Being an adult can get tiring. But being a working mom is exhausting. Especially if you don’t have help at home. On top of your 9-5, you’re dealing with kids, laundry, cleaning and, let’s not forget cooking. If you’re lucky, your family will eat whatever you make, and devour it with gratitude.

But that’s not always the case. One fed-up mother recently went online to share her experience of living with “the pickiest eaters on the planet”. The woman considers herself to be quite a good cook but her fussy husband and son keep turning their noses up at their plates. She’s sick and tired of food going to waste. And is considering hanging up her oven gloves for good, but isn’t sure if she should.

Deciding what to make for dinner can be difficult, especially when you have to take everyone’s preferences into consideration

Image credits: jm_video (not the actual image)

For this woman, it’s a nightmare because her husband and son refuse to eat most of the food she cooks

Image credits: karmanovalive (not the actual image)

Image credits: IDONTKNOWPICKLES

There are many benefits to having a healthy and well-balanced diet

Image credits: Meruyert Gonullu (not the actual image)

A healthy diet not only helps protect against malnutrition, but also serves as a defence against  noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) like like diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, unhealthy eating contributes to approximately 678,000 deaths in the U.S each year.

Children who don’t eat enough healthy foods are at risk of growth and developmental problems, poor academic performance, and frequent infections. If their bad eating habits are left unchecked, they could continue to choose just chicken fingers right into adulthood. Much like the exhausted mom’s husband.

And of course, if an unhealthy eater doesn’t exercise, there’s the added risk of obesity. It’s a big problem in America, and some other parts of the world. The Center for Science in the Public Interest revealed that in the last 30 years, obesity rates have doubled in adults, tripled in children, and quadrupled in adolescents.

Eating the same three meals on rotation is unlikely to give you all the nutrients you need. Although it does depend on the ingredients of those meals. According to the “Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025“, the core elements of a healthy diet include fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy (lactose-free versions or fortified soy beverages as alternatives), protein and oils. “A healthy dietary pattern doesn’t have much room for extra added sugars, saturated fat, or sodium—or for alcoholic beverages,” reads the guideline.

Scientists say our genes play a part in how fussy we are when it comes to food

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It turns out that picky eating is a result of differences in DNA. “Food fussiness is not something that arises from parenting. It really does come down to the genetic differences between us,” said behavioral geneticist at UCL, Dr Zeynep Nas. Nas was part of a research team that looked into the reasons children refuse to eat certain foods.

The team recently compared the eating habits of identical twins and non-identical twins. Identical twins share 100% of their genes, while non-identical twins share only half. They found that fussy eating habits were more similar among identical twins than non-identical twins.

It wasn’t the first study to blame genetics for food fussiness. In 2022, an Italian research institute led a study into the genetics of food preferences. “Although flavour is the first driver of food choices, genetic differences are more likely to determine how the brain responds to them,” said lead researcher, Dr Nicola Pirastu.

Many parents will deal with picky eaters at some point in their journey

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Experts define picky eaters as those ‘who consume an inadequate variety of foods through rejection of a substantial amount of food that are familiar (as well as unfamiliar) to them’.

Psychology Today reports that picky eating affects around 20% of children in one way or another. “Navigating picky eating can be emotionally exhausting and triggers anxieties about nutritional deficiencies, growth delays, and health problems,” reads the site.

Some of the ways to combat picky eating in children are to lead by example in what you eat, to create a positive mealtime environment, to encourage mindful eating and to show your own curiosity and excitement about tasting new dishes.

Netizens shared their own similar stories and advised the mom to cook nice meals for herself

Some felt the mom was wrong for not cooking for her child

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