Associate Professor Helen Zoe Veit has published a new book, Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History.
Today, most Americans assume that children are naturally picky eaters with sensitive tastes and narrow preferences. But this wasn’t always the case. Well into the 20th century, American children happily ate everything from spicy relishes to bitter greens, and adults saw kids as curious food-lovers who were fully capable of enjoying the same foods as adults. So where did pickiness come from? Ranging over more than 200 years, Picky explains the emergence of mass childhood pickiness by exploring both culture and science, tracing the rise of brand-new beliefs about “children’s food” and their unintended consequences in American lives. With empathy for the difficulties facing modern parents, Veit also suggests ways we can draw on past practices to raise happy, healthy, and far less selective young eaters today.
Picky is available from St. Martin’s Press.
RECENT PUBLICITY FOR PICKY:
- Michigan Public Radio: https://www.michiganpublic.org/stateside/2026-02-24/stateside-tuesday-feb-24-2026
- Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/picky-review-the-age-of-chicken-fingers-0cedb53e?mod=Searchresults&pos=1&page=1
- The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/15/opinion/junk-food-picky-eaters.html?unlocked_article_code=1.MlA.Ma_C.dvJsbQuFIJdx&smid=url-share
- Family Action Network (FAN): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MId2pB3xZJo
- WHYY: https://whyy.org/episodes/how-american-children-became-picky-eaters/
- Slate: https://slate.com/life/2026/03/parenting-picky-eating-kids-food.html
- WGN-TV: https://wgntv.com/morning-news/morning-news-guests/picky-how-american-children-became-the-fussiest-eaters-in-history/amp/
- WBUR: https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2026/03/05/picky-eaters-processed-food
- Next Big Idea Club: https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/5-cultural-myths-resulted-generation-picky-eaters-bookbite/59182/
- WNG: https://wng.org/opinions/the-problem-with-picky-eating-1772740482
- California Post: https://nypost.com/2026/03/07/lifestyle/american-children-are-the-pickiest-eaters-in-history-and-this-is-why/
- AOL: https://www.aol.com/articles/american-children-pickiest-eaters-history-190000536.html
- VICE: https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-american-kids-became-the-pickiest-eaters-in-history/
- The Bulwark: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/how-children-learned-to-hate-food-picky-veit
- KERA: https://think.kera.org/2026/03/25/how-america-made-its-kids-such-picky-eaters/
- KCRW (Press Play with Madeleine Brand): https://www.kcrw.com/shows/press-play-with-madeleine-brand/stories/for-la-city-council-president-police-reforms-are-personal
- KQED: https://www.kqed.org/news/12078814/is-your-kid-a-picky-eater-heres-what-to-know
- The Economist: https://www.economist.com/culture/2026/04/09/why-children-become-fussy-eaters
- PBS Newshour: https://www.pbs.org/video/settle-in-1778620448/
- Reach Out & Read podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reach-out-and-read/id1522976383
- Newsweek: https://www.newsweek.com/she-studied-kids-picky-eating-for-14-yearsheres-what-she-learned-12037103
- News Tribune: https://www.newstribune.com/news/2026/jul/05/from-the-stacks-how-childrens-diets-evolved-from/
- WUNC News: https://www.wunc.org/2026-07-08/think-picky-eating-is-inevitable-history-begs-to-differ-transcript
- Washington Examiner: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/premium/4647194/review-helen-zoe-veit-american-children-picky-eaters/