I’d like to introduce my six-year-old son to Curtis Stone.
I think they’d get on.
They could shoot the breeze about what surfers they liked and my son could be all star struck asking him about Manu.
They could talk about superheros and Pokemon and maybe Curtis Stone could cook him a meal (because after all he is an internationally renowned chef) of say fish pie or duck duck goose ravioli and my son could sit there with him and stare at the food blankly, boots-in-the-ground, stubborn-as-can-be refusing to eat it because it wasn’t one of his six foods he eats.
It could be enlightening for everyone: My son could meet a genuine celebrity chef from one of his favourite TV shows and Curtis Stone could put his broad theory that kids will eat anything when they are hungry enough to the test.
An eye opening experience? For sure.
The celebrity chef, and father of two young boys has declared that parents should let their kids go hungry more often.
InstagramThe father of Hudson, 4, and Emerson, 1 has told The Herald Sun that parents are doing themselves no favours by pandering to picky eaters.
Stone suggests that if kids won’t eat what you serve them then parents should serve it up again at the next meal, make sure they don’t give them any snacks and then surely by then the little blighters will be hungry enough to eat the fish pie AND ask for seconds.
“Say you make a fish pie and the kids won’t eat it; I’d wrap it up, put it away and offer it again later when they’re hungry,” Stone said.
“I think the problem is too many parents worry about their kids being hungry that they let their children dictate what they eat.
“I don’t see the big deal in letting kids go hungry a few times. They’ll eat when they’re hungry.”
His words have prompted a debate across radio, TV and social media this morning about whether modern parents really are indulging their children too much.
Top Comments
My stepfather actually did this to my siblings and I. Of course, he was an abusive bastard and still is, but...I can definitely say this method doesn't work. All it did for me was teach me to 1) hate food, 2) feel as though I was/am undeserving of food, and 3) help me to develop an eating disorder in middle school. I still struggle with it today. I probably always will.
I'm also autistic, something he often punished me for/held against me, and a super taster. I can't tolerate broccoli. The outside of a strawberry makes me gag. Mushrooms feel like worms. Olives taste so rich, similar to what I always taste right before vomiting. When I was younger, though, I couldn't easily express these things...and that's not even considering the way certain foods smell.
Yes, I'm a picky eater, but...it's also really helped me think up healthier recipes for kids I've babysat, as well as ways to make healthier food more fun...which hopefully won't contribute to resulting in an eating disorder.
There is a vast difference between foods that a child is picky about and foods a child hates. My son was a picky eater ... likes mac n' cheese today, hates it tomorrow. Likes spaghetti today, won't touch it tomorrow. But there were some foods (asparagus immediately comes to mind) that literally made him turn green, so I didn't serve him those things. I never argued about eating. He ate what we ate or he didn't. He didn't go hungry very often. One thing I did allow was snacking from a special box in the fridge ... because he could (and still does as a 35-year-old) eat only tiny amounts at a time and would be hungry every 30 minutes from morning to night. The special box had only nutritious foods in it ... hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, fruit, veggies, cheese and the like ... so I knew he at least was eating healthy food when he snacked.
So, if you have a child who can only eat five foods because all other foods make him turn green and gag, I'm sorry, I don't know that you can do much but feed him those five foods.
But, if you have a kid who is manipulating you into accommodating his every whim food-wise, you're not doing him any favors by allowing him to dictate that he only eats those five foods.