Helen Veit, "Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History" (St Martin's Press, 2026)

About this episode

Dr. Helen Veit discusses her book on how American children became the fussiest eaters in history and the cultural shifts that led to this change.

Are children naturally picky? It sure seems that way. Yet, amazingly, pickiness used to be almost nonexistent. Well into the 20th century, Americans saw children as joyful omnivores who were naturally curious and eager to eat. Of course, this doesn't make sense today. Don't kids have special taste buds? Aren't they highly sensitive to food's texture and color? Aren’t children incapable of liking “adult foods,” and don’t parents risk harming kids psychologically by urging them to eat?But Americans in the past didn’t think any of those things. They assumed that children could enjoy the same foods as adults, and children almost always did. They loved spicy relishes, vinegary pickles, and bitter greens. They spent their allowances on raw oysters and looked forward to their daily coffee. So how did modern kids become such incredibly narrow eaters? The story is fascinating – and about much more than rising abundance. Picky: How American Children Became the Fussiest Eaters in History (St Martin's Press, 2026) by Dr. Helen Veit shows how fussy eating came to define "children’s food" and reshape American diets at large. Maybe most importantly, it explains how we can still use the tools…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Miranda Melcher

Guest: Helen Veit

Topics covered

• picky eating
• American children
• food culture
• historical diets
• parenting
• child development

Keywords

• picky eaters
• children's food
• American diets
• food preferences
• parenting strategies

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: St Martin's Press

More episodes of New Books in Sociology

• Aditya Deshbandhu, "The 21st Century in 100 Games" (Routledge, 2024) · June 9, 2026 · 1h 1m
• Ladan Rahbari and Olga Burlyuk eds., "From the Margins: Migrant Academics’ Narratives of Precarity" (Open Book Publishers, 2026) · June 8, 2026 · 58 min
• Dating Apps, Queer Stigma, and Digital Intimacy in Kazakhstan · June 8, 2026
• Radio ReOrient S14:10: Muslims in the Neoliberal Era, with William Barylo, hosted by Salman Sayyid and Amina Easat-Daas · June 5, 2026 · 58 min
• Alex Law, "The Roots of Sociology: Scottish Enlightenment and the Civilising Process" (Routledge, 2026) · June 2, 2026 · 1h 34m
• Julie J. Park, "Race, Class, and Affirmative Action: College Admissions in a New Era" (Harvard Education Press, 2026) · May 31, 2026 · 1h 2m