Adult and child foods? A British thing?

[StandardRussian66]

I got bitched at yet again today by the group I meet with for lunch occasionally.
They find it very strange that my 3 year old eat “adult food”.
I have lived in 4 countries and have only ever come across this in Britain.
It is very strange?
Why would child’s only eat plain food?
My DD had calamari, for reference, incase that is odd. I am part Japanese so she is no stranger to fish.
Aibu to find it equally strange that some toddlers were still being fed mashed food?

We went on holiday to France with DS aged 8 months. Looked at the baby food in the supermarket because of trying to limit salt etc under 1. Everything- even spinach- was chocolate flavoured.
I think he ate a lot of bananas and yoghurt that week...

I’ve only been to France once, but that was before I had child so did not notice.
I ate too much cheese and was sick

Young children are naturally averse to unfamiliar foods

Sorry I had to jump to the end when I saw this. Isn't it up to the parents what are unfamiliar foods? Why should a child only find nuggets, burgers and chips familiar?

I never gave my DC 'children’s food' either... just whatever I had minus the salt. They eat mussels & sushi happily citing this their favourite food. Too happily. I can't afford them if they get their way and persuade me to go to Yo Sushi!

Eldest DC (12) eats tomatoes like they are apples. Youngest DC hates any form of potatoes and also autistic. When he was younger he would have lived off rice cakes, sausages & broccoli had I let him.

coya when they are truly babies they are quite open to any food but toddlers tend to notice if things are unfamiliar.

Why should a child only find nuggets, burgers and chips familiar?

I think its the assumption that nuggets,burgers and chips are the only familiar food, and it does always come up on these types of threads where its an assumption that its an english only situation and there is an idealistic vision of everyone on the continent always sitting down for breakfast and tea together as a family eating wholesome food cooked from scratch, iysim.

As others have said, there is some weird pretentious virtue signalling that goes on when ever these types of threads come up

I don’t understand what is virtue signalling?

Mine are 2&4 and have never had nuggets or a burger. Nuggets- where do you even get them from post Jamie Oliver’s turkey twizxler debacle 15 years ago (apart from McDonald’s?) burgers are a bit tricky fir children to hold and eat so not naturally a small child food at all. Neither like chips, which only seem junky and attractive to an adult (as a child wouldn’t you just rather
Mash?) even the junkiest, most pub lunchy children’s menus I can’t think of are sausage mash and peas; fish fingers and chips; pasta and sauce. I have never seen nuggets.

Why is margarine bad for children?

I don’t understand what is virtue signalling?

It is not directed at you, more the way these threads go. I think it was someone with the name Cathf that summed up neatly how these types of threads always go.

Cherrycokewinning I have seen nuggets on a kids menu but they were nothing like nuggets of the post Jamie Oliver era! They were huge chunks of chicken breast in crispy batter and put on a skewer (actually I think they were called chicken lollipops on the menu). It was in a really nice gastropub. DD2 (2.5) had them and now makes me skewer all sorts of meat

All meat is better when on a stick!

Thankyou just (but what does it mean? )

😂 meat skewer

splendide it isn’t, particularly. I prefer to give mine real butter as the ingredients list of margarine/spread is full of crap and things I can’t pronounce, but it isn’t inherently ‘bad’.

I'm with EltonJohnssyrup on this. There are some strong traditions in British cuisine of having bland food for the sick or elderly or children. These ideas go back to the Victorian / Edwardian era when certain foods were considered inappropriate for children because anything too strong or spicy would upset a child's constitution.

Also in upper-/middle-class British households in the past, there was usually a nursery with a nanny who took care of the children and the nursery food was different to the food cooked for the rest of the household and served at different times. I think some of this attitude still lingers and not just in Britain, I think it's English-speaking culture generally. I'm Irish and live in the US and still I come across the idea that children should / can only eat bland foods. Most US restaurants have kids menus that are typically plain pasta with cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, burgers, chicken dippers etc.

I don't agree with it and try to get my own DC to eat a wide variety of foods but it definitely does seem to be common in the English-speaking world.

my BF has just returned from 2 years in NYC and couldn’t believe what her children were fed at nursery- burgers and chips, pizza etc... nurseries here don’t serve that sort of food

To be honest I think if anything breaded, calamari therefore included as child food. Anything that is so plain that it's a bit disgusting for an adult (like chicken nuggets or plain pasta) is childhood. Anything that is too flavoured for a child to eat happily is adult food (like blue cheese or a really over spiced curry). Most foods are suitable for all ages (like sausages or risotto). We often order from the general menu for our children but I wouldn't really happily eat some of the stuff that children seem aboe to stomach.

Splendid look up hydrogenised fats.

I don't agree with it and try to get my own DC to eat a wide variety of foods but it definitely does seem to be common in the English-speaking world.

I think its more common in Europe and tied to local food as a general rule, it's an idealistic romanticism to think that in the modern day everyone else on the continent are sitting down as family every night and eating a wholesome cooked from scratch meal and all their children are eating exactly what their parents are having etc. Its not a british or english speaking thing, its a modern life thing

My friend's Italian MIL has a kids table and adult table in her house in Italy... The kids never eat with the adults in her house..
.....which apparently only happens in Britain right?

Inion, those strong British traditions alive and kicking here in Italy too. Boiled rice or pasta with no sauce for the sick, young and old and no spicy foods.

Diaspora is one of my favourite words.

Wtf does diaspora have to do with anything?

That’s interesting that Italians have similar ideas about children’s food. It certainly wasn’t the norm in France or Germany when I lived there. (Although German food is fairly bland anyway so not much need for different food...!)

The OP is (part-)Russian herself and has lived in France and Iceland so how can she be guilty of romanticizing continental European life?

It totally depends I was also brought up that children eat with the adults and you all have the same. DH was brought up that children have chicken nuggets and chips and eat at a separate time.

Both British households but both total opposites.

I follow with how I've been brought up and DHs sister is very much like her mother and wrong. DH over the years has been coerced by me to bring up our children correctly to eat what we eat.