In her New York Times opinion piece, Associate Professor Helen Zoe Veit explains how modern childhood pickiness emerged in the 20th century as food companies aggressively marketed sugary, salty, highly processed snacks directly to kids and normalized personalized “child-pleasing” meals. This shift, she writes, has contributed to poorer health, greater family stress, and a loss of culinary joy—but parents can still help children rediscover diverse, shared foods.
Read the full article: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/15/opinion/junk-food-picky-eaters.html?unlocked_article_code=1.MlA.Ma_C.dvJsbQuFIJdx&smid=url-share