Picky Eaters ? Science Finally Reveals Why and Gives Parents a Message

If your child doesn't like to vary his diet and eats very few vegetables, it's not necessarily your fault. According to a scientific study, there is a reason!

Children's diet is often complicated. They can be “picky eaters”, not accepting to eat a wide variety of foods. Vegetables are, most of the time, the big black spot. Parents then look for an explanation and tend to feel responsible. A study, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, has therefore looked into the subject to find the origin of this eating disorder.The researchers looked at eating habits from toddlers to teenagers. They analyzed data from the British Gemini study of 2,400 twin pairs, in which parents completed questionnaires about their children's eating habits at 16 months, 3 years, 5 years, 7 years and finally 18 years. 13 years old.

They analyzed the differences between “identical twins”, who share 100% of their genes, and “fraternal twins” who share only 50%. An interesting case study since identical twins have the same genomes and environments, while the others only have the environment in common. This allowed them to study the origins of children's behaviors towards food.

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< p>They then found that identical twins had more similar eating habits than fraternal twins, opening the door to genetic explanation. According to the study, genetic variation explained 60% of the differences in behavior toward food at 16 months. This rises to 84% at 5 years, then drops to 77% at 7 years and 74% at 13 years. According to behavioral geneticist Dr. Zeynep Nas, “the main takeaway from this research is that fussiness is not a child-rearing phenomenon. It is actually genetic differences between us”.

Of course, the environment also plays a role, particularly in the way meals are taken, with the family or not, and the foods consumed by those around us. It is around 16 months that the influence of the family cocoon is strongest. After 7 years, it is more individual experiences, particularly with friends, that take up space and contribute to the variation in relationships with food.

Dr Alison Fildes, co-author of the study at the University of Leeds, said that despite the genetic impact, parents could still contribute to their children's balanced diet: “Although eating disorders have a strong genetic component and can extend beyond early childhood, this does not mean that they are fixed. Parents can continue to encourage their children to eat a wide variety of foods throughout childhood and adolescence. The researchers hope that these findings will reduce parental anxiety on this topic.