Your kids are picky eaters? Blame their genes, new study says | Canada Voices

Picky eating, common during early childhood, is a behaviour that causes parents frustration and stress.

It’s natural for parents of a fussy eater to worry their child isn’t eating a balanced and nutritious diet.

There’s blame too. Parents often feel responsible for their child’s limited diet and unwillingness to try new foods.

Now, a new study from King’s College London and the University of Leeds suggests that picky eating is largely explained by genetics, not parenting skills.

Here’s what to know about the study, its key takeaways and timely strategies that may help expand a young child’s diet.

About the study

The new findings come from the U.K. Gemini Study, an ongoing research project that enrolled 2,402 sets of twins born in England and Wales in 2007. The aim of the study is to explore how genetics and the environment affect childhood growth.

For the current analysis, published last month in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, parents completed questionnaires about their children’s eating habits when the children were 16 months, three, five, seven and 13 years old.

To separate genetic from environmental influences, the researchers compared picky eating between identical twin pairs and non-identical twin pairs. Identical twins share 100 per cent of their genes while non-identical twins share only 50 per cent.

Fussy eating habits were much more similar between identical twin pairs than they were among non-identical twin pairs, evidence that genetics plays a dominant role in picky eating.

Genetics explained 60 per cent of the differences in picky eating at 16 months, increasing to 74 per cent between the ages of three and 13.

Environment plays a supporting role

These findings shouldn’t leave parents feeling hopeless, though.

The researchers found that environment mattered too, especially in toddlerhood.

Sitting down as a family to eat meals and the types of foods eaten at home influenced picky eating in toddlers more so than in older children.

These shared environmental factors accounted for 25 per cent of individual differences in fussy eating at 16 months of age. They had only a slight effect in older years.

This suggests that encouraging children to broaden their food choices during the toddler years may be most effective.

This is in line with findings published in 2020. The researchers found that picky eating was persistent from preschool to school-age, suggesting that, in order to be effective, efforts to expand food preferences need to start before four years of age.

The current Gemini study also found that fussy eating habits became less similar between identical sets of twins as they got older.

Unique environmental factors, such as friends, accounted for 25 per cent of the variation in picky eating habits between the ages of seven and 13. Not surprisingly, peers become more important in shaping food preferences as children approach adolescence.

The Gemini study sample consisted mainly of White-British households of higher socio-economic status. The study findings may not apply to more diverse populations where food culture, parental feeding practices and food security may differ.

A window of opportunity for parents

These new findings revealed that picky eating is mostly influenced by genes. They do not imply, however, that picky eating can’t be changed in response to behavioural interventions.

While toddlerhood may represent a window of opportunity to broaden a child’s diet, parents can continue to encourage their child to eat a variety of foods throughout childhood. The following strategies may help.

Eat together

As often as possible, share meals as a family. Avoid distractions at meal time such as toys, smartphones and television.

Model healthy eating. Children are more likely to accept a new food if they see an adult or another child eating it.

Keep trying

Research has found it takes repeated exposures to a new food (as many as 15) before a child decides to try it.

Introduce one new food at a time, next to other foods your child likes. Keep portion sizes of new foods very small.

Avoid food bribes

Offering food bribes (“you’ll get dessert if you eat your vegetables”) teaches kids to dislike vegetables since eating them deserves a reward. It also sends the message that dessert is the best food.

Arrive hungry

Withhold snacks one to two hours before meal time to help ensure your child arrives at the table hungry and more receptive to new foods.

Get kids involved

From an early age, have kids participate in meal planning, preparing snacks, grocery shopping and setting the table. Doing so may help overcome fussy eating habits by piquing interest in foods.

Leslie Beck, a Toronto-based private practice dietitian, is director of food and nutrition at Medcan. Follow her on Twitter @LeslieBeckRD