Curtis Stone: Stop Pandering To Fussy Eaters

Celebrity Chef, Curtis Stone thinks that parents should let their kids go hungry more often to encourage them to eat what they are given.

Speaking with the Herald Sun newspaper, the internationally famous Melbourne chef said parents are doing themselves no favours by pandering to picky eaters.

He recommends parents storing food in the fridge if kids refuse to eat the food that is given to them and then serve it up again at the next meal.

He also told the newspaper that no snacks should be offered between meals, so that children are hungry enough to eat the dish the next time it is served.

“Say you make a fish pie and the kids won’t eat it; I’d wrap it up, put it away and offer it again later when they’re hungry,” said Curtis, who has two boys, Hudson, 4, and Emerson, 1. “What’s wrong with fish pie for breakfast? I’d love a fish pie for breakfast. I think the problem is too many parents worry about their kids being hungry that they let their children dictate what they eat.

“I don’t see the big deal in letting kids go hungry a few times. They’ll eat when they’re hungry.”

Throughout the interview, Curtis urged parents to experiment with flavours and to expose children to spices from an early age.

“Try incorporating the vegetables into the meal with a chicken casserole or a bolognese,” he said.

Appearing as a guest judge on the hit TV show, My Kitchen Rules (MKR), Curtis acknowledged that home cooking was often more challenging than working as a chef in a restaurant.

He said that he often picked up recipe ideas from watching others in the kitchen and was very impressed by the level of culinary skill displayed on MKR.

Curtis said he had a strong empathy for contestants competing on the reality TV show, having experienced it himself when competing on the US version of The Celebrity Apprentice with Donald Trump. Curtis placed fourth overall in the competition.

Laughing at the suggestion he would be lending his support to Trump’s current presidential campaign, Curtis replied:

“My mother always told me never discuss religion or politics,” he told the newspaper. “But it just shows, anything can happen in the land of the free.”

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24 Comments

- - meedee said
  - 13 Sep 2021
    10:39 am
100% ….no special meals for the fussy ones. BUT if there is something that a child seriously hates then dont try and force it down their throats. I hate bananas and would be seriously sick if i was forced to eat one.

- - ella12 said
  - 31 Aug 2016
    4:30 pm
I also store food in the fridge if my little one doesn’t want to eat .

- - mom113991 said
  - 30 Apr 2016
    10:45 pm
i always feel like im a bad mum when i tell them to eat meal served to them or nothing else. i usually always give in to them….however when i dont give in…they ALWAYS come back to their plate and eat whats on it otherwise i then know that they really are FULL! lol

- - aprilb1 said
  - 05 Apr 2016
    11:53 pm
If they are hungry they will eat, simple as that

- - BellaB said
  - 03 Apr 2016
    5:25 pm
I do offer foods more than once – but don’t let my kids go hungry.

- - robyn_smithwick said
  - 21 Mar 2016
    8:32 pm
I am sure Curtis is referring to kids that are perfectly healthy but fussy eaters. I do not think for one minute he is applying this theory to kids that have an allergy or a specific illness that requires a specialized food intake.

- - robyn_smithwick said
  - 21 Mar 2016
    8:25 pm
This is basically a good idea in some ways. I always allowed my kids to have 2 things that they did not have to eat if they disliked it after trying it a couple times. One of my daughter’s never liked pumpkin and hates it to this very day! lol! One of my son’s will tolerate it if he has to yet the other son loves it. Fortunately they all loved spuds, carrots, peas and beans and cauliflower. Brussel sprouts were not a fav either .Hubby hates those! lol!! We are all different. I USED TO HATE ONION WHEN I WAS A KID NOW I ADORE IT COOKED but I don’t like it raw in salads etc.

- - mum4107 said
  - 17 Mar 2016
    6:30 am
I think I’ll stick with what a dietician told me. Serve them something they like, along with something new or something they say they don’t like.then they at least try it.I have a child who is texture sensitive. My daughter gets fruit after dinner regardless of if she ate all her dinner or not.Curtis stone is no parenting expert and this theory is not for everyone

- - mom81258 said
  - 16 Mar 2016
    5:10 pm
Good on you Curtis, thats what my parents did for me and I have done the same with my children. No fussy eaters in our household and no food is wasted. Now my children are going it for their children.

- - sundancerau said
  - 16 Mar 2016
    1:04 pm
i agree with curtis stone kids have to experience all kinds of food, taste buds change, if offered the food enough,

- - rovermum said
  - 16 Mar 2016
    12:35 pm
I do agree with Curtis, but it is also easier said than done. I’ve never been one to make separate meals for anyone in our family, but we do tend to eat more of the vegies etc. for the purpose that I know my son will eat them.

- - mom134803 said
  - 16 Mar 2016
    9:51 am
Sure agree with Curtis. I always say to my kids “I’m not a restaurant where you can order what you please”, sometimes we eat what you like, other meals you might not like so much and that’s ok. However there are things I don’t make a big deal of. My son doesn’t like raw tomato’s in salad for example, but he likes raw mushroom so he gets raw mushrooms while my daughters get raw tomato’s. Myself and some of my kids eat vegetarian, whilst the other half of the family eats meat. I prepare both vegetarian and meat dishes. Or there might be certain foods they don’t tolerate, that’s reason to see things less strict as well I think.

- - bronnyc said
  - 16 Mar 2016
    8:22 am
This is good in theory but, has he ever been served food he hates? What would he do if he lived in our house? Our son (now 20) had his 1st brain surgery for a tumour at 5 1/2 (he’s now had 9 surgeries on his brain) and this altered his taste buds & the sensations he feels in his mouth (amongst other issues) so he often doesn’t eat what we eat. Now would Curtis force his children (or any other child) to eat when they can’t tolerate foods offered or let them go hungry?

- - KazaM said
  - 16 Mar 2016
    8:02 am
I 100% completely agree with Curtis and his words mimick those of my mum. My son is almost 2 and isn’t normally a fussy eater which is great, but he does every so often he does put on a fussy when we are eating dinner. My mum has always said to me “he won’t starve, if he’s hungry he will eat” and if this happens we put the food in the fridge and he will eat it for lunch the next day or whenever he is hungry, the main part is, he will always eat it & to this day he has never starved, he’s now old enough to come to me and let me know when he’s hungry

- - rick said
  - 16 Mar 2016
    6:34 am
Great work Curtis. Way too many kids dictate what happens in their homes, not just what they eat and it is creating a monster that will be harder to control as they get older. Families don’t have money to waste on making several meals a night, so kids have to learn that what is cooked for tea, will be the same as everyone else and they need to eat it. Stop letting kids make the rules.