The Picky Eaters subreddit is a godsend for those of us who struggle to eat a wide variety of foods. The community, which has been around for over a decade and amassed 5.4k members, describes itself as for “support, recipes, discussions, memes, whatever for picky eaters.” There are plenty of posts asking for advice on experimenting with new foods, and the community always responds kindly and without any judgment. While you might consider picky eating to be a phase kids go through and eventually grow out of, for some people that’s just not the case. And it’s great to have a community where they can find guidance and others struggling with the same limited diets.
To learn more about picky eating, we reached out to Alex Turnbull, Registered Dietician Nutritionist and Licensed Dietician, aka the Family Nutritionist, to hear her thoughts on this topic. When it comes to who qualifies as a picky eater, Alex says, “The term ‘picky eater’ is used rather loosely and many children will go through a phase of being more particular about their food choices.”
“While it’s not a great idea to flat-out call a child a ‘picky eater’ because they may start to internalize that label, therefore becoming pickier, certain things may place someone in a ‘picky eater’ category,” the expert explained. “This may include an unwillingness to try new foods, a limited list of tolerated foods, not liking different foods to touch each other, etc.”