Picky Eaters Unite: It's Not Your Fault
It turns out there's a picky eater gene. How many of you had it as a kid? If you have a child, have you passed it on? (No word on whether the gene is dominant or recessive.)
A new study says that 78 percent of picky eating is caused by genetics and the other 22 percent is caused by environment. This is a shock to me because I always thought my own picky eating was due to the fact that my late mother was an unspeakably bad cook. Mom, wherever you are, I apologize for complaining about the food that was put in front of me. I know now it wasn't your fault. Actually, maybe it was your fault, if your side of the family supplied the picky eater gene to the four Levine boys.
My son, Will, was not a particularly picky eater. To this day, the only thing he will not eat is mushrooms, although I managed, Jessica Seinfeld–style (she's written a book, Deceptively Delicious
Related: Picky Eaters in Serious Eats Talk
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13 Comments:
PLEASE don't tell my husband about this. He doesn't need any more excuses to shun vegetables.
Cathy at 12:36PM on 10/10/07
I believe in the gene. It was passed to one of my children by her father.
Thank goodness it was not me. I feel sooooooo much better.
I anticipate, though, that the child will grow up okay nonetheless, and that if anything trips her up in life, it won't be a missing vegetable.
Karen Resta at 1:25PM on 10/10/07
My husband and I will both eat anything and love to cook and experiment. We are praying that if we have kids the picky eater gene won't get passed down from somewhere. I can remember when my Mom babysat my cousins and they were all picky eaters and it would drive all of us nuts! We couldn't even order a pizza without one of them crying about something on top that they didn't like. My patience for that kind of behavior is already so thin that I think if we do have a picky eater child, he/she will just have to eat what we serve or starve!!! (Promising future parenting skills, right?)
Jeana at 1:38PM on 10/10/07
what study are you speaking of? is this another one of those "children are obese/mean/stupid because they have ADD" studies? you can find stats for anything you want, how about, "studies show that i'm fat because of a thyroid imbalance". i'm old for one reason.......i'm old
olddad at 2:33PM on 10/10/07
So, this is something you grow out of? The article seems to only be talking about kids.
Keely at 3:24PM on 10/10/07
olddad, if you click on the link on the post, you'll get to the Times piece that goes into great detail about the study. It sounds pretty legit to me, but I am not a social scientist.
Ed Levine at 3:58PM on 10/10/07
olddad, if you click on the link on the post, you'll get to the Times piece that goes into great detail about the study. It sounds pretty legit to me, but I am not a social scientist.
Ed Levine at 4:00PM on 10/10/07
You're right Keely. The article implies that people grow out of being a picky eater, but that fact is never explicitly stated.
Ed Levine at 4:05PM on 10/10/07
I definitely have this gene. But I love to try new foods, and there are definitely things that I'll eat now that I wouldn't have touched as a teenager. Some things - like mayo - I still won't go near, though.
Deborah L at 8:49PM on 10/10/07
I was definetly a picky eater when I was a child. I don't think it's a gene thing. I think it was just because I didn't like my mom's cooking. Why else would I hate spaghetti? (my dad is Italian)
Foods I hated: spaghetti, pot roast, ham, spinach, liver, pears, clams, oysters, prawns, shrimp, lobster, crab, scallops, mussels, rabbit (disguised as chicken but I caught on as soon as I took a bite)
Besides the TV dinners, pizza, mac & cheese and hamburgers with french fries that children typically like, I had no problem eating raw garlic sliced on a soft piece of French bread, salami with cheese, veal, most fruits and except for zucchini, veggies had to have butter on them.
We NEVER ate at McDonalds.
paris221966 at 11:38PM on 10/10/07
Jeana: I had the same mindset that you do before my son was born. And guess what? I have raised, so far at least, an adventurous eater. I am a true-believer in nurture trumping nature in this instance and the Times article certainly encourages parents to do their best to outwit the supposed 'picky eater gene'.
Frankly, if such a gene did exist, why then do some children outgrow their picking eating at all?
izzy's mama at 12:03AM on 10/11/07
Yeah, it could be that my daughter who is the picky eater doesn't like my cooking, though I used to make an excellent living as a chef in fine dining . . . my son likes my cooking (and is a very adventurous eater to boot), and other people like it too, though.
Her father is the same as her though in terms of what he likes to eat and will eat. Very basic stuff. And he hasn't grown out of it regardless of exposure to many foods.
There's no one answer to this question really, is there? Genetic code, family interaction (sibling rivalries - sometimes it seems my children purposely choose to like very different things just to make their point to each other that they are not like the other . . . this is known in psychology circles as something-or-other), and personal tastes all play a part perhaps.
Karen Resta at 8:47AM on 10/11/07
This study annoys me. Picky eaters are already wholly obnoxious with their aversions to taste/texture. Now they can blame it on "genetics," rather than just taking responsibility for the fact that they don't want to try new things.
Remember, folks: even if you have the breast cancer gene, it doesn't mean you'll get breast cancer. So, even if you have the picky eater gene, it doesn't mean you HAVE to be a picky eater.
I do, however, think it is learned by watching parents. My MIL is an extremely picky eater, and so is my husband. I have slowly begun forcing him to integrate foods like mushrooms and asparagus and fish, but it is a slow and incredibly frustrating process.
mskilgore at 10:22AM on 10/12/07