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Parents use all sorts of tactics to get their picky eaters to consume calories, and sometimes it involves (a little) deception.
Recently, the author of Everything Here Is Under Control and The Second Season, Emily Adrian, turned to Twitter to share one scheme that worked really well on her 4-year-old son.
Image credits: adremily
After seeing him "provoking" her by repeatedly putting a dirty leaf in his mouth, Adrian decided to make the most out of his mischief and offered him "special eating leaves" instead. Just like that, Adrian successfully made her son eat an entire bowl of plain old salad.
Moms and dads appreciated the woman's quick thinking and as her tweet was going viral, some of them even revealed similar scams they personally use on their little ones.
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RELATED:
Lots of kids don't eat their broccoli but research shows that around 20 percent of them can actually be considered picky eaters. Most grow out of it, though.
Research also suggests that picky eating can be a sign of hypersensitivities that can occasionally cause social anxiety and depression.
Nancy Zucker, director of the Duke University Center for Eating Disorders, and her colleagues published a study in 2020 that looked at picky eaters aged 2 to 6. About 3 percent of the children in the study with extremely limited diets were also at a higher risk for mental health problems.
"They were twice as likely to have a depressive disorder diagnosis and seven times as likely to have a diagnosis of social anxiety," Zucker told NPR. So, according to her, parents who are raising an incredibly picky eater should be aware that it could be a sign of a bigger issue.
But most picky eaters aren't that extreme. However, Zucker said it's still worthwhile understanding what's going on with them as well.
"They're more sensitive to taste, to smell, to texture, to visual cues like things like light."
Again, in a situation where a kid really does have such a limited palate, Zucker suggests parents should remain alert but not give in to panic.
"So the way I think of these kids as these are sensitive kids... They're sensitive to their external world. They're sensitive to their internal world. They have a - potentially a richer, more vivid life experience ... That's not pathological, but it could be a vulnerability, you know, if it crosses a threshold where it starts to impair them."
For more similar confessions, check out these 30 Hilarious Tweets By Parents Who Were At The Mercy Of Their Fussy Eater Kids.
#10
#23
DDmaybeandor 3 years ago
Directly after my 3 year old niece heard “eat these carrots, they’ll help you see better”, she turned right around and told her mom, “eat this jellybean, it’ll make you fly!”.
#25
Hi, I'm Mars! 3 years ago
Prunes are far more effective and safe to relieve constipation than laxatives. Tasty, too.
#26
Laugh or not 3 years ago
What do those kids drink if not water ? That's litterally the only drink we need.
#29
Lovin' Life 3 years ago
All of my spoons made airplane noises except for the one that mad choo choo train sounds.
#31
LunaLovegood987 3 years ago
Mint is actually really good raw once you know what to expect. When you bite into it expecting the normal sweet peppermint flavor it's not as good though.
#34
Hi, I'm Mars! 3 years ago
The long running rule in my family is that you have to try it once. If you try it and dislike it, you never have to eat it again. Worked really well and introduced people to foods that's wouldn't normally have even been considered.
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What do you think ?
Lauren Caswell 3 years ago
My son was not into many food textures, and meat was one of big challenges (and pulses etc but that's another story). He was into being a tiger, and came home from a night at my mum's talking about how he had gazelle balls. I asked mum: they were mince meatballs! She took him to the supermarket and told him they were both tigers looking for prey. He helped hunt the gazelle balls from the butchery department 😆
sirfryingpan 3 years ago (edited)
im like your son, taste doesnt apply to me... but if it has a bad texture, i dont like it
Load More Replies...
Carol Emory 3 years ago
My son hated broccoli as a child..but the TA's at my son's school got him to eat it by saying for every broccoli he ate, he got an M&M. They'd let him pick from the bowl. Eventually the M&M's were dropped from the deal when he finally realized that broccoli wasn't so bad. I also got him to eat spinach by pretending I was totally grossed out every time he ate it. He got a kick out of watching my face go sour and pretend I was gagging with every bite he took.
Hans 3 years ago
For us, living by example works. Every afternoon, and on weekends also every morning, we put a large plate on the living room table, and it has a seasonal choice of mouth ready pieces from two to four raw-edible vegetables (like cucumber or kohlrabi), berries, and fruits on it. Not everyone likes everything, but everyone picks something, the children usually by visiting the table while playing. Actually, the small ones sometimes have so much from the plate that they may only have a small dinner. No worries then, though, if they at the main meals pick just pasta and no cooked vegetables...
Lauren Caswell 3 years ago
My son was not into many food textures, and meat was one of big challenges (and pulses etc but that's another story). He was into being a tiger, and came home from a night at my mum's talking about how he had gazelle balls. I asked mum: they were mince meatballs! She took him to the supermarket and told him they were both tigers looking for prey. He helped hunt the gazelle balls from the butchery department 😆
sirfryingpan 3 years ago (edited)
im like your son, taste doesnt apply to me... but if it has a bad texture, i dont like it
Load More Replies... Carol Emory 3 years ago
My son hated broccoli as a child..but the TA's at my son's school got him to eat it by saying for every broccoli he ate, he got an M&M. They'd let him pick from the bowl. Eventually the M&M's were dropped from the deal when he finally realized that broccoli wasn't so bad. I also got him to eat spinach by pretending I was totally grossed out every time he ate it. He got a kick out of watching my face go sour and pretend I was gagging with every bite he took.
Hans 3 years ago
For us, living by example works. Every afternoon, and on weekends also every morning, we put a large plate on the living room table, and it has a seasonal choice of mouth ready pieces from two to four raw-edible vegetables (like cucumber or kohlrabi), berries, and fruits on it. Not everyone likes everything, but everyone picks something, the children usually by visiting the table while playing. Actually, the small ones sometimes have so much from the plate that they may only have a small dinner. No worries then, though, if they at the main meals pick just pasta and no cooked vegetables...
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