What happened to very fussy eaters in the olden days?

[houseydnc]

Inspired by another thread where the DC Would only eat the following:
Chicken nuggets
Chips
Toast
Chocolate spread sandwiches

What happened to children like this before chicken nuggets, chips and Nutella existed?

I know fussy eating is different to conditions like ARFID and other sensory disorders. I'm not passing judgement, I'm just interested to know.

I wonder what their diet was restricted to? Toast? Or were they forced to eat a wider variety of foods?

I would be surprised if this 'condition' existed before the existence of processed foods.

Having lived through the experience, I DO remember the significant difference it made to my skin and digestion @PickAChew

"Several studies have shown that goat milk proteins have anti‐inflammatory effects, which may benefit people suffering from chronic inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, asthma, and allergies"

I'm of Chinese heritage and this particular intolerance/allergy wasn't uncommon, but there weren't any readily available options that WE knew about in the 1960's - till one doctor suggested goat's milk.
My memories of that horrific teacher are as strong as years of terrible eczema unfortunately. At least a child/their parents would hopefully be listened to now

Probably died. Lots of historic documents or even deth certificates say things like failure to thrive or sickly/frail child, without any actual details of why. They would have eaten little, not grown as strong as others, then be less likely to recover from the many diseases that people died from pre vaccination and proper medical care.

In WWI about 1/3 of conscripts were found to have malnutrition or be underweight.

Unless you were wealthy there was little variety in the food available to you. Bread, cheese, very little meat.

I think in 'back in time for tea' the father got a slice of bacon and the others in the family had a slice of bread dipped in the bacon fat.

I still have anger at my mum who made us have school dinners (involving meat) at infants / primary school - from a vegetarian household!
My brother was sick at the table, more than once and bitch dinner ladies were vile plus the food was disgusting! We wouldn't even eat puddings with custard (let alone semolina!) which people seem to remember with fondness! I blame her because she was a SAHM and we could have had packed lunches. My fussiness was I couldn't abide Weetabix with boiled (hate the smell) milk for breakfast so I went without. We'd come home to biscuits- which I would eat! Plus more boiled milk- which I couldn't do. Then we would eat really late because dad worked long hours and for some reason, she wouldn't decide what to cook until he got home. They would have a drink and savoury snacks and us kids thought nothing of it! Amazingly, I've never had an ED.

My siblings and I range in age between 49-62. We ate what we were given, or we didn't eat. I'm not sure that food came back, but there was no alternative offered. My sister was a very picky eater. The excruciating thing was that we had to stay at the table until everyone had finished. We spent literally hours every week waiting for her. She's still very picky and extremely thin and eats a very limited range of food.

@RogueFemale @Nofilteritwonthelp how innovative and original! Have you considered contacting a medical journal with your amazing insight?

I guess adding flavour to disguise texture or sensory seeking would be easier too to get by. My uncle still adds too much salt to other people's cooking as that's how he coped with his mother's bland, overcooked food. My teen will eat sloes like they are plums, it would have been easier for country children to forage too.

Me too. The thought alone made me feel sick and refused to drink it.

We had a stalemate situation every single morning playtime. I wasn’t allowed to go out and play until I’d drunk my milk, and I refused to drink it so spent every break time sitting inside. What the teacher hadn’t appreciated was that I hated going outside for playtime and was perfectly content to sit inside daydreaming for 15 minutes.

My uncle apparently believed in “you eat what is put in front of you” My sister tells of visiting, being presented with some god awful thing (tripe was mentioned and other offal) and if it wasn’t eaten it was given next meal. Her cousin said it was common to see it on the table until it went off. He’d sneak bread and get the strap. Amazingly enough hated his father, but ended up being the same type of parent to an extent. Cousin on the other side would only eat beans on toast. Literally. Dr told mum not to fret as she’d get everything from them, so she got them breakfast lunch and dinner. Four years that went on until she caved.

There was so much discussion and angst about food and children's diets in Victorian times and the early 20th century. You only have to read Louisa May Alcott novels, Chalet School novels, Heidi, or look at Mrs Beeton discussing 'invalid food'. Food was too rich, 'indigestible' - they were obsessed with digestion. All for various reasons, some good, some bad. But reading between the lines you can often spot that what they're dealing with is either allergies, disordered eating, a fussy eater, a parent with longstanding food issues or all of them. And parents may often have been 'eat it or starve' up front at the table but found ways round it most of the time.

I’m 70, my mum was a good cook, everything was cooked from scratch, never anything ready made and takeaways didn’t exist other than the chip shop.
One of my siblings was a very fussy eater, my mum simply gave them what they would eat.
We had school milk, but it was horrible drinking it warm in the summer and in the winter the bottles frequently froze solid.
We were lucky, those from poorer families simply failed to thrive if they didn’t eat what they were given. Rickets, poor dental health, recurring illnesses and lethargy were common from malnutrition.
As a student nurse we frequently had failure to thrive babies and children on the paediatric ward (poor area of London), often they had repeated admissions.
I don’t remember autism ever being a diagnosis nor the plethora of other disorders that can be diagnosed and treated nowadays.

I'm 67 was a very fussy eater as a young child and basically survived on milk, virol and orange juice from the baby clinic. I grew out of it, though always fussy, hence my name, but have a perfectly normal diet and relationship with food.
Worst incident was being virtually being force fed butter beans at primary school and throwing up over the table. That wasn't popular and I wasn't allowed to stay for school dinners any more! So result!

One of my old colleagues (and friend) was fussy.

When I organised socials as was on social committee she used to order separately to others as there was nothing she likes on the set menus. Mostly she just eats chicken and chips when out.

We went for a roast the other day and she got chicken but didn’t touch the veg and just had potatoes.

In general it was a case of ‘Eat what you’re given and be thankful you’ve got it.’ No snacks, or hardly ever.
No choice at school dinners in 50s and 60s. At my first school you were allowed one ‘fad’ though - mine was meat fat.

My younger sister was always incredibly fussy, still is in her 60s. My DM once found her eating the bread that had been put out for the birds, after refusing whatever it was. And my DM was a good cook.

Dsis only really liked chips or boiled potatoes - with salad cream!

This is absolutely repulsive. Vile ableism. I hope you're ashamed of yourself.

It did.

I would be surprised if this 'condition' existed before the existence of processed foods

It does.

Look at populations that don't have access to processed foods and you'll still find people with AFRID and other food issues.

Yes, looking back at my grandma's experience and her brother, he was probably neurodivergent. She said their mother always would give him what he wanted and would say he is ill. He was not very communicative, was always a fussy or quiet character and one grew up, they fixed his marriage and he lived a long, normal life, but was always a quiet man, living mainly with his own affairs

All family ate the same meals no snacks. I was seated until I ate after what felt like hours it was taken away and nothing until the next meal which would also be home cooked meat and veg. We only had water apart from a cup of tea. Mum was so worried she took me to the GP. Nothing they could do.
I survived and eat most things now.

My mum (now in her 70's) has never considered herself a fussy eater but when she was growing up only limited foods were available, and she was happy to eat most of them. Nowadays she will struggle to find anything she is willing to eat on a restaurant menu or if eating at someone else's house because she sticks to her plain staple foods and can't stomach anything new. I think the sheer variety of foods and ways of cooking available to us now makes it difficult for people who prefer to stick to familiar favorites.
Mum eats meat, white fish, boiled vegetables, iceberg lettuce, cucumber, potatoes, plain supermarket white or brown bread, ham, one type of cheese, eggs, corn flakes or bran flakes plus some biscuits, crisps, cake etc and that's about it. I think there are quite a few older people with a similar limited diet as there wasn't much else available when they were growing up.

Obviously not my generation where raiding the fridge meant you were taking food meant for another meal .....what's fridge food

As mentioned by others, sometimes the smells but often the texture. I've never been a big fan of meat, particularly if it's fatty, and still don't eat much now. Regarding vegetables, the regrettable 70s technique of boiling everything to death didn't help. I eat most veg now, either steamed or stir fried. I just couldn't make myself eat it then. All the saliva in my mouth would dry up and I would also sometimes retch. My kid is quite similar now. I hope that when they start to cook for themselves and have total control over everything, they will broaden their diet.

No they didn't! Children with ARFID still existed they just sadly passed away due to failure to thrive!!!!!!!