I never got the starving children in where-ever routine. I got the "there is no other option" routine. I wasn't forced to clean my plate, but if I didn't eat my dinner and I got hungry, I could have hot milk with bread dipped in it. Period. My mother was Swiss and didn't believe in American food. I would be amazed when I went over to my little pals' homes and they had stuff like cookies or even peanut butter. My Mom refused to buy sweets (my Dad would sometimes sneak them home), soft drinks, peanut butter, or cold cereal. I had to eat either oatmeal or soft boiled eggs for breakfast and I DID have to eat breakfast, I got a thermos of soup and some fruit for lunch, and dinner was usually hamburger or pork chops, rice or potatoes and a veggie. No dessert. Like it or go hungry.
The kid in the OP would have died of starvation by age 3 if he'd grown up at my house.
