Why is my child fussy with food?

This post was written by Millie Chambers and Dr Sinead Rhodes

A recent research study that looked at the cause of ‘food fussiness’ in children has gained a lot of traction in the media, both nationally and internationally. How does the coverage of the research compare to the study’s findings and claims?

Researchers, based at University College London, looked at the contribution of genetics and the environment to ‘food fussiness’ at different ages and how this changed over time. They tracked this ‘food fussiness’ trait in 2,400 children (who were a twin) from the age of 16 months up until 13 years old. Food fussiness has been described as the tendency to eat a small range of foods either due to pickiness (for example, on the flavour or texture), or a reluctance to try new foods. It is a relatively common trait and usually develops early in life. This UCL research team found that food fussiness could be largely explained by genetic factors at all ages. However, there was also an environmental influence on food fussiness at all ages, particularly in early toddlerhood. The researchers suggest that children displaying food fussiness could benefit from early interventions throughout their childhood.

Some media outlets used sensationalist headlines when covering this study, such as “Is YOUR child fussy? It’s in their genes!” , “Parents are to blame if child is a fussy eater – but not for the reason you think”. Despite this, many did summarise the key findings in their headlines rather well for example, “Fussy eating in children largely down to genetics research shows” and “Study finds picky eating to be largely influenced by genetics”.

Whilst the study highlights a greater genetic link for food fussiness, the authors also emphasise the role that the environment can play, particularly at younger ages. For example, the amount of exposure a child has to a variety of fruits and vegetables in the home could impact food fussiness. Despite the sensationalist headlines which focus on the genetic component, most of the articles do mention environmental factors and discuss strategies suggested by the researchers that can be used by parents to promote more varied eating in their children, such as having family meals together and offering your child a variety of fruits and vegetables.

Several articles mis-represented the conclusions of the paper by stating “food fussiness is not necessarily a phase children will grow out of” or conversely “picky eating is a largely genetic trait and lasts from toddlerhood to early adolescence”. It is important to mention that the children were aged 16 months when the study started, and 13 years old when it ended. It is not known or discussed in this study whether the children ‘grew out’ of their food fussiness in their teenage years or not. Food fussiness may not just be present “from toddlerhood to early adolescence” as the study did not investigate past the age of 13 and therefore food fussiness may continue into teenage years. This study provides a snapshot of food fussiness between the age range of 16 months to 13 years old.

A general positive aspect of the media reporting was that most featured quotes from the research team, allowing them to put their findings into their own words. One commonly used quote was by the senior author of the research paper, Professor Clare Llewellyn, “While genetic factors are the predominant influence for food fussiness, environment also plays a supporting role.”. Quotes directly from the authors allow the research teams to describe their research in a way that might not be used in their published research, and can be a good way of ensuring the research findings are correctly presented. You can read more on the importance of quoting researchers in the media here.

In the reporting of this study, it was nice to see the reassurance to parents that food fussiness is not down to ‘poor parenting’, and is what the authors wanted parents to take away from their findings. Some  reporters went into further detail by providing hope to parents, quoting one of the research study authors who said “genetics isn’t destiny” and that these behaviours aren’t necessarily fixed – strategies can be put in place to encourage varied eating.

For more information on food and eating in children and young people please see another free to access blog post on this topic: https://epicthinklearn.com/how-can-i-support-my-neurodivergent-child-with-eating/