Odd Question

Sagegrad

New Member
Hi all! - New member here and I've been lurking for a bit but thought i'd throw this question out and see what answers I got.

Does anyone elses' difficult child have trouble identifying food? (I told you it was an odd question) My 8 yo absolutely cannot tell the difference between chicken, beef, pork, turkey, etc. She knows it is meat but she cannot tell us which it is. We make a point of telling her before the meal what it is that she's eating, but she still can't identify it for us.

When I cook, I do not use alot of gravies or sauces to hide the meat so that isn't an issue. Just wondering if anyone else has ever run into this.

thanks
Sage
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Hi there and welcome. Does your daughter have trouble discriminating between other things too, such as faces? Can she recognize people when she, say, runs into them in malls? Is this exclusive only to food? Also, tell us more about your daughter so we can get to "know" her and yourself.
It can be slow on weekends, but hang in there. Others will drop by.
 

totoro

Mom? What's a difficult child?
You know what? I have never asked my 7.5 yo! I will and see if she knows... she doesn't really like meat. I know they know what *bacon* is. But they don't know what the difference is if I cook, canadian bacon, turkey bacon or regular bacon.
Hmmm
 
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Sagegrad

New Member
MidwestMom - She has no trouble recognizing people, places, things etc. Just this quirkiness we've noticed with food. When she first came to live with us at 3 yo we assumed it was because of no one ever telling her what she was eating. So we made a point of telling her at every meal what it was she was getting, but she still hasn't picked it up. She can definately tell you if she likes it or not (absolutely refuses to eat anything with marks on it from the grill - says its "burned") and when given a choice between 2 (chicken or steak) will tell you which she wants but cant identify it if placed in front of her unannounced.

Sage
 

klmno

Active Member
My son had trouble (or either didn't care much) distinguishing meats from each other when he was young. He didn't have any problem with other foods or objects though. I can see where it might take a while to distinguish white meats (pork, turkey, chicken)..

I like MWM's question- is it only meats or do you see this in other areas?
 

Lothlorien

Active Member
I just asked my 8 yo if she knew the difference between the taste of pork or the taste of chicken and she does not.

I have no medical knowledge to confirm this, but I do believe this is true and I do believe there are studies out there to confirm this, though at the moment, I haven't the time to research this: taste buds are not fully mature, until children are older. Then as we age, we have less taste buds, therefore needing spicier foods.

If there is an issue with other foods, like tasting the difference between lemon flavor and cherry flavor, then I would ask your pediatrician.
 

Sagegrad

New Member
Thank you for your replies. I was just curious if anyone else had run across this. Makes sense that their taste buds aren't developed fully yet.

Sage
 

meowbunny

New Member
First and foremost, welcome! I see your daughter has Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD). If you ever need any specific help on this, shout out. I've been through the mill and back on this one. I'm sorry you have mood disorder thrown in the mix, too, but it could be a blessing in disguise because at least you have a chance at medications helping with some of the issues.

As to the "odd" question, I think it is more of a taste bud issue at that age. I never even thought of asking whether a younger child could tell what was what. They just normally knew what they liked and knew what it was called. Thinking back, I do remember my daughter asking what something was (turkey breast) because it wasn't in a shape she was used to. She knew chicken unless I cut it up and mixed it with something because she recognized the shape; not so sure she recognized the taste. Ditto steaks and hamburgers. I doubt she would have known they were beef, though, and even today a turkey burger is a burger to her. Pork chops she knew because they were a favorite. Ham not so much until she was older.
 

lillians

lillians
my 17 year old son still doesnt know,,nor does he care,, it tastes good or it doesnt according to his taste buds for the day,,, he also doesnt know the difference between cabbage and lettuce or spinach raw,,lol,,, if i mess up and cook the chicken wrong ,, he wont eat it,, but if its someway that appeals to him--i could easily call it steak
 

Fran

Former desparate mom
What an interesting question.
My son treats food like fuel. Unless it has a strong dislikeable taste it all just goes in. His criteria seems to be the easier to eat the better he likes it. Sandwiches, hamburgers vs. food that requires a fork and knife like steak.

He doesn't really notice if it is cold or hot outside unless it's very cold or very hot. Causes a bit of a problem with dressing appropriately.

His senses are in their own orbit from what I can tell. Smells, tastes, sensation are all sort of vague.
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Very interesting.

(Nice to meet you, too!)

My son still has problems but not too serious. We use it to our advantage when we want him to eat fish. No kidding!

He about blew a gasket when we told him that the tuna in cans is the same fish--cooked--that he eats raw when he has tekka maki. I told him to go read the label on the can.

I don't know if your daughter is genteel about her lack of discrimination, but my son will argue until Kingdom Come that he is RIGHT. No matter what he is eating, if he claims it's a certain food, then by golly, that's IT. (He once argued that potatoes were wheat.)

Have you tried placing several meats next to one another for comparison, for smelling, tasting and texture? Just a thought. I wouldn't suggest it as a huge scientific experiment; I would do it the next time you have leftovers and it won't be so obvious.
 

navineja

New Member
My girls are 7 1/2 and basically call all meat "chicken", with the exception of hamburgers and hotdogs. I don't have any special explanation for this- it is just what they do. I have noticed that most of their cousins around their age and younger do the same thing.

Oh and welcome. You will find amazing parents and great support here!
 
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