In article >,
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?

I think a lot depends on the kid's personality and tastebuds, as well as
the parent's attitude to food and trying new things.

Someone at lunch today referred to Agent Weasel (my daughter, who's just
turned nine) as "fussy", because she doesn't eat scones. I don't think
of her as fussy because she will try just about anything. I also think
it's important for me to be just as adventurous about my food as I
expect her to be. For instance, I didn't discover sushi until I was
into my 30s! The Agent sees me giving things a go, and she'll give them
a go too. She's made some wonderful discoveries that way.

Also, this is the child who likes strongly-flavoured food, has been into
curry since she was a pre-schooler and bought herself a treat of 72%
cocoa chocolate, with her saved-up pocket money. I've no worries about
her turning into a fussy eater, unless it's in the direction of holding
out for the good stuff!

Miche

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After enlightenment: fetch mail, shuffle paper