Science!

Very interesting
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Parents who find themselves exasperated by their child’s fussy eating, take heart: the refusal to tuck into a broader range of foods is largely down to genes rather than parenting, according to scientists.

Researchers investigated eating habits in toddlers to teenagers and found that on average fussiness over food changed little from 16 months to 13 years old. There was a minor peak in pickiness at seven years, then a slight decline thereafter.

When they looked into the drivers of fussy eating, DNA emerged as the dominant factor. Genetic variation in the population explained 60% of the differences in pickiness at 16 months, rising to 74% and more from three to 13 years old, the study found.


The finding suggests that eating only a narrow range of foods and grimacing at the prospect of trying something new are more down to nature than nurture. It also points to windows of opportunity when interventions to encourage a more varied diet might be more effective.

Dr Zeynep Nas, a behavioural geneticist at UCL, said: “The main takeaway from this work is that food fussiness is not something that arises from parenting. It really does come down to the genetic differences between us.”……

https://www.theguardian.com/food/20...enetics-research-shows?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other