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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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.
My mam told my young me they were sprouts. I ate my sprouts. I still eat my sprouts. I love sprouts. Sprouts.
I pretended they were miniature cabbages like that Barbie or other toys would eat. I also ate tons of spinach cos of Popeye 😂 I am actually very strong compared to my siblings, who hated it 😆 💪🏽
Only reason I started eating spinach is because of Popeye.
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"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.
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!”.
Prunes are far more effective and safe to relieve constipation than laxatives. Tasty, too.
What do those kids drink if not water ? That's litterally the only drink we need.
All of my spoons made airplane noises except for the one that mad choo choo train sounds.
Note: this post originally had 35 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
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 😆
im like your son, taste doesnt apply to me... but if it has a bad texture, i dont like it
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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.
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...
when i was about two my parent brought me to a sushi restraunt. I got a plate of kids teryaki chicken. I saw my parents got a sashimi platter. When I saw the tuna I thought it was watermelon. Being the dumb two year-old I was, I asked, "Is that watermelon?" (I LOVED watermelon when I was young, and I still do). My parents said, "uhh, YEP!". I happily grabbed the tuna, stuffed it in my mouth. and chewed... and chewed... and chewed... I LOVED IT! Thats how my parents got me into sushi.
I am a very lucky mother. My daughter eats just about anything. Didn't need to use any of these silly tricks either (I don't mind them but they are not my style). I just put food in front of her (what we were also eating) and allowed her not to eat it, no big deal. Now she loves salads, soups, anything really and would also try foods she doesn't like to see if she has changed her mind.
My boy still does not like some veggies but he will try anything I ask. He loves lettuce (will eat an entire head in a day if I let him, I usually limit him because he will be pooping to no end), he loves bell peppers, carrots, green beans and corn! I figure if he eats those veggies I am cool with that and do not trick him into eating those he does not like. I figure as he gets older and his palate changes, he will also love to eat all the other veggies too. Mom's united! This is something I am very lucky and proud for...he refuses candy. Once in a while he will eat a candy bar or some skittles but for snacks he always reaches for apples first. At the market, I have asked him at checkout if he would like any candy...when he replies "no thank you" the cashiers always remark that seeing that is a first for them. :)
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got my boys to eat when they were being finicky by feeling their arms and telling them I could feel their muscles growing with almost every bite. Worked on my grandson too :D
Im a tall woman, I hit 6 feet tall at 17. At a family reunion on my dad's side many many years ago, I was approached by one of my relatives who told me her 7 year old twin boys wanted to know how I got so tall. So rather than give the usual response of how my maternal grandfather is nearly 7 feet tall, she asked me if I would tell her boys that I ate my vegetables and ate any healthy thing my mother put in front of me. I loved the idea and have told this lie to children who've asked ever since. Besides the truth of how my height is genetic, the bigger lie is how I preferred cafeteria food in high school and my mother's bad cooking was fed to my dog.
My son was convinced that he hated tomatoes, and he wouldn't eat tomato soup. But he would eat red soup bc red is the colour of the mask on one of the Ninja Turtles—Michelangelo, is it?—and we always called it red soup after that.
I think the red one is Raphael, but it's been a very long time lol
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My sister would only eat mashed potato if we called it fluffy clouds. Then we got her to eat mashed potato mixed with mashed pumpkin by calling it fluffy yellow clouds. She is 22 and actually mentioned it the other day because she is still amazed that it got her to eat pumpkin.
My mom called Lemon Egg Soup (Greek - Oevrolemonos?) 'Children's Chicken Soup' so we would eat it.
My mom used to force feed me and my brother cooked spinach telling us we will grow strong like popeye. We didn't like watching popeye at the time and I didn't want my arms to look like his. So we used to take 3 spoonfuls of the spinach and make our rounds spitting it out the window into the neighbors' yard, in the toilet, in a bag, or garbage bin. After 20 years, we still don't like spinach. Turns out it's cause it makes us gassy and bloated so do curciferous veggies (broccili, cauliflour, etc.) No wonder why kids don't like them. It has nothing to do with taste, it just gives them a gassy tummy.
Why is everyone so obsessed with controlling their children’s food preferences. We just made sure to cook a variety of foods and our daughter ate what she wanted. She is one of the healthiest adults I know. Turned out she was allergic to the few things she tried once and then chose not to eat again (had her tested for food allergies since they run in the family). So glad I didn’t force or trick her into eating things that would have caused her to get sick from
My mum would hide carrot and sometimes other veg in bolognaise. It didn't trick my sister unfortunately.
Load More Replies... Chief Kitpou told me that when he was growing up, everybody knew that boys needed to rub the dust from butterfly wings on their chests in order to grow up strong and fit. They had to chase those butterflies for hours, but it worked.
noooooooooooooooo poor butterflies.. :( The "Dust" is actually small scales which help them fly.. Without it, they arent able to fly at all and therefore die :'(
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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 😆
im like your son, taste doesnt apply to me... but if it has a bad texture, i dont like it
Load More Replies... 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.
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...
when i was about two my parent brought me to a sushi restraunt. I got a plate of kids teryaki chicken. I saw my parents got a sashimi platter. When I saw the tuna I thought it was watermelon. Being the dumb two year-old I was, I asked, "Is that watermelon?" (I LOVED watermelon when I was young, and I still do). My parents said, "uhh, YEP!". I happily grabbed the tuna, stuffed it in my mouth. and chewed... and chewed... and chewed... I LOVED IT! Thats how my parents got me into sushi.
I am a very lucky mother. My daughter eats just about anything. Didn't need to use any of these silly tricks either (I don't mind them but they are not my style). I just put food in front of her (what we were also eating) and allowed her not to eat it, no big deal. Now she loves salads, soups, anything really and would also try foods she doesn't like to see if she has changed her mind.
My boy still does not like some veggies but he will try anything I ask. He loves lettuce (will eat an entire head in a day if I let him, I usually limit him because he will be pooping to no end), he loves bell peppers, carrots, green beans and corn! I figure if he eats those veggies I am cool with that and do not trick him into eating those he does not like. I figure as he gets older and his palate changes, he will also love to eat all the other veggies too. Mom's united! This is something I am very lucky and proud for...he refuses candy. Once in a while he will eat a candy bar or some skittles but for snacks he always reaches for apples first. At the market, I have asked him at checkout if he would like any candy...when he replies "no thank you" the cashiers always remark that seeing that is a first for them. :)
Load More Replies... got my boys to eat when they were being finicky by feeling their arms and telling them I could feel their muscles growing with almost every bite. Worked on my grandson too :D
Im a tall woman, I hit 6 feet tall at 17. At a family reunion on my dad's side many many years ago, I was approached by one of my relatives who told me her 7 year old twin boys wanted to know how I got so tall. So rather than give the usual response of how my maternal grandfather is nearly 7 feet tall, she asked me if I would tell her boys that I ate my vegetables and ate any healthy thing my mother put in front of me. I loved the idea and have told this lie to children who've asked ever since. Besides the truth of how my height is genetic, the bigger lie is how I preferred cafeteria food in high school and my mother's bad cooking was fed to my dog.
My son was convinced that he hated tomatoes, and he wouldn't eat tomato soup. But he would eat red soup bc red is the colour of the mask on one of the Ninja Turtles—Michelangelo, is it?—and we always called it red soup after that.
I think the red one is Raphael, but it's been a very long time lol
Load More Replies... My sister would only eat mashed potato if we called it fluffy clouds. Then we got her to eat mashed potato mixed with mashed pumpkin by calling it fluffy yellow clouds. She is 22 and actually mentioned it the other day because she is still amazed that it got her to eat pumpkin.
My mom called Lemon Egg Soup (Greek - Oevrolemonos?) 'Children's Chicken Soup' so we would eat it.
My mom used to force feed me and my brother cooked spinach telling us we will grow strong like popeye. We didn't like watching popeye at the time and I didn't want my arms to look like his. So we used to take 3 spoonfuls of the spinach and make our rounds spitting it out the window into the neighbors' yard, in the toilet, in a bag, or garbage bin. After 20 years, we still don't like spinach. Turns out it's cause it makes us gassy and bloated so do curciferous veggies (broccili, cauliflour, etc.) No wonder why kids don't like them. It has nothing to do with taste, it just gives them a gassy tummy.
Why is everyone so obsessed with controlling their children’s food preferences. We just made sure to cook a variety of foods and our daughter ate what she wanted. She is one of the healthiest adults I know. Turned out she was allergic to the few things she tried once and then chose not to eat again (had her tested for food allergies since they run in the family). So glad I didn’t force or trick her into eating things that would have caused her to get sick from
My mum would hide carrot and sometimes other veg in bolognaise. It didn't trick my sister unfortunately.
Load More Replies... Chief Kitpou told me that when he was growing up, everybody knew that boys needed to rub the dust from butterfly wings on their chests in order to grow up strong and fit. They had to chase those butterflies for hours, but it worked.
noooooooooooooooo poor butterflies.. :( The "Dust" is actually small scales which help them fly.. Without it, they arent able to fly at all and therefore die :'(
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