There's this video making the rounds on Instagram right now of a boy who looks to be about four years old, not happy about a happy meal.

Wait, what's a hamburger to you?

It's a hamburger! You put tomatoes and stuff on it.

This is not a hamburger, just a bun and a pickle.

I know. Some commenters blame the parents. Others note that meltdowns over meals are just part of

childhood for a lot of kids. Except forget the wrong kind of fast food. Did you know that

American kids used to get excited about lima beans and organ meats and tomato aspic. Finneky

eating is mostly a modern phenomenon, and it was invented by adults. From KERA in Dallas, this is

think. I'm Chris Boyd. Helen Zoe Veit is a historian, writer, associate professor of history

at Michigan State University, and director of the What America ate and America in the Kitchen

projects. Her new book explores why we even have a category of so-called

kid foods, why those foods are not very nutritious, and why so many children are unwilling to

try other things. The title of that book is Picky, How American Children Became the Fussiest

Eaters in History. Helen, welcome to think. Thank you so much for having me.

I'll note at the outset in case anybody is already feeling defensive,

you say it's not really the fault of 21st century American parents if their kids are not good eaters.

Not remotely. No, this is one of the biggest messages of the book is that parents feel often terrible about how their children eat.

Many children, you know, are seemingly haters of vegetables, despite everything parents have done to try to get them to like healthy foods.

Parents have heard that it's important that kids eat nutritious stuff.

They've heard that, you know, children's health is being affected by their diets today and by

piquiness. And yet they're also told at the same time, you shouldn't really worry about what

kids eat. They'll figure it out over time, their taste will naturally expand.

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