Philip J. Goscienski, M.D.
July 2006
"How do you know you don't like it? You've never tried it!" After "No!" and "Stop that!" these phrases are probably the most common parental exclamations since Eve weaned Cain and Abel. If parents — myself included — only realized that nature intended for children to be picky eaters, patient persistence would have replaced contentious confrontations for thousands of generations.
We need to probe our most distant origins to know why there is so much resistance among toddlers to try new foods. It all comes down to survival. On the savannahs of Africa where Homo sapiens emerged as a distinct species, food was abundant. Several hundred thousand years ago, small bands of early humans had access to an enormous variety of fruits and vegetables, roots and nuts. Then as now, there were hazardous plants as well. Experienced adults would recognize them but exploring toddlers would not. In the view of some anthropologists, the newly ambulatory toddler who was willing to eat anything would not grow up to reproduce. The naturally wary eater, who tried new foods only with the encouragement of adults, would pass on that hard-wired caution to future generations. Psychologists refer to this as learned safety.
There are some simple strategies that will lessen parents' frustration while still ensuring that these fastidious little gourmets will eat enough to satisfy their nutritional needs.
First, accept that most children in the toddler stage do not accept new foods immediately. They will do so if the same food is offered several times over a period of weeks and especially if they see their siblings eating those foods. Be patient, Mom and Dad. In controlled studies this may require as many as 15 exposures of the proffered food. For example, humans have a natural aversion to chili pepper. However, in those cultures where it is a common part of the cuisine, children become accustomed to it by the time they are of school age.
Second, recognize that from the first days of life outside the womb, normal children will take in as many calories as their growing bodies require. This begins at the breast, where infants stop suckling when they are sated. It continues throughout childhood unless parents override internal clues by dictating portion sizes and by encouraging the "Clean Plate Club" concept.
Western mothers often frustrate the satiety mechanism by substituting scheduled feedings in place of feeding on demand. True feed on demand, as practiced in hunter-gatherer societies, means leaving an infant within reach of the breast around the clock, even while the mother is sleeping. It's easier to encourage a bottle-fed baby to take "just a little more" than for a baby at the breast to do the same. This may explain why formula-fed infants tend to be heavier by their first birthday than breastfed babies.
Children have a natural tendency to graze rather than be constrained to fixed mealtimes. Their erratic bursts of activity often stimulate their appetite for renewed energy that might not coincide with Mom's schedule. Wholesome, nutritious foods should be within reach between meals: fresh fruit, whole-grain baked goods, dairy products and occasionally, dried fruit. We send the wrong signal to children when sweets, soda and refined baked goods are almost always available.
Nature has programmed children to be survivors. Parents can learn how to avoid frustrating that process - and themselves.
Philip J. Goscienski, M.D. is the author of Health Secrets of the Stone Age, Better Life Publishers 2005. Contact him at drphil@stoneagedoc.com.