25 and i eat mostly healthy stuff, i have very fast metabolism so i can eat fat stuff

i loathe the taste of chips or overly sweet drinks like coca cola, it just tastes so "strong" its weird as fuck

i think its because a lot of people today seem to think that children should eat differently to adults. for example the childrens menus in restaurants are always the blandest chicken nuggets and fries. i remember in primary school someones parents got told off because the food they packed for their daughter was "too spicy and inappropriate for children" even though she was fine with it lmao. i think picky eating is less common when the parents can actually cook good food as well instead of just bland disgusting shit. if the only vegetable available at dinner is some bland ass soggy broccoli id hate vegetables too.

children should be given the same things to eat that the adults eat, and if they dont like it then tough luck.

Not always. I've had a diverse diet from an early age and still refused to eat a lot of things, I think it's also influenced by genetics.

>>34934
Humans are opportunistic omnivores like bears, pigs, catfishes, crows, ants etc. There are more than 2 categories when it comes to nutrition. Stop watching Frank Tufano or sv3rige, they are food gurus and only there for your money. But I do agree that people need more.

>>36121
Ooops did not finish that last sentence right. "But I do agree that people need to eat more unprocessed food including meat.

>>36121
Bears eat trash all the time. :v

>>34828
>I gag on vegetables today
Wtf. Americans are weird.

>>36138
But they have higher quality of living and more freedom than any of the people in the EU.

>>36143
uh, don't want to make it into "one of those threads" but it's euro countries, particularly scandi ones, that consistently top the life expectancy and happiness indices (i.e. they will tend to live longer and happier lives than an american will tend to lead).
idk where you got the idea of QoL being better in the US unless you're comparing it very specifically to eastern euro countries.

I agree with the freedums to an extent, but I like a lot of the protections in place that most other countries' governments provide.

>>36121
We are omnivores, but she's not wrong when she says that our bodies are designed to eat meat. The food pyramid is basically upside down and meat should make up the majority of our diets and plants should be thought of as supplements, or even optional.

>>36138
Sure you won't like vegetables if you're a picky eater, but gagging on them? It makes me wonder if vegetables in America are just garbage too.

>>36267
Reminds me of this German vegetables meme.
>Translation: I don't get why my kids don't (like to) eat vegetables

>>34809
Yes. My mom raised us on frozen, precooked, packaged meals, we were always allowed to have as many sweets and snacks as we want, it's a miracle we're not obese.
My brother is a year younger and a super picky eater and my sister is 9 years younger, meaning even more spoiled and she's absolutely impossible (like even in McDonalds most things are not good enough for her, she only wants very specific stuff). I'm somewhat okay, I guess (or maybe not)

But on the other hand many of the kids who grew up sheltered and were only allowed to eat healthily turned out to be somewhat weak (short, quick to fall ill, etc).

My mother is a teacher and there's one kid who once vomited after being forced to take a single bite of a vegetable lmao. Afterwards she told him to drink some water and after just one sip he dryheaved already. Only chips and coke for him lol.

>>36278
I unironically love those canned peas and carrots. Cooked > raw vegetables