Blasphemy!

But an intriguing concept/theory.

Oddly enough, since I was a latch-key kid, I made all my own meals starting at the age of six. My mom didn't buy sweets/snacks though.

The Skinny on Kids' Diets

'Davis began studying each child just as he or she was being weaned, so later food choices wouldn't be affected by earlier eating experiences. She studied some children for as long as 4.5 years, offering them foods drawn from a list of 34 ingredients, plus water.

These included such instant baby-pleasers as turnips, cabbage, spinach, bone marrow, sweetbreads, brains, liver, and kidneys. To be fair, there were also other vegetables, fruit, whole grains, eggs, beef, lamb, and chicken. Distinctly absent were candy, soda, ice cream, and prepared foods, and even foods like soups or bread that could be made from the 34 ingredients on the list.

Food was never served, but simply made available. Nurses trained not to encourage or discourage eating, or to influence food choice, were present as needed to help with the feeding.

Did the experiment work? For my purposes, very well, since the results pretty much support the advice I've been giving parents. Davis found that each of the 15 kids she studied selected a unique diet for himself or herself.

The kids might binge on foods that attracted them at one meal, but by the end of the day (or, truth be told, several days), the total food they'd eaten added up to a nutritionally perfect and complete diet for every one of them.

The kids grew well and Davis described them as unusually happy and healthy ("rollicking and rosy-cheeked").'