What's so wrong about being a picky eater?

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Do you ever feel that picky eaters are being treated unfairly? I certainly do because I am one. My parents still treat my inability to eat vegetables as if I am still a 5 year old. They still can't accept that I have taste bud issues with eating certain fruits and vegetables and seeds.

I remember when I was young I was going through the McDonald's drive thru with my girl scout group I think and I wanted to order a burger with no pickles and no onions. I was chastised for this and I don't know why. It's not like they couldn't make a burger for me without pickles and onions at no extra charge but I didn't know that then. They made me feel bad cuz I have to eat in a certain way. Even my dad got angry at me recently for wanting part of a Papa Murphy's pizza to just be pepperoni. I knew my relatives would want veggies and I only requested my share to be free of veggies and this is Papa Murphy's so they could prep the pizzas there anyway you like. Of course my dad made me feel guilty about my request and the family returns with all the veggies all over the pizzas. I was allowed to pick the veggies off my share before putting it in the oven but my relatives were laughing and teasing at me the entire time.

I have a hard time believing that picky eaters are picky eaters by choice. Yet people who are vegans or vegetarians choose to become such and people don't mind bending over backwards for them and their beliefs. My picky eating is due to my anxiety and sensitive taste buds. So why do people think that's a bad thing and ridicule or condemn me for it?

At work, the only things I ever see one co-worker eating are dry rolls, dark chocolate and Quavers, his lunch consisting of some combination of the three every day. Beat that, and he's certainly not on the spectrum.

It may just be the people you are around. Your username can justify this (assuming it is accurate.)

Also, I read your post but to answer the "What's so wrong about being a picky eater?" question, most extremely picky eaters (like myself) don't get the nutrients they need through food... which is obviously bad. I've been anemic before, and though I am still quite young, I am sure that more health problems will crop up in the coming decades if I don't desensitize myself to foods, and fast. (I'm starting Occupational Therapy.)
I can't even eat a hamburger, or pepperoni pizza, so maybe you're better off. I don't know.

He can still have sensory problems.

Everybody has a list of foods they hate and refuse to eat. The next time someone gives you s**t for being picky about something, ask them if they would eat something you know they hate.

My parents always responded to my hatred of onions by saying, “oh, you can’t even taste them!” First, BS. Second, if you can’t taste them, why do you add them to the food?

I don't choose to be a picky eater, I genuinely don't like the taste of most foods, and I've been underweight the whole time I've been picky, which was from the age of 3-4.
If anyone takes issue with my eating, I'm not best pleased. I can only barely eat in public as it is.

People tend to condemn & make fun of stuff they don't understand. This includes someone who's choosy about what they eat. What they don't understand is it could be texture, flavor, smell, or a combination.

I was the opposite, I literally ate anything my parents provided when I was little. It wasn't until I got a little older that I started getting picky about what I eat. Now some of the stuff that I willingly ate as a young child makes me cringe. My dad used to bring home pickled fish, & for whatever reason I used to eat it. Blech! Couldn't even get me to purchase it now let alone open the jar. I have many other dislikes, but thousand island dressing, corned beef hash, & braunschweiger are others I refuse to eat. I get irritated if I go to a burger joint & order a burger without the 1000 island dressing & find out upon its arrival that the burger is dripping in it. Can't eat it, can't even stand the sight of it....have to send it back.

Tomboy

I think some people are more sensitive to certain tastes than others, though. My parents will eat practically anything. I, on the other hand, have certain foods that make me want to gag. I always order cheeseburgers meat, cheese, bun, and ketchup only. Anything more than that is unnecessary. If I wanted veggies, I'd order a salad. I don't want a salad in my burger.

As for the onion thing, I relate. I've had many good meals ruined by onions. I certainly wish that I couldn't taste them, but I do. People's attempts to hide onion pieces in food always fails. I notice right away. I found onions in an egg sandwich one time. Seriously, why?!

Strangely enough, though, I tend to enjoy Indian food. Indian cuisine usually contains a lot of onions, but the other flavors help to cover up the taste.

My pickyness is like a sine wave. Sometimes I'll eat a food I don't like anyway, and other times I will hardly eat anything. I suspect my tolerance for foods I don't really like is directly proportional to the crap I get for being picky.

Being a picky eater is generally a bad thing because it can mean your diet is narrow and unvaried, and that can make you vulnerable to nutritional deficiency diseases. If it's not that narrow, though, then the primary issue is probably social.

My experience has always been that real picky eaters are picky eaters because they are picky eaters, they just are. They can't help it anymore than they can help their race or sex. OBTW if you don't want your pickles, I'll take them . I was born with an adventurous palette, I even eat brussel sprouts. There are learned picky eaters too, they can be gently coaxed into trying a broader variety of foods than they normally would eat.

Food is about more than nutrition, it's very social. If you reject your parents' food they may see it as rejecting their love or their authority. If you reject their friends' food they may see it as claiming special privileges, calling undue attention to yourself or threatening group solidarity. The best way to reject food without rejecting society is to act quietly. Pick it off, scrape it away, or gently push it aside. If challenged, just quietly insist you can't eat it. Of course, if you've ordered food in a restaurant and it isn't prepared as you requested, send it back.

I've always been a picky eater. As I've mentioned in another post, when I was a toddler, my mom used to cry and pray at night because I wouldn't eat and she thought I was going to die. 30+ years later, my taste buds and my appetite have grown, but I still get occasional teasing about being picky (e.g. my boyfriend thinks it is odd that I won't eat a banana with any spots on it). What I am talking about though is gentle, good-natured teasing. I think the issue you are dealing with is not your picky nature, but people who are not respectful of your needs, preferences, differences, etc. You are 27 years old. You should not have to eat something to please somebody else.

What's so wrong with being a picky eater? Because it puts friction on other people. If you have a child that is very picky. You are going to have to cook a whole different meal for your child while everyone else has what you made for dinner. Same as if you are trying to take your whole family out to eat, you may have a hard time picking where to go because they don't have the food your child has. Also sometimes people have to go out and by something for their child to eat because they won't eat anything they have at home.
Sometimes picky eaters will only eat two different foods and nothing else and that isn't very healthy for their body. They don't get the nutrients their body needs.


But you are an adult so you can take care of yourself. They don't have to make you anything you won't eat they made.

About the McDonalds incident, that wasn't even a big deal because it's McDonalds and they can leave the stuff off you don't want. I always had a plain hamburger as a kid and then it was cheeseburger with nothing on it.

When ordering a pizza, all they have to do is make one side pepperoni only for you and the other side for everyone else what they want on their pizza. They can also order two pizzas if they want more but I guess they didn't want to spend more money But what if you offered to pay for yours?

Your family sounds like they are jerks.



I don't see myself as a picky eater because I eat almost anything that my husband makes. I ate almost anything my mother made. If there are pot lucks or whenever food is available to eat, I will eat what I think is good and what interests me.

I have a hard time believing how someone doesn't choose to be picky. It's different if they have acid reflux or sensory issues or allergies or any other condition that causes it like celiac. I choose to have certain foods like certain fruits, certain vegetables, I choose to have mac and cheese every day or any other pasta when I am out of mac and cheese. I do this because it's easier for me than standing there and deciding what to buy or what to eat. I don't see how this wouldn't be a choice.

My daughter wasn't a picky eater when she was really young. But, she's becoming more and more picky. If I make a salad, I have to leave the tomatoes and cucumber off her plate and I worry that it's only a matter of time before she'll only eat the lettuce. What's wrong with that? The variety of the food she'll take in the future may not provide her with all the essential nutients she needs to keep healthy, in body and mind. That's my greatest concern. She does eat a wide variety of foods just now, probably more veg than most kids her age, but the list is diminishing. Thankfully, she's not one of those kids who'll only eat bread or pasta or cheese, as that would really worry me.

Incidentally, I was a very picky eater as a child and used to get scolded a lot for it. I hated how my mum cooked veg (until it was really soft) and it made me boak. I'm a good cook and love all kinds of veg, except aubergine (eggplant) and anything mashed.