Anyone who has a picky eater at home has probably felt loads of anxiety and guilt over what their kiddo puts in their body: Will they get the nutrients they need? Will they always be this picky? Is there something I could have done differently? Well, parents, take a deep breath and relax… at least a bit. A new study published in the Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry has found that genetics play a bigger role in fussy eating than previously realized.
Consisting of 2,400 sets of twins (identical and non-identical) from England and Wales, beginning at 16 months and concluding at 13 years, according to Science Daily, the study found that “genetic differences in the population accounted for 60% of the variation in food fussiness at 16 months, rising to 74% and over between the ages of three and 13.” Wow.
The study also found that fussy eating habits weren’t as similar for the non-identical twins as the identical twins, pointing towards the likelihood that genetics plays a larger role than environmental factors. In other words, your picky eater might be predisposed to be exactly that, regardless of what you put on their plate or what tactics you use to get them to try new foods.
“We hope our finding that fussy eating is largely innate may help to alleviate parental blame. This behavior is not a result of parenting,” said lead author Dr Zeynep Nas.
Related: 4 Things NOT to Say to a Picky Eater
So, yay, it’s not our fault our kids only eat chicken nuggets and mac and cheese! Right? Not so fast. It’s important to note that these findings don’t mean other factors are completely off the table. The study also found that nurture plays a role, too, as noted in Science Daily. Kids are also influenced—to a degree—by their surroundings as they grow up. “Identical twin pairs became more different to each other in their fussy eating as they got older, indicating an increase in the role of unique environmental factors at older ages.” So, yes, some of this might be beyond your control, but that doesn’t mean you should give up trying to work with your picky eater.
“Although fussy eating has a strong genetic component and can extend beyond early childhood, this doesn’t mean it is fixed. Parents can continue to support their children to eat a wide variety of foods throughout childhood and into adolescence, but peers and friends might become a more important influence on children’s diets as they reach their teens,” said senior author Dr Alison Fildes.
Related: 19 High-Protein Meals for Picky Eaters
Something else to note: most of the survey participants were upper-class white children from the UK (meaning this sample doesn’t account for important cultural and socioeconomic factors). Nevertheless, it’s a great start to investigating the roots of food fussiness. So don’t lose heart, keep offering your kids different foods, and know that some picky eating issues are simply innate.
