Were you a fussy eater as a child?

[WomenHour]

I wasn't but know others who were.

Definitely not. There was what there was. We ate or went hungry. My mother was not a great cook and money was very tight. We foraged quite a lot.
Winkles, cockles and bread for Sunday supper - although that would be served in smart seafood restaurants nowadays.

Yep, I was.

Best thing my parents ever did was A) Not pander to it (served same meals as the rest of the family and B) Not make a big deal of it (I ate what I wanted, left the rest).

I now eat most things (though not celery. Never celery).

I went through a fussy phase like a lot of children, my mum went with it and it passed. Now, apart from being a vegetarian, I eat most stuff.

Yes, I was. It was awful. I wasn’t allowed to leave food and I remember swallowing stuff whole with water, rather than chew (and taste) it. I choked once. It left me with awful food issues. These days I eat a much more varied diet, unless I get stressed, and then it becomes more restrictive. I suspect I have sensory issues though.

Yep. I was physically force fed, and shockingly that failed to give me a great relationship with food.
I'm still very fussy, I have issues with the textures of food more than the taste. I hate it but I really can't stomach a lot of things.

Yep, I don't think I ate a vegetable between 4 & 14. Love them now, and somewhat ironically am vegetarian. Will eat pretty much anything apart from eat though!

I was soooo fussy. Oily things and overly sweet things made me gag and vomit. A trip out for burgers or fish and chips would leave me heaving in a side street. I developed such a strong reaction that as a young adult if I entered a house that smelled of cooking oil I'd vomit. Parents thought I was super picky.

As an adult I like a wide range of food, though still not keen on very oily or sweet foods.

Not particularly but if there was something I didn’t like, I didn’t have to eat it - no fuss, no drama. OH was very fussy apparently and there was much fuss and drama over this and he ended up with an ED. He is still very fussy and eats quite weird stuff.

Same as RonObvious, I now have an eating disorder known as ARFID. I'm way less fussy as an adult but find very little joy in food, and much suffering. DS(2) is very fussy but I just leave him to it if he wants to eat or not.

Yes I was terrible. Wouldn't eat anything with a sauce, any veg, hated loads of very normal things (pasta, rice, curry) without trying them etc. By about 30, I was fine. My dc were the same but now as adults eat most things. Just as my parents did, I tried not to make an issue of it. It's hard! Turning point for the dc both of them, was working in restaurants where you end up trying loads of different things, talking to the chef, being really hungry after a shift, seeing lovely interesting food being prepared! Also it's maturity I think, being open to new ideas, socialising with people who eat everything.

I was, guess I still am in a lot of ways. I think my non enjoyment of food as a child (or being given food my dad knew we hated) has made me not really interested in food as an adult, there's food that I will NEVER eat despite never trying them to dislike them.

I wasn't fussy so much as I had clear ideas what I did and didn't like. I would eat most things but cucumber, celery, and fresh/uncooked tomatoes all taste incredibly bitter to me so I wouldn't eat those and cheese makes me gag so I would eat things like cheese sandwiches. My mum would sometimes make salad or a ploughman's plate for tea in the summer and I would refuse to eat either.

Yes.

Wasn't allowed to leave the table until plates were cleared, no pudding until plate cleared, made to eat things that made me gag and vomit, punished for gagging and vomiting because I was 'doing it for attention', forced to eat the same thing at each meal until it was eaten...

I have sensory issues, probably ASD (cba with fighting for adult dx, my OH has done so though for himself so I know the ins and outs), I've also got a sliding hiatus hernia and that appears to be congenital rather than developed as an adult.

I eat a wider range of food now than I did but as PP, the more stressed I am, the narrower that range will get.

I also have a range of psychological issues around food as a direct result of the attempts my parents made to 'cure' my 'fussy eating'.

Certain smells and also textures will still make me gag and vomit - funnily enough even if theres no one to seek attention from by doing that... how odd.

There was about 3 things O absolutely refused to eat. Where I grew up we didn't and still do "kid's menu". Even in restaurants (some I think do now). We just had smaller portion of what adults had. If we didn't eat it, we didn't eat🤷🏻 So we eat it.

I am sure it's thanks to that that I enjoy varied flavours and am really open to new food and all.

I was. Must have been terrible for my mum. I turned a corner in my teens and started to love food. all sorts.

@overwork

Yep, I don't think I ate a vegetable between 4 & 14. Love them now, and somewhat ironically am vegetarian. Will eat pretty much anything apart from eat though!

Exactly like me. My parents used to say 'what sort of vegetarian DOESN'T LIKE VEGETABLES'

Yes I was very fussy and my mum pandered to it. I eat just about anything now though.

Both my children are fussy despite me trying my hardest to get them to eat well. They ate everything up until about the age of 2 and gradually started refusing and I also pandered to it . Hoping they grow out of it I don't feel strong enough to do the eat what your given approach.

Epically fussy from about 3 until about 10...I ate carrots, some forms of meat, potatoes, bananas, vanilla yoghurt.

My DM still talks about my Damascene conversion in a French restaurant where I ordered pigs cheeks. DParents held their breath as I demolished them and pronounced them delicious. And never looked back.

Now I have a very few things I won’t touch (baked beans, tomato ketchup and that’s about it).

I was very much considered to be the fussy eater of the family. However as soon as I was allowed to become vegetarian at 15 it became clear that my brother is (still) significantly fussier than me. I only wouldn't eat meat and still eat pretty much anything else that is served to me, while he won't eat raw tomatoes, only cooked, no cooked fruit, no sweet things with savoury food (ie apple sauce, raisins in curry) no blue cheese, no olives, no fish, the list goes on. My mum actually apologised for calling me fussy!

The eat what you're given approach is counterproductive and is definitely not recommended by any of the NHS dieticians who have seen my DS.

Definitely not, you ate the meal on the table or didn't eat.
I am a very food fussy person now.

I was a nightmare! Hated potatoes, all vegetables, all fruit, fish and most meats. I was the only fussy one in a family of 12. I really only liked so called beige food, which wasn't really on offer in my house. I was hospitalised due to malnutrition when i was 4 or 5, my poor mum! When i was a bit older i discovered i liked junk food and now unfortunately i am overweight, although i do eat a balanced diet now.

I seem to be getting fussier the older I get.

no blue cheese, no olives

I'm with your brother on this, they're both rank!

As an adult I absolutely won't eat:

• cheese, I will tolerate a small amount if its melted
• olives
• liver, kidney, tripe
• cucumber, uncooked tomatoes, celery, kale as they're all bitter to the point of being inedible
• hummus
• salmon
• squid or octopus
• anything with the head or limbs still attached
• citrus flavoured chocolate
• grapefruit
• very spicy foods

But that's all based on things I have tried and know I don't like.

I was made fussy by being given a limited diet mostly of junk.

I had a bery strange relationship with food until into my 30's. I didn't start eating vegetables until I was late 30's and had never had curry, most meats etc.

I went vegan for a while but now eat everything accept seafood.