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Lots of kids don't eat their broccoli but research shows that around 20 percent of them can actually be considered picky eaters. Most grow out of it, though.
Research also suggests that picky eating can be a sign of hypersensitivities that can occasionally cause social anxiety and depression.
Nancy Zucker, director of the Duke University Center for Eating Disorders, and her colleagues published a study in 2020 that looked at picky eaters aged 2 to 6. About 3 percent of the children in the study with extremely limited diets were also at a higher risk for mental health problems.
"They were twice as likely to have a depressive disorder diagnosis and seven times as likely to have a diagnosis of social anxiety," Zucker told NPR. So, according to her, parents who are raising an incredibly picky eater should be aware that it could be a sign of a bigger issue.
But most picky eaters aren't that extreme. However, Zucker said it's still worthwhile understanding what's going on with them as well.
"They're more sensitive to taste, to smell, to texture, to visual cues like things like light."
Again, in a situation where a kid really does have such a limited palate, Zucker suggests parents should remain alert but not give in to panic.
"So the way I think of these kids as these are sensitive kids... They're sensitive to their external world. They're sensitive to their internal world. They have a - potentially a richer, more vivid life experience ... That's not pathological, but it could be a vulnerability, you know, if it crosses a threshold where it starts to impair them."
For more similar confessions, check out these 30 Hilarious Tweets By Parents Who Were At The Mercy Of Their Fussy Eater Kids.
