Speaking to Woman Magazine earlier this month, Gino said, “My kids aren’t allowed to be picky eaters. The problem with picky kids is their dumb parents. The chef’s comments sparked a stir. heated debate – is there a difficult child?
For Clair, it was important that her son eats everything and is’ adventurous’ because she ‘grew up with an autistic brother who was a very picky eater most of his life, and I saw what a great time he was. fight for my mother. more than one meal per meal each day ”.
She added, “We wanted to encourage our son to enjoy more foods and introduce him to as many foods as possible, so that we could continue to enjoy stress-free meals together throughout his childhood.”
Rebecca Woollard, 37, of Kent, is a food writer and mother to a four-year-old boy who went through “an extremely difficult phase between 18 months and around three months.”
Interestingly, Rebecca said that “the commotion only extended to eating around us – at his nanny’s house he ate whatever she gave him. She was Bangladeshi and cooked traditional Bangladeshi dishes, so he had a very varied diet with her ”.
“However, I have noticed among parents, often a guess, that their children will not like something or eat something until they have tried it, and I think this often leads the child to decide that ‘he won’t eat some of the things. “
Rebecca’s son is not what she would describe as a “picky eater” but, when he went through a “really bad” phase, she said she “would inevitably come back and eventually give him what he wanted.” wanted to “.
The 37-year-old said it was the lockdown that forced her son to eat everything again because “he was away from everyone and just had to give in to eat the food I had finally cooked.”
For Carol Roberts, 50, a teacher based in North Wales, giving in to what her son wanted to eat – or didn’t want – was also her approach.
When his son, now 21, was a toddler, he refused to eat “green stuff” while his sisters were raised the same and ate “anything”.
“After a while I realized it was no use – he still got the nutrition he needed from potatoes and some of the other foods he loved, so I thought : “Well, he doesn’t have to eat it all,” “Carol explained.
Ami Sheward, 49, is a nutrition therapist from Cheltenham and she too didn’t treat her children differently as they were growing up, but now has to “cook separate meals for them most of the time.”
She said, “Both of my children were fed the same foods growing up. I cooked everything from scratch and they both ate everything.
“When they started primary school, that’s when the difficult eating started, I feel like they were unknowingly influenced by what their friends were used to. to eat at lunch and break time. “
But what does Ami do about it?
“I used to bother with them and discuss it way too much, now I give them what they are going to eat and I try to encourage them to try new things,” explained the mother of two children.
“Being teenagers is difficult. Hope they get through the phase and come back to eat everything again. “
She added, “Personally, I don’t draw attention to the food when we eat, if they ask what’s for dinner I won’t tell them before I prepare the dishes.”
Ruth Micallef, an eating disorder sub-consultant shared her professional opinion with Express.co.uk.
Speaking of Gino’s comments, she said, “I think using shame as a tool in any conversation is not constructive and often detrimental to the growth of any party involved.
“First of all, all children will go through a spectrum of ‘difficult’ phases, as they are born with an instinct to reject new ‘bitter tasting’ foods that might be toxic and be drawn to sweeter ones that mimic the. mother’s breast milk.
“The problem is that our society, which is full of overly sweet pre-prepared foods, makes them vulnerable to early overconsumption of extremely sweet foods, and therefore even more likely to reject ‘bitter tasting’ foods.
“In this phase of a child’s development, we want to safely steer them toward more bitter foods in a fun and interesting way without coercion or pressure, and to make sure we lead by example.”
As a mother herself, Ruth added, “As parents, most of us try to be ‘good enough’, and that’s okay.
“If you feel you need more support with your own or your child’s nutrition, contact a licensed professional. “