Adaptiveness of food learning and food aversions in children by Elizabeth Cashdan, a paper on The Anthropology of Food
David Waynforth found this article, and Schuyler Waynforth sent it to me with this note:
It's about how children's reticence to eat certain kinds of things might be adaptive given the foods that would have been around in hunter gatherer's larders. In the conclusion section she says:You might need to print the article out to read it, but it's easy reading and not long. One thing the research mentions is the kind of eating kids do when they might want one food for many days running, and also the very common (and sensible, for beginners) preference for eating food that's not mixed with other foods.Parents are often advised—with good reason—to relax about their child's eating behavior and not worry so much. Yet this is often difficult for them to do. If it can be shown that these behaviors are sensible adaptations to learning about food, parents should be better able to accept their child's food habits with equanimity.Schuyler
There is. . . a really good book written by a couple of MDs—Let them Eat Cake: the Case Against Controlling What Your Children Eat. I've seen it, and bought it several times to give away. There are lots of copies available used and very cheap—just barely more than the shipping cost.
Here is a summary of the book:
-pamLet them Eat Cake: the Case Against Controlling What Your Children Eat. Pediatrician Klenman and child psychiatrist Jellinek believe that too many well-meaning parents take food and rules far too seriously for a child's own good. While the food choices children make are sometimes dreadful, parents should not act as food police. Instead, all would do well to place food choices in proper perspective: children are not middle-aged people, their nutritional needs are different from adults', food is (usually) not a life-and-death issue for them, and one or two not so nutritious meals will not hurt them. Therefore, suggest the authors, kids shouldn't worry about cholesterol or feel guilty because they enjoy a candy bar. Although some parents may believe otherwise, these doctors declare studies have shown that banning sweets is counterproductive. Children, they say, should be offered choices and encouraged to try new foods. This is a sensible, well-written and unhysterical approach to what some may consider a parental nightmare: children who have minds of their own when it comes to food. In addition to questions most often asked by parents, the authors also provide in-depth discussion of food safety, food allergies and eating disorders.
on AlwaysLearning, November 2008.