Same here, I don't have kids .... but my best example of parenting were my own parents. Mom made homemade food just about every day when I was a kid. She made food and we had to eat .... had to eat it. There was no option, no opinion or alternative. Mom ran the dinner table like a dictatorship ... there was no say or opinion in the matter ... you were served a plate of food and you ate it.

I don't say that I fully agree with it because I remember bawling my eyes out a few times because I didn't like the meal. However, it did force me to appreciate a lot of different foods because I just didn't know any better back then. Plus I was always taking in plenty of nutrition. One example I always think of now is ... fresh pan fried fish. We are indigenous and mom always pan fried four or five large fresh trout or arctic char (big fish that were about two feet long!) for the family every Friday (because we were also good Christians). She made nothing but pan fried fish, several stacks of them and it was basically all you could eat.

Problem was ... as a dumb kid ... I didn't like fish, so I stayed away from it for several years and just nibbled on it once in a while. Mom would make me eat a whole piece and I would force myself.

Later on, when I was about 18, 19, 20 I started liking the fish but then mom stopped making it all. Now I crave that damned fish and I want to tell my damned kid self to eat that fish and eat as much of it as he can. Man I miss all that fish now. I wish had it again.

Now I go to fish places or order fish specials and none of them taste any good and all I can imagine is mom's platters and platters of fresh fried fish that my uncles caught that afternoon. I'm sorry mom :(

Assuming we're just talking about a kid being picky/fussy/cranky and there's not some broader abuse or medical issue at play, then healthwise, sure. But there's other factors at play. Kids need to eat to grow. You also want the kids to start embracing good habits and shying away from bad ones, which sometimes means doing things they don't want to at times they don't want to.

Kids also don't always fully understand the signals their bodies are sending their brains and can get confused. So they actually are hungry, but their lack of energy and confusion (and just general preferences) mean saying they don't want to eat. In a situation like that, having the kid skip a meal actually makes the problem worse. There's other reasons too, but you get the idea.

From a health perspective, it's fine barring any medical issues. You could, however, run into trouble if CPS or something like that caught wind without context. Years ago I read a news article where a dad got in major hot water regarding custody of his kids because of that. It wasn't the most amicable divorce and when the ex-wife found out, she used that to argue for more custody.

Sone of it depends on age. You want the little ones fed despite themselves.

The problem is when they’re not your kids, or aren’t used to having boundaries set. Then it becomes a huge drama. While we tried to elicit preferences, we only made one dinner and they could eat it or not eat it.

When my kids became teens, I just handed my kids the website for a meal kit service and told them to pick what they wanted to make us next week

One of mine is in a tortilla and American cheese phase. I don't worry about it because I've seen kids have all kinds of food phases and as long as they're exposed to good food they'll get there eventually.

His brother pretty much just eats vegetables (either vegetable soup or salad), fruit, and will have a slice of pepperoni pizza once a week. That's about it.

Instead of yes, and, it's more of a no, but

It's working decently enough, and it's a joy when a request for something I like is made,

No apologies necessary! Toddlers and "bratty" are synonymous. I wasn't offended, merely making my point more clear.