The New York Times – Perri Klass, M.D.
“People are often pretty judgmental about picky eaters, disapproving strongly of the children themselves (“So unadventurous, so fearful of new tastes!”); of their parents (“Don’t they know it’s their responsibility to make the rules!”); and, inevitably, of our degenerate and too-permissive times (“Why, when I was a child, we ate what was put in front of us, and no nonsense!”). Dr. Natalie Muth, a pediatrician in Vista, Calif., near San Diego, who is also a registered dietitian and the co-author with Sally Sampson of “The Picky Eater Project,” to be published by the American Academy of Pediatrics next month, told me that it’s important to expose children to different flavors even through what the mother eats during pregnancy and breast-feeding. (The techniques used in the book were explained in more detail last year in a series of posts on the Motherlode blog.) She said many children become comparatively picky around the age of 2, so it’s important to expose younger children to many foods, many times.”(more)