27/02/2026
Before the 20th century, children happily ate the same food as adults—then they got picky. Olga Khazan on a new book that explains what changed: https://theatln.tc/LJ3fU0cA
The historian Helen Zoe Veit explains in her forthcoming book, “Picky,” that children used to eat “spicy relishes, vinegary pickles, wild plants, and a huge variety of animal species and organ meats. They slurped up raw oysters and looked forward to their daily coffee.” Now, Khazan writes, many American kids like her son eat “little but macaroni and cheese.”
There are a few reasons for these changes. Children of the past used to do more chores and snack less, making them far hungrier at mealtimes and more willing to eat anything. As children became less active, a misguided, Progressive-era public-health campaign encouraged parents to serve their children “easily digested” food such as eggs, broths, and gruel. Additionally, child-nutrition experts at the time claimed that rich and flavorful foods were the culprits for children constantly getting sick. “Advice to parents on how to address pickiness in their children also shifted over time,” Khazan writes.
American kids today eat so poorly, Veit writes in her book, that they are actually getting shorter. At the same time, Veit notes, “parents are exhausted by the struggle” of getting picky eaters to eat.
At the link, Khazan explores the “kid food” phenomenon and reports on her attempts to use Veit's recommendations for her own son, a picky eater: https://theatln.tc/LJ3fU0cA
