Change in food preferences

[NaturalMamma]

Our DD is 9.5yo. She has always had healthy eating habits. She nursed until she was almost 4, had home-made toddler food, almost all of our food is organic (dairy, meat, produce, etc), we eat a lot of whole grains...she's never had a McD hamburger.

I think her food preferences are still pretty good compared to the non-crunchy population (she likes broccoli, raw peppers, she still likes my recipe of creamed spinach, etc.). But over the course of this past year she's started to say things like, "I hate that" when she previously liked it (like brussel sprouts). And I guess she got a taste of white french bread and ciabatta bread and decided she's not interested in whole grain bread, can't stand bread with seeds, etc. (BTW We homeschool so she isn't exposed to a lunch room of kids eating junk/fast food.)

Well, you get the picture.

I should say that she is in the beginning stages of puberty. She started developing breast buds about 6 mos ago. (I thought this would happen later and I'm guessing it's genetic b/c, like I mentioned, we eat organic meat and dairy so she isn't flooded w/hormones and we don't eat much soy...) Are changes in food preferences a normal part of the pre-puberty process? Do children's taste buds change during this time? Will she revert back to her days when she appreciated whole foods more?

This all makes me sad b/c I fear that all my hard work in feeding her healthy foods and keeping her cavity-free will go to pot during the puberty years.

Your thoughts?

[ollyoxenfree]

I think food preferences may develop and change at any point. I know my ds loved certain fruits as a toddler - by the time he was school age, he couldn't abide them.

I think our taste buds change as we get older and we develop different preferences. Exposure to new foods/tastes/textures can influence preference, as well as peer pressure. Then there's the whole issue of control. Control can come into play at any point, but certainly a lot of adolescents focus on controlling their food because they CAN. Unlike the lack of control they may feel about their changing bodies or because parents insist on controlling what the child eats.

So I'd say there are a lot of possible factors that influence changing food preferences. I'd be careful about making it a huge issue. There are foods that I dislike eating. I don't buy them to cook at home, I don't order them in restaurants and I would be offended if someone told me I must eat them. Since I have preferences that I like to be respected and honoured, I try to do the same for my children.

[NaturalMamma]

Originally Posted by ollyoxenfree

I'd be careful about making it a huge issue. There are foods that I dislike eating. I don't buy them to cook at home, I don't order them in restaurants and I would be offended if someone told me I must eat them. Since I have preferences that I like to be respected and honoured, I try to do the same for my children.

ITA Our DD has never liked raw tomatoes (she loves cooked tomato sauce and soup, though) and I never pushed her to eat them. DH didn't like tomatoes as a child either. Oftentimes there may be food sensitivities that are associated w/food pref so I keep that in mind too.

But the issue I have is not individual food preferences throughout life, but a *change* in my DD's food preferences. If she always hated whole grain bread or brussel sprouts, I'd say fine, that's her. But she always loved them in the past and is frowing on them just recently. So I'm curious why.

[Storm Bride]

I've seen this happen before. DS1, for example, loved broccoli until he was about 10 or 11. He wouldn't touch it for years, but is slowly getting back to where he doesn't hate it, anymore. He doesn't love it like he did as a small child, but he doesn't dislike it, either.

My tastes changed in adolescence, and I became a junk food junkie. There are a ton of things I liked then that I won't touch now.

IME, it's quite common, for some reason, for teens to like junkier food. I used to think it was a peer issue, but I'm not so sure, anymore. They do seem to mostly ougrow it later, though.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by NaturalMamma

ITA Our DD has never liked raw tomatoes (she loves cooked tomato sauce and soup, though) and I never pushed her to eat them.

This is interesting. I was the opposite - loved them raw, but hated them cooked. Until my mid-to-late teens, I wouldn't touch spaghetti, pizza, tacos, chili or anything else with cooked tomatoes (I still hate ketchup and tomato soup...at least the commercial kind - I've never tried it homemade). My mom was the same. I started eating pizza, spaghetti, chili and tacos in my late teens. These days, I cook butter chicken and other dishes based on cooked tomatoes, and love them. Tastes change.

[ollyoxenfree]

Originally Posted by NaturalMamma

ITA Our DD has never liked raw tomatoes (she loves cooked tomato sauce an
But the issue I have is not individual food preferences throughout life, but a *change* in my DD's food preferences. If she always hated whole grain bread or brussel sprouts, I'd say fine, that's her. But she always loved them in the past and is frowing on them just recently. So I'm curious why.

I guess my point is that individual food preferences change all the time, and for a number of reasons, as I mentioned above. I thought it was quite common, although I've known it to happen at a younger age - children who won't touch peas even though they hoovered mashed pea mush as babies etc.

Yes, taste buds change. Children are much more attuned to "sweet" than adults. The ability to taste can also decline with age. Sensitivities can develop. People can become "sick of" the taste of certain foods that they overindulge in. They can associate a food with a bad experience or illness and develop an aversion. As they are exposed to new flavours or textures they can develop a new appreciation.

There are lots of reasons for a change in preference.

[lorijds]

Let's not forget psychosomatic reasons.

I used to love mushrooms, then at some point I started HATING them. I mean, I *really, really* hate mushrooms. I cannot force myself to eat something that has mushrooms in it.

I was eating at my mom's house when I was home from college, and my mom served something with mushrooms, and I reminded her that I absolutely don't eat them, and she sighed and said "All this drama because I made you eat mushroom loaf when you were sick!" I had no idea what she was talking about. Apparently when I was 4 or 5, I told her I wasn't feeling well, and she thought I was faking. She made me eat some sort of "mushroom loaf" dish and shortly afterwards I started puking my guts out, and did so for three days. She said my aversion to mushrooms started then. I have absolutely no memory of this.

I also cannot to this day eat things that made me vomit while I was pregnant.

And once I had a bad night while out drinking fruity drinks. I didn't get sick--I got ditched and humiliated by a boyfriend. Since then, I cannot drink fruity drinks.

So, while taste buds change and grow, there is also something to be said about the psychological and health associations we have with food. Perhaps she felt ill after eating something or had a bad day that culminated with a bad dinnertime, and subconsciously associates it with that food.

[smpayne]

I have two boys (14 & 10) and YES their tastes can seem to change daily. I also have noticed that they crave certain foods just before/during growth spurts. Up until recently neither of my boys would even touch lasagna and this weekend, they both decided it was pretty good. When my 14yr old entered Jr High, his tastes began to change dramatically (taste as well as texture make a difference). All of a sudden, he started to like things I couldn't get him to touch before.

Girls may need more carbs and fats in her diet as they start puberty, this may be the reason for her craving the softer white breads. Where many girls today get an overload, it doesn't sound that way at your house. My 14yr old also craved salty foods more often.

9.5yr is a normal age to start puberty. Watch out for the severe emotional mood swings, even my ds suffered with those from age 10-13, things seem to have leveled out now (have chocolate on hand). Wacky hormones definitely mess with our taste buds (otherwise we wouldn't have pregnacy cravings, etc).

[karne]

My preteen primarily tends toward savory/salty/spicy foods, but lately she is all about sweet foods. This is a pretty big change of taste for her, and it's not peer related, or pressure to eat certain things. We eat a fairly healthy diet most days, but I think that this has something to do with the age as well. I would absolutely not make a big deal about it, unless you want to have a big deal on your hands

[MusicianDad]

Food preferences can always change. Think about it, we can all come up with something we used to hate but now love, or something we loved but now hate.

I used to eat peanut butter everyday, sometimes more then once a day. Now I can't stand it.

If she's still eating healthy, I honestly wouldn't worry about it.