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Don't make a fuss – just try something new today
When I first met 42-year-old Martin 12 years ago, he was the fussiest eater I had ever come across.
I have friends who don't like sultanas, or maybe courgettes. But he only really ate peas, carrots and broccoli. He didn't eat cheese. He said salad was boring and he only liked white fish. The only meats he would eat were chicken, sausages, bacon and spaghetti bolognaise. Actually, his diet was similar to many children's: narrow in its range and totally lacking adventure.
After I met him, Martin's life changed. He was promoted at work and his personal circumstances altered so that he is now with a whole new set of friends. These people ate more fruit, vegetables, fish and non-meat foods than he was used to. His new partner was very keen on healthy eating. So he started to think about how he should also be healthier. But he didn't get very far because, to start with, there were so many things that he really didn't like to eat.
If you only like a few fruit and vegetables, how are you going to eat a healthy meal? Take lunch while at work. You can either eat something that you like – but it won't be healthy in any way because you've taken the T and the L out of your BLT – or you can choose something which is healthy but you know you won't enjoy eating.
Martin's new job meant that he was required to eat more meals as part of his work. For example, he was taken out to dinner by his boss or a major customer. He worked away from home, so it made sense to conduct some business meetings over an evening meal. If you go into a restaurant with only five main courses on the menu, you can guarantee that a lot of work has gone into each of those dishes. No chef will react kindly to a request for the cream to be removed from the cream sauce.
Martin was starting to feel embarrassed that he was a fussy eater. He realised that his limited food preferences often presented a problem to other people. Finally, when his children were born, he agreed that he would always eat what was on his plate during family mealtimes.
It is very clear to me how Martin developed such a limited range of food preferences. His family background is very traditional – meat and two vegetables. His parents still categorise pasta as "foreign food". The vegetables that were on offer at home were carrots, peas, cabbage, potatoes – nothing like the variety that many of us now take for granted. His mother tells me he was always fussy. But if any of her grandchildren say they do not like something, she rushes off to the fridge or larder to find an alternative. Given this fall-back, any child will quickly reduce what they eat to a few preferred items.
Martin now eats almost everything. We went out for a meal a few months ago and he ordered snail ravioli. The only thing I can think of that he still doesn't enjoy is cheese, but he will nowadays eat it in a pizza, pasta, as a sauce and so on.
In the playground the other day I overheard one parent saying to another: "I'm going to have to do packed lunches next term because she just won't eat the school dinners. She used to eat everything, but now she's fussy. It's too late to do anything about it."
Trust me, it is not too late. There are many reasons why children reduce the range of what they eat. When I met Martin, the meal he most looked forward to was his mum's Sunday roast. After a recent visit, he said "The chicken didn't taste of anything, the vegetables were boring and the pudding was sickly". This is a small price to pay for the fact that he enjoys every other meal he eats.
Louise McManus is a family eating advisor from Harrogate. Email louise. mcmanus@yahoo.co.uk
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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