5 ms·

Framing it as "being picky" is really not helpful. As somebody on the spectrum, my (fortunately very few) food sensitivities aren't a mere matter of preference.

Framing it as "being picky" is really not helpful. As somebody on the spectrum, my (fortunately very few) food sensitivities aren't a mere matter of preference... they're the result of me experiencing visceral, nauseating revulsion at specific tastes/textures/smells. If it's the only option, I will absolutely skip a meal entirely rather than deal with it. I would probably have to be at the point of literally (not figuratively) starving to fight past that response, and even then I wouldn't be sure about keeping it down.

SapporoChris 2y ago
Not giving them junk food doesn't equate to ignoring food sensitivities. If someone is tolerating chicken nuggets, there's a whole host of healthier food with similar textures, tastes and smells.
- forgotusername6 2y ago
  You have to battle the psychological aspect which says that they are different even if they smell, taste, feel the same. It really isn't that easy, if it was, parents of autistic kids would be doing it. There is also a reason why McDonald's nuggets are the go to for autistic kids the world over. They have been engineered over many decades to be the most acceptable taste and texture for children.
  - ljf 2y ago
    A friend of mine (with an autistic child) explained it as: If you give your kid a strawberry - even within the punnet the tastes and textures will vary - even mid summer some will be unpleasantly tart. If I make a sandwich it will be mildly different one day to the next, depending on the freshness of the items I put in, the brand of the ham, the spread, the bread. But junk food will ALWAYS BE THE SAME. If surprise and novelty is an issue for you/your child, then eating food like that removes so much stress for everyone involved. Yes it isn't healthy, but the meal gets eaten and no one cries.
    - wrboyce 2y ago
      The difference between fresh McDonald’s nuggets and ones that have sat in the UHC/production bin for half an hour is night and day though, and that’s just the variance officially allowed by McDonald’s - don’t get me started on double-fried nuggets!
      - cortesoft 2y ago
        Trust me, I know. Some batches of nuggets were rejected based on being too crispy or too chewy.
        throwup238 2y ago
        Have you tried ordering them "fresh"? It takes a few minutes longer, some cashiers won't know what that means, and they might not do it if its late and they're closing up, but I've always ordered "fresh" nuggets and french fries that are made to order instead of pulled from the baskets. Explaining that it's a food sensitivity issue will almost certainly get most of them to comply. It works at all the fast food places for fried items, as far as I can remember (except Seattle's Dick's).
        cortesoft 2y ago
        We did start doing that, though now our daughter has moved on from chicken nuggets to a new comfort food.
    - cortesoft 2y ago
      Absolutely true. My daughter will often like strawberries, but if they are too sour or mushy she will spit them out like she is literally eating poop. Going through the fruit to find ones that will be acceptable is a big part of our routine.
    - xandrius 2y ago
      But say, one goes to get McDonald's nuggets and lightly and secretly messes up with it (adds a bit of lime one day, vinegar another, etc.) before giving it to the obsessed child. Wouldn't that remove the "always the same" aspect and thus decreasing the appeal of junk food over other foods? Also I'm sure cheese, avocado, a carrot, zucchini or pumpkin from the supermarket are going to taste extremely similar across the months unless they are hyper tasters (in that case they'd definitely notice a change in taste across nuggets).
  - account42 2y ago
    The psychological aspect is the part that is collogially referred to as being picky.
- xandrius 2y ago
  Same to me. I might not understand it but I'm not sure any kid is going to go starving with some homemade food in front of them. The biggest red flag is why on earth are kids fed junk food to begin with? Maybe their parents also love it, making it harder to set a better example at home? Hard to say.
astura 2y ago
>experiencing visceral, nauseating revulsion at specific tastes/textures/smells. It's definitely hard but this can be overcome with work. In my much younger days I had this reaction with a lot of foods that I now eat. I knew I was going to have to overcome a lot of my hangups about food in order to be at least semi-healthy, so I did in my late teens/early 20s. Before that the only thing I ate was pasta.
- cortesoft 2y ago
  Everyone is different, and what an adult can overcome is different than what a child can overcome.
  - astura 2y ago
    Exactly, it gets more and more difficult the older you are and the more established the habit is, so helping your children overcome these issues early is very important and sets them up for a healthy lifestyle in adulthood. I have a friend in his 40s who is having strokes and is vehemently unwilling to eat a single vegetable. His food adversions are much worse than any child's. I'm not saying it's easy, because it isn't. But it's very much possible. I'm also not saying all food aversions need to be worked through, however, allowing your children to have a severely limited diet doesn't set them up for long-term success.
al_borland 2y ago
I have some foods like this. I almost threw up all over the table at Thanksgiving when my mom forced me to eat something when I was younger. More recently, she apologized for putting me through that nearly every day growing up.

SapporoChris 2y ago

Not giving them junk food doesn't equate to ignoring food sensitivities. If someone is tolerating chicken nuggets, there's a whole host of healthier food with similar textures, tastes and smells.

forgotusername6 2y ago
You have to battle the psychological aspect which says that they are different even if they smell, taste, feel the same. It really isn't that easy, if it was, parents of autistic kids would be doing it. There is also a reason why McDonald's nuggets are the go to for autistic kids the world over. They have been engineered over many decades to be the most acceptable taste and texture for children.
- ljf 2y ago
  A friend of mine (with an autistic child) explained it as: If you give your kid a strawberry - even within the punnet the tastes and textures will vary - even mid summer some will be unpleasantly tart. If I make a sandwich it will be mildly different one day to the next, depending on the freshness of the items I put in, the brand of the ham, the spread, the bread. But junk food will ALWAYS BE THE SAME. If surprise and novelty is an issue for you/your child, then eating food like that removes so much stress for everyone involved. Yes it isn't healthy, but the meal gets eaten and no one cries.
  - wrboyce 2y ago
    The difference between fresh McDonald’s nuggets and ones that have sat in the UHC/production bin for half an hour is night and day though, and that’s just the variance officially allowed by McDonald’s - don’t get me started on double-fried nuggets!
    - cortesoft 2y ago
      Trust me, I know. Some batches of nuggets were rejected based on being too crispy or too chewy.
      - throwup238 2y ago
        Have you tried ordering them "fresh"? It takes a few minutes longer, some cashiers won't know what that means, and they might not do it if its late and they're closing up, but I've always ordered "fresh" nuggets and french fries that are made to order instead of pulled from the baskets. Explaining that it's a food sensitivity issue will almost certainly get most of them to comply. It works at all the fast food places for fried items, as far as I can remember (except Seattle's Dick's).
        cortesoft 2y ago
        We did start doing that, though now our daughter has moved on from chicken nuggets to a new comfort food.
  - cortesoft 2y ago
    Absolutely true. My daughter will often like strawberries, but if they are too sour or mushy she will spit them out like she is literally eating poop. Going through the fruit to find ones that will be acceptable is a big part of our routine.
  - xandrius 2y ago
    But say, one goes to get McDonald's nuggets and lightly and secretly messes up with it (adds a bit of lime one day, vinegar another, etc.) before giving it to the obsessed child. Wouldn't that remove the "always the same" aspect and thus decreasing the appeal of junk food over other foods? Also I'm sure cheese, avocado, a carrot, zucchini or pumpkin from the supermarket are going to taste extremely similar across the months unless they are hyper tasters (in that case they'd definitely notice a change in taste across nuggets).
- account42 2y ago
  The psychological aspect is the part that is collogially referred to as being picky.
xandrius 2y ago
Same to me. I might not understand it but I'm not sure any kid is going to go starving with some homemade food in front of them. The biggest red flag is why on earth are kids fed junk food to begin with? Maybe their parents also love it, making it harder to set a better example at home? Hard to say.

astura 2y ago

>experiencing visceral, nauseating revulsion at specific tastes/textures/smells. It's definitely hard but this can be overcome with work. In my much younger days I had this reaction with a lot of foods that I now eat. I knew I was going to have to overcome a lot of my hangups about food in order to be at least semi-healthy, so I did in my late teens/early 20s. Before that the only thing I ate was pasta.

cortesoft 2y ago
Everyone is different, and what an adult can overcome is different than what a child can overcome.
- astura 2y ago
  Exactly, it gets more and more difficult the older you are and the more established the habit is, so helping your children overcome these issues early is very important and sets them up for a healthy lifestyle in adulthood. I have a friend in his 40s who is having strokes and is vehemently unwilling to eat a single vegetable. His food adversions are much worse than any child's. I'm not saying it's easy, because it isn't. But it's very much possible. I'm also not saying all food aversions need to be worked through, however, allowing your children to have a severely limited diet doesn't set them up for long-term success.

al_borland 2y ago

I have some foods like this. I almost threw up all over the table at Thanksgiving when my mom forced me to eat something when I was younger. More recently, she apologized for putting me through that nearly every day growing up.