WHY DO KIDS EAT SO WEIRD? Two and three year olds do seem to eat pretty weird. Thatâs because they eat the way Mother Nature wants them to, not the way we want them to. Mother Nature is faced several problems with feeding toddlers and preschoolers. The first problem is how to get enough calories a day into a stomach the size of a lemon. She came up with a couple of good solutions to the first problem. First calorie solution: Switch over to calories in favor of nutrients. She just gets kids to switch over to fats and carbohydrates instead of fruits and veggies. They need constant fuel, not nutrients. If they filled up on fruits and veggies they would never get enough calories. Mother Nature is really scrupulous with nutrients though. She holds on to them like crazy, until she runs out. Most of us have seen a child detect their need for a nutrient, and then suddenly gobble down something they never liked -a whole bowl of green beans, or TWO bananas. Glory hallelujah! So you go out and load up the grocery cart with bananas and green beans. Of course, the next day they hate them. They got the nutrient they needed, now bring on the macaroni. Liken it to a car that needs gas all the time, but an oil change only every 3000 miles. Second calorie solution: Snack all day. Three meals a day in that tiny stomach just wouldnât do it. They would never get enough calories like that. They are supposed to graze. So Mother Nature gets these kids to eat macaroni and cheese, pasta, crackers every couple of hours. Donât expect them to sit there and eat like adults. The Other Big Feeding ProblemâSuper - mobility The other feeding problem Mother Nature is faced with is really interesting, because it actually has to do with a child's new found super-mobility. At eighteen months you have got a child who can not only walk, but climb, explore, and open things. If this kid wanted to, he could go out and forage for his own food. I am certain that many, many generations ago there were children who went out and did find their own food. Mushrooms, berries, plants. These experimenting children ate things that werenât too good for them to say the least. To say the most, they didnât pass on those gastronomically adventurous toddler genes to later generations. So the real survivors were the ones that Mother Nature tells to never eat anything new. NEVER eat anything you havenât seen a gazillion times. Just eat what you ate yesterday; that sounds like a plan. In fact, pretty much eat the same thing every day. It's good for you. It is interesting to see how this is related to super mobility. An eight month old who really is unable to forage, will try most anything. There is no need to put that safety factor in there. The more mobile they get, the less likely they will be to eat new things. Thatâs Mother Nature at work. Itâs a safety precaution. So when do children begin to try new foods? When they are old enough to understand the statement "Hey, are you crazy, donât eat that, itâll make yaâ sick." Those Moms that tell you that their kids eat everythingâ broccoli, salads, fresh fruitsâ.THEY are the ones you gotta worry about.