The Next Big Idea Daily The Myth of the Picky Child
Mar 16, 2026
Virginia Sole‑Smith, health journalist and author focused on weight and parenting, and Helen Zoe Veit, historian of American food and author on picky eating, discuss how children’s eating habits changed over time. They explore historical norms, the rise of picky eating linked to processed foods and cultural assumptions, and how diet culture and weight bias shape parenting and health conversations.
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Children Were Once Natural Omnivores
- 19th-century Americans saw children as eager, undiscriminating eaters who happily consumed coffee, oysters, and organ meats.
- Helen Zoe Veit notes children spent allowances on raw oysters and readily ate family foods across classes, while finickiness was associated with wealthy adults.
Pickiness Is Not An Evolutionary Default
- The idea that children evolved to be long-term picky eaters is wrong; ancestral diets required kids to tolerate bitter, earthy wild foods.
- Veit explains hunter-gatherer diets were full of grubs, eggs, and bitter plants, so children evolved to eat widely, not narrowly.
Old Feeding Rules Didn't Ruin Kids
- Claims that insisting kids eat family food historically harmed them are misleading; 19th-century kids who ate adult meals typically had healthy weights and relationships with food.
- Veit contrasts low past rates of obesity and eating disorders with the rise of mass pickiness after parents began serving special children's food in the 20th century.
