If you have kids or spend much time around them, you know that they can be picky when it comes to what they’ll eat. A new survey of moms and dads reveals just how much time they spend on food-related battles and compromises, and it’s a lot.
According to a poll of 2-thousand parents of school-age children, the average American parent spends 67 hours a year “in negotiation” with their kid.
- These moms and dads strike an average of five bargains a week with their child.
- Dinner is the most common meal for parents to get pushback from little ones on food and kids under age five are officially the pickiest eaters.
- Nearly half (44%) of parents admit they’re concerned that their kid’s pickiness is affecting their overall nutrition.
- The most common foods kids never say no to are pizza (76%), chicken nuggets (73%), fries (72%), mac and cheese (66%) and hamburgers (58%).
- Parents have figured out some strategies to help expand their kids’ culinary palettes, including pairing new foods with ones their kids already love (31%), getting kids involved in cooking meals (36%) and gradually introducing new foods (34%).
- About a quarter (26%) of respondents admit they were a picky eater as a child and are still a picky eater.
Most Common Kid Complaints At Mealtime
- “I don’t like vegetables/a certain vegetable” (37%)
- “I don’t like the smell” (33%)
- “I don’t like the way it looks” (32%)
- “It’s too spicy” (22%)
- “It’s too mushy” (18%)
- “I don’t want to eat something new” (14%)
- “It’s too plain/bland” (10%)
- “It’s boring” (9%)
- “I had this recently” (yesterday, at lunch at school, etc.) (9%)
- “It’s too chewy (9%)
Source: Talker