Chatty Cathy wrote:
>
> Been thinking about picky eaters again....
>
> I have two children (many years apart). DS was the first-born - and when
> he was a "toddler" we had little or no access to seafood or shellfish,
> with the result that he never had much of either. To this day, he
> dislikes anything remotely "fishy". He will eat almost anything else,
> tho'. OTOH, our younger one (3 y/o) has been exposed to many kinds of
> food, including seafood/shellfish and she seems to like it all.
>
> I have noticed it with a quite a few of my friends - both with them and
> their children as well - they seem to like what they grew up with and
> are not all that keen to try anything that could be termed "strange food".
>
> Anybody else think that if children are not "exposed" to certain foods,
> say between the ages of 2 and 6 y/o, that they will never really
> develop a taste for it, or that it will "take some doing" to get them to
> try something "new" when they are adults?
> --
> Cheers
> Chatty Cathy - just curious about other people's experiences.

Because of my own rearing and intense dislikes of many foods (especially
cooked green veggies), I had one rule for my DS, and that was he had to
give anything served an honest try and taste. He'll soon graduate
university in December (knock on wood!), and he eats everything and
anything served by anyone. OK, some foods are not meant to be eaten
like well-done steaks and other burnt and ruined foods. But then, DS is
a product of divorced parents and has always had to deal with many
different styles of cooking and foods between the two households (and
several step-mothers), so he's learned to adapt and make do.

So yes, I do agree with your premise: Children exposed to different
cooking styles and foods are more willing to experiment with their
palates than are kids who never were.

Sky