Everyone prefers some foods over others, but some adults take this tendency to an extreme. These people tend to prefer the kinds of bland food they may have enjoyed as children -- such as plain or buttered pasta, macaroni and cheese, cheese pizza, French fries and grilled cheese sandwiches -- and to restrict their eating to just a few dishes.
This condition is not officially recognized as an eating disorder in the current edition of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), the American Psychiatric Association's compendium of mental and emotional disorders. But it may be listed in the next one, under the title "selective eating disorder."
Researchers at Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh have established an online registry to learn more about the problem and determine how widespread it is. As I understand it, researchers haven't been able to say for certain whether extremely selective eating as an adult is an extension of childhood habits.
While we must wait for more data, I think it's likely that this will prove to be a largely American phenomenon tied to an unfortunate aspect of our food culture: nowhere else in the world is it so universally taken for granted that children should eat differently from adults. Our hypercommercialized society is the first -- and, I hope the last -- to create an entirely separate universe of child-specific foods and dishes. Most are overpriced, nutrient-poor assemblages of sugar, salt and fat, often garishly colored.
Pediatrician Alan Greene, M.D., points out that this perversion of whole foods for young people actually starts in infancy. His "White Out" campaign aims to stop the common practice of feeding white rice cereal to infants. As Dr. Greene puts it, this is essentially "processed white flour, and to a baby's metabolism, it's about the same as a spoonful of sugar."
These kinds of foods are just the opposite of what babies, children and adults need for optimum health. In fact, they are major drivers of the obesity and Type 2 diabetes epidemics. Unfortunately, I see much evidence that some degree of adult "selective eating disorder" has become widespread. While eating only five or six kinds of food is unusual, millions of adult Americans now prefer bland, highly processed, nutrient-deficient foods, and eat them exclusively or nearly so.
It does not have to be this way. Most of us -- especially those who grew up before the children's food revolution -- can remember foods we hated as kids that, through repeated trials, we learned to enjoy or even count among our favorites as adults. It seems probable to me that a steady diet of child-centric processed foods may lock in unhealthy preferences for life in some susceptible people.
Sadly, I've read that among members of an online support group for adult picky eaters, there has only been one report of semi-successful treatment. We need to know a lot more about this problem before we can treat it successfully. It is probably not entirely cultural. In some cases it may be a manifestation of obsessive-compulsive or autistic spectrum disorder, or a residual phobia stemming from abusive parental treatment.
Until we know more, I urge parents to reject the entire world of overprocessed babies' and children's food as much as they possibly can. For infants, I am a great fan of portable, inexpensive, hand-cranked food mills that allow parents to grind fresh, wholesome foods into nutrient-rich purées. As children grow older, the only sensible concessions to make for their meals are to make sure bites are small and tender enough for them to chew properly and to back away from overuse of spices, which can be overwhelming to children's palates.
It does kids no favors, and sets them up for a potential lifetime of poor health and social embarrassment, to excuse them from family meals of real food. Everyone benefits from healthy eating, but it is particularly crucial at the beginning of life. Providing your children with a variety of healthy foods -- and gently but persistently continuing to offer them exclusively during a child's "picky" phase -- are among a parent's most important obligations.
Andrew Weil, M.D., invites you to join the conversation: become a fan on Facebook, follow him on Twitter, and check out his Daily Health Tips Blog. Dr. Weil is the founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and the editorial director of www.DrWeil.com.
Follow Dr. Andrew Weil on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DrWeil
Tracie Wagman: My Kids Are Great Eaters (And Other Lies)
EatingWell: Picky Eater? How To Still Get Your Nutrients
Divya Gugnani: Picky Eaters: What Not To Do When A Restaurant Screws Up
Jenny Rosenstrach: A Picky Eater Taxonomy
Adult Picky Eaters Now Recognized as Having a Disorder - FoxNews.com
No Age Limit on Picky Eating - WSJ.com
Selective eating disorder - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Grown-up Picky Eaters Club | Psychology Today
Adult picky eaters: something to chew on | Booster Shots | Los ...
He's unhealthy-- very malnourished and has digestive problems. Is the article really saying that there's nothing to do about this but accept his awful food habits? We've identified the cause--- now what can be done about it?
Most of it stems from poor food habits as children. In his case, his step father was one of those clean your plate or you get whipped. So, he got beaten, and his mother would comfort him with the foods he wanted when step dad wasn't around. So of course as a young child, she gave him mac and cheese, pasta, chicken nuggets...most stuff parents wouldn't feed their children on a daily basis, but she was doing it out of guilt. THIS is why forcing food habits on kids is such a bad idea, you are almost for sure going to create bad eating habits as adults.
The key is baby steps. Incorporate SMALL changes of similar foods into things he already likes. My friend eats pizza more then anything, so adding stuff to a pizza has really helped. Like BBQ chicken, or sausage.
I wonder if a lot of the typical "love it hate it" foods (Marmite, Brussels sprouts, and so on) might fall into this category.
And then, there are the texture freaks -- some in my own family -- and there is no way around it. (Which, maybe I'm a bit of one, because years ago, a bite of sea urchin in a sushi restaurant sent me running for the restroom like I've never done in my life.)
Similarly, in our culture chocolate is for sweet dishes. But in Mexico, cocoa is often used in conjunction with hot peppers - something unheard of here - and is an essential ingredient in mole sauces for meat dishes.
I guess a lot of it is all just what you're used to. I try to broaden my appreciation of flavors from around the world, but I'm not going to try confine anyone who doesn't want to to a psychiatric ward! The only reason I have to opportunity to expand my tastes is because I live in an affluent society where foods from around the world are available. I'm sure a poor villager in India is probably not concerning him/herself with developing a taste for meatloaf and green bean casserole, nor would a poor villager in China make a priority of learning to appreciate Ethiopian zilzil wat.
But in spite of lifestyle choice I eat more variety of foods than the average omnivore.
* No vegetables.
* No whole fruits.
* No seafood.
* Nothing with cheese, except grilled cheese sandwiches.
* No chocolate.
* No pasta except plain spaghetti and tomato sauce.
* No veal or pork or lamb.
Turkey, and other poultry.
Hamburgers without a bun.
Hot dogs without a bun.
Spaghetti and tomato sauce.
For desserts, vanilla ice cream, pound cake or cheesecake.
no greens?
that is unfortunate