Food Aversion versus Picky Eating

By definition food aversion is a strong disinclination and avoidance for a particular food. On the other hand picky eating is defined as an unwillingness to eat familiar food or try new food and strong a food preferences. Individuals who are picky eaters generally have more than 30 different foods in their diet. They eat something from each food group fruit, veggies, diary, lean meats. Those who have food aversion issues have far less and can even omit an entire food group. I am currently struggling with food aversion ,issues will all three of my little ones it is a daily struggle. Consistently introducing new foods as much as possible. Letting them know it's nice to take a polite bite and if they don't like it that's okay. I also find myself reintroducing foods they once ate and no longer care for. Food aversion is a part of sensory processing disorder. Food aversion manifests through our senses of taste, smell, and touch. It can derive from texture issues, strong smells, taste, and even sight. Texture issues is one of the main primary examples of this you notice. I myself struggled with sensory processing issues as a child. I still can't bring myself to eat jam or jelly, because texture and also because of the way it looks like squashed worms on a sidewalk on a rainy day. I think a lot of issues has to do with a signals going off in our brains that tells us something is not supposed to be that way. Our imaginations can be so strong that they affect our quality of life.

There is a YouTube channel called super simple songs, it's a channel for kids and there a few particular songs that will ask do you like a certain food such as pickles and then another like mayonnaise, then if you like them together. Now imagine pickles in mayonnaise. Combining two perfectly good items together that are fine separately but gross together. That can be why some of us avoid certain foods. The mixture of flavors or textures is not pleasing to our palates. These issues should be taken seriously. Some of us can “stomach” foods we dislike. However others may actually get sick or have bad adverse reactions. Please trust the people in your life about their food preferences. When it comes to children, I’m not saying only feed your kid the foods they like, but please don’t force them to eat foods they have aversions to. Many people still have these aversions as adults I know I still do.