What Won't Your Kids Eat? Our June Question of the Month

It seems like every kid has one—an unusual food aversion, a distaste for a widely-loved dish or an gag-reflex reaction to otherwise innocuous entrée. In our office, we discovered some uncommon and downright amusing food dislikes in our own children (or in ourselves when we were young!) and we became curious about what food items your kids just flat-out refuse to eat.

Our June Question of the Month asked you to share the foods that your kids don’t like and we found that no food group is immune! The top two most common answers would make fast-food restaurants sad with hamburgers coming out as the most disliked food (with nearly 11% of responses), and french fries / potatoes coming in a close second (with nearly 10% of responses). The peanut butter & jelly sandwich was a surprise as the third most common response, with 9% of your kids not enjoying this traditionally kid-friendly choice. The other 68% of responses truly ran the gamut of foods, with everything from corn dogs, eggs, pizza, ice cream, cheese pasta, bananas, seafood and spaghetti making an appearance. On the other hand, just over 2% of readers report that your children will eat practically anything.

Here are what our readers had to say about the foods that their kids won’t eat:

• Breea B. of Norman — Anything with red sauce and cheese is too messy for my four-year old. This is so frustrating for me because I grew up on pasta dishes, and they are some of the staples in my cooking repertoire!
• Kelly R. of Piedmont — Blakely will eat everything off her sandwich and leave the cheese!!
• Taryn T. of Midwest City — Both of my boys will not touch ice cream! I think its a sensory thing. They can’t stand the cold inside thier mouths! So funny since most kids love ice cream!
• Lori H. of Oklahoma City — Both of my kids don’t like mashed potatoes or stuffing. Our daughter has a sensory disorder and is very big on texture. My son he say he is just a meat and veggie boy and he is 10. I guess that is a good thing because they eat very healthy but don’t like those fatty, yummy carbs.
• Rhonda M. of Mustang — Don’t ask me why, but neither of my children – or my husband – will eat peaches. In a cobbler, maybe, but not plain. Usually, one child likes what the other doesn’t, but they both agree on this.
• Susan C. of Edmond — Emily won’t touch green beans because of the "little beans" inside. She says they look like bugs.
• Melissa S. of Warr Acres — Emmy, 10 will not eat french fries. Brogan, 10 will not eat spaghetti. Macaulin, 14 will not eat sausage, not even on pizza or with breakfast.
• Debbie V. of Oklahoma City — Every time my daughter eats peas she spits them out, even if I try to hide them in with something else. She is an expert at finding them and NOT eating them!
• Julie K. of Edmond — Goulash is a staple my mom used to make. It includes tomatoes, macaroni noodles, hamburger meat, cheese, and whatever else we can throw in. It is simple and can be nutritious and my kids hate it.
• Tonya B. of Edmond — Gracey does not like lemons because "they are so tart it makes her tongue squirt out!" Colton hates sausage because "its so stinky" Markey does not like spaghetti "it looks like worms"
• Leah M. of Edmond — He cringes and gags if I make him try to eat cheese. He is 9, and acts like eating cheese is absolutely revolting. Yet, he asks for nachos…of course he eats the chips only!
• Kerrie G. of Oklahoma City — He will eat pizza, but won’t eat plain tomatoes or spaghetti sauce
• Lauren F. of Oklahoma City — Hunter loves cheese. Everything makes cheese better, but he will not eat macaroni and cheese.
• Sherree W. of Oklahoma City — I am not sure why he won’t eat pot roast because it is delicious. The only way he will eat it is if he uses ketchup. Then we still have to force him to eat. He doesn’t even like to eat the carrots! He just wants ketchup on potatoes and eat a little meat. One of these days he will realize what he is missing out on.
• Richelle B. of Edmond — I cannot get my kids to eat hot dogs! My 8 year old is scared that they may have meat filler in them and my 6 year old just gags at the thought of them! I don’t get it. I buy good hot dogs too. Nope. They won’t touch them! 🙂
• Mary B. of Bethany — I have 3 kids and none of them will touch brocolli.
• Suzan M. of Moore — I have always put mustard on sandwiches, especially in the summer because it doesn’t go bad as fast as maynoaisse. When my children were littler, and I was a daycare provider, I had one little girl say she did not like mustard on her sandwiches and know my children refuse to eat, even to this day.
• Jennifer B. of Edmond — I have one child who will eat vegetables and no meat and one that will only eat meat
• Candice C. Oklahoma City — I have one picky eater out of five kids. My daughter KaNiyah will not eat bread, cake, cupcake, brownies, or anything with that texture. I have tried and tried to change that about her but she refuses to eat any bread or any type of foods with that texture.
• Lauren B. of Norman — I have the least picky 2-year-old eater I know, but she refuses to eat sweet potatoes. I guess I fed them to her too often when she was a baby!
• Merin G. of Edmond — I have twin boys, and one will eat just about everything, the other is a bit more finicky, especially with bananas – he loved them as a baby, but since they went from a jar to hiding inside a peel, he wants nothing to do with them.
• Valaurie P. of Moore — I think maybe it is the teture of steak that makes her dislike it. My daughter refuses to eat it no matter how it is cooked, or cooked by. She has tried it a couple of times for my husband, but absolutely refuses to eat it.
• Joy H. of Edmond — I thought ALL kids loved Jello! I made up a couple batches of jigglers in lots of fun shapes only to have my kids look at me like I was crazy and would do nothing more than lick one of them and refuse to touch them again.
• Libby D. of Midwest City — I’ve tried forever to get him to like bananas, but he hates them! I guess he’s like me, I do, too! 🙂
• Sharon H. of Edmond — Luke has never eaten eggs even as a baby trying new foods. He would eat french fries until he figured out they were potatoes.
• Floris R. of Norman — Most kids love spaghetti, but my son doesn’t like it.
• Sara G. of Oklahoma City — My 11 month old will eat anything, as long as its not peach-flavored. He hates all things peaches. Pureed, yogurt, puffs, hates them all when peachy.
• Sheila F. of Choctaw — My 13 year old daughter hates the smell and taste of anything fruity. Especially synthetic fruit flavors. She has been like that since she first started eating solid foods. When her older sister would put on fruity smelling lip gloss she would cry because she hated the smell so much! I have been able to get her to eat strawberries and apples and grapes but that is about all the fruit she will eat.
• Erin M. of Del City — My 2-year-old likes bread, and he likes sandwich meats… but he won’t eat a sandwich. Toast is okay, but not a sandwich.
• Melissa F. of Oklahoma City — My 3 year old daughter Abigail will not eat meat. Even if I try to hide the smalled piece in some mashed potatos she will spit it out and say yuck mommy! I just don’t understand. Maybe this is the start of a vegetarian? Who knows.
• Dana H. of Edmond — My 7 year old won’t eat meatballs or meat loaf, because he had a meatball one time with gristle in it and is convnced that every meatball and meatloaf will contain gristle!
• Kendra M. of Guthrie — My almost 3 year old daughter, Macie May, has never eaten a PB&J! What American kid doesn’t like those? Haha!
• Traci S. of Edmond — My basketball loving, speedy on the track, sixteen year old refuses to eat square cheese! What is the deal w/ that!
• Iisha B. ofmMidwest City — My boys are extremely picky eaters. From not eating their vegetables to not eating mac and cheese.
• Dianna S. of Edmond — My daughter Bethany will not touch vegetables. I try to hide it in other foods but she knows, she can pick out the tiniest little carrot piece in a pancake or anything else!
• Rebecca M. of Moore — My daughter Catelyn will not eat anything green. She has to be the pickiest eater on earth.
• Kyra H. of Yukon — My daughter doesn’t like cookies of any kind. She doesn’t even like kit kat bars because she thinks they have cookies in them. She is the only kid I know that doesn’t like cookies.
• Jemina R. of Oklahoma  City— My daughter hates stuffing. Even at thanksgiving, she will not eat it.
• Lesli J. of Midwest City—My daughter is allergic to peanuts, so she’s never had the pleasure of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, peanut butter cookies, or mmmm….peanut brittle. Oh, well, I guess no one will be laying their hands on my Butterfinger.
• Christina T. of Edmond — My daughter loved sweet potatoes when she first started eating baby food and she is 2 and won’t eat real sweet potatoes no matter what I do to them…she won’t eat mashed potatoes for anything!
• John D. of Edmond — My daughter loves raw carrots, but thinks they are disgusting cooked. Any type of roll or bread product must have the outer layer peeled off. Won’t touch anything the slightest bit spicy, except pepperoni!
• Lisa K. of Midwest City — My daughter really dislikes onions. I always try to sneak them into foods she likes to help her find a way to eat them that maybe she will enjoy, but she still finds them.
• Christi M. of Oklahoma City — My daughter who is 3 1/2 will eat tuna steak, regular steak (this is her favorite), cooked sushi, and any type of pasta dish, but until six months ago, I couldn’t get her to eat a normal PBJ (peanut butter and grap jelly) and still cannot get her to eat a hot dog. I have tried every type of hot dog since she was old enough to eat hot dogs and she won’t even touch one. I tried to slip her a corn dog once and she ate all of the breading from it and then gave the actual hot dog to our dog. I have never met a kid that didn’t appreciate a hot dog until now!
• Jamie B. of Moore — My daughter, Lindsay,10, believes if she eats tuna it is the same as eating one of her goldfish.
• Paige D. of Pauls Valley — My child doesn’t like spaghetti or lasagna or anything like it! Crazy!
• Tiffanie C. of Mustang — My family loves eggs. In fact, my grandpa used to raise chickens so we would always have plenty of eggs, but my son won’t touch them!
• Katie S. of Yukon — My girls are not too fond of French fries, will pass on the mashed potatoes, and refuse to touch potatoes baked or cut up. The only ones they’ll eat are the McCains smiley faces!
• Ginger C. of Kingfisher — My girls grew in my tummy for over 9 months and all I ate for those 9 months were red beans and Serapio’s (restaurant in El Reno) deluxe nachos, with beans and their cheese dip. I can’t believe neither of my girls will touch a bean. Not a butter bean, a red bean, refried beans, pork n beans or baked beans. I even tell them that they’ll have really good toots if they’ll eat beans. They giggle but still won’t eat them! Little stinkers!
• Janie S. of Bethany — My grandchildren love pizza and ketchup, but won’t eat tomotoes.
• Wendy W. of Choctaw — My kids detest tomatoes in the fresh form, but love ketchup and spaghetti sauce and even picante. They must get it from me because I don’t like them either.
• Cari M. of Piedmont — My kids do not like all the veggies that I put in my stew.
• Allison C. of Edmond — My kids don’t like red sauce – they love alfredo, which is of course higher in fat and calories!
• Anna C. of Norman — My kids will not eat hamburger in any form. My five year old told us she had eaten a hamburger for lunch one day at school and we were kind of excited that she had finally tried something different and liked it. We ordered a hamburger for her at a restaurant the next week and she proceeded to eat only the bun. We were kind of confused, then asked her if she was going to eat the meat. Apparently, she thought the bread part was the "hamburger." It was so funny we tried not to laugh, but we ended telling her the difference between the patty and the bun. So we are back to non-hamburger eating for now.
• London W. of Yukon — My little boy wont touch anything with sauce! No Ketchup, Mustard, Pizza Sauce, Cheese Sauce, NOTHING!
• Tracey F. of Stroud — My oldest will eat fries, fried potatoes and tator tots but will not touch mashed potatoes, not sure why but he will flat out refuse them.
• Jennifer J. of Lawton — My oldest won’t eat a hot dog bun until he was about ten and my youngest refused milk on his cereal until he was 6.
• LaDonna W. of Moore — My son hates pizza and my two daughers don’t care for it much either. We attended a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese once and, while everyone else ate pizza, my three kids sat there eating salad. Everyone kept complimenting me on getting them to eat well, but I didn’t do it! They did it all on their own!
• Melissa C. of Oklahoma City — My son is almost 2 and he will not eat peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, he will lick it to see what it is and then throw it away haha! Now my daughter on the other hand loves peanut butter and jelly and loves broccoli but if I try to get her to eat okra she gags on it and tries to make herself throw it up! I’ve tried just plain okra, fried okra, even boiled okra but she won’t eat it.
• Janita G. of Oklahoma City — My son is six now but until the age of four he would not eat cookies, candy, cake-not even his own birthday cake. He didn’t even like ice cream. He has since been influenced into eating some of this stuff by his brother but most days he takes a few bites and he is done. Just the other day he ate 3 sides (chocolate only) of an ice cream bar an proclaimed he was done!
• Michelle P. of Oklahoma City — My son will eat chicken nuggets and anything processed, but he won’t eat chicken that is grilled or baked!
• Natalie A. of Edmond — My son will not eat anything an onion has touched. Honestly even if it has been picked out of his food for him he claims the taste is ruined and he can still taste the onion flavor. James hates stuffing. He asked me…."Mom, why would you give me wet bread to eat?" LOL
• Sue M. of Edmond — My son will not eat anything that feels or looks like it might feel funny in his mouth is what he tells me. I can sometimes talk him into trying foods, but if he has the idea he won’t like it, he will spit it out whether he likes it or not! 🙂
• Carrie F. of OKC — My son will not touch french fries — even from McDonalds!! He tears them open and squishes out the potato part and says "OOO I don’t like P tatoes!"
• Christy R. of OKC — My son, now 6, would not touch Peanut Butter and Jelly EVER! However, I am guessing his taste buds changed come Kindergarten because it suddenly became cool to take peanut butter and jelly in your sack lunch. I am not sure if he is still eating them but he at least asks for them.
• Celina L. of Norman — My stepson and my youngest son didn’t like spaghetti sauce, so when cooking spaghetti we had leave some the pasta and meat plain for them to eat. My youngest also doesn’t like sloppy joe’s, he’s just not a fan of red sauces.
• Lara G. of Edmond — My two year old won’t touch anything that is remotely related to a noodle. So much for easy suppers!
• Karen P. Oklahoma City — None of my children will eat lettuce. For some reason they HATE it. It cannot be on hamburgers, salds, etc. Gosh forbid a restaurant uses it as garnish….they make me remove it for fear it will contaminate their food. It is actually funny sometimes.
• Vickie W. Oklahokma City — Now my daughter eats brocolli a lot. When I cooked chili, I could not add the beans until my daughter got out her portion, and she still does not like them.
• Jessica K. of Oklahoma City — Our son will eat all his meat (chicken, pork, hamburger, etc) but when it comes to green beans, he’ll pick them up and then put them right back down!
• Terri L. Oklahoma City — Rebecca (3) loves almost all other fruits, apples, oranges, bananas, watermelon, pears, etc but won’t touch peaches – she makes the funniest face everytime she tries them.
• Jennifer D. of Norman — Sadly, I have three very picky eaters in my house: My daughter, who is incredibly discriminating and, until recently, wouldn’t even eat pizza – she lives on a diet of cheese, crackers, peanut butter and fruit; My son, who is much more liberal with his menu, won’t eat most vegetables; and my husband, who could live on processed meats but won’t touch a salad because "the texture is weird."
• Jennifer S. of Oklahoma City — Pizza! I think it is because I lived on pizza while I was pregnant. It was the only thing I craved and the only thing I would eat so now the 7 yr old boy is anti-pizza.
• Dee H. of Del City — She just doesn’t prefer the taste of pork chops, spareribs etc. I don’t know what it is about the scalloped potatoes, maybe the cheese or the texture.
• Teresa H. of Bethany — She loves pulled pork and pork roast but won’t eat pork chops.
• Lorrie S. of Oklahoma City — The boys will only eat green beans and no other vegetables!
• Theresa S. of Mena — They absolutly hate corn dogs
• Stephanie S. of Oklahoma City — They all loved broccoli as babies in their baby food, but now they will not eat it. We have even tried mixing it in other foods, or putting cheese over it, they will not even try it.
• Sherry B. of Oklahoma City — They don’t like corn. They think the color is like big bird.
• Deanna A.of El Reno — They will eat mashed potatoes, french fries, tator tots, and about any other potato but refuse to eat baked potatoes!
• Carmen S. of Edmond — They will eat the uncrustables, but they just aren’t sandwich eaters!
• Karen M. of Norman — Try as I may, vine ripe tomatoes will not be ingested by my children (even now that they are grown!)!! They love tomato sauce, ketchup, and other tomato products. Funky!
• Dorothy H. of Spokane Valley — We limit sweets, so we thought the kids were in for a real treat the first time we let them try cotton candy at an event. No such luck. Our middle daughter HATED it and, to this day, won’t touch it and turns away in disgust.
• Claret L. of Midwest City — When I make spaghetti, I have to take out my son’s noodles before I add the spaghetti sauce or he gags before the fork even gets to his mouth
• Amanda H. of Yukon — When I was a kid I did not like peanut butter, I would not even have a sandwich with jelly either and now both of my kids do not like peanut butter.
• Lori C. of Arcadia — When my girls were little, they loved cheese! As they got older they kept pushing it away and now they won’t eat it at all.
• Jill J. of Moore — Who ever heard of a kid not liking bananas, but my little one wont touch them.  She is missing out on a easy treat….Darn!

For our August issue, we are asking readers to weigh in on how they feel about the year-round school calendar adopted by Oklahoma City Public Schools—and be entered to win our Monthly Giveaway prize pack worth over $500! Give us your feedback here!