Are parents to blame for their children’s crazy eating habits? Surprising research reveals the answer

What are picky eaters eating? Well, it could be innate.

Feeding children with cleft palates is a daily struggle plaguing parents around the world – but new research now claims the problem may lie in a little one’s DNA, rather than anything mum or dad has made for dinner.

“Difficulty eating in children is a major cause of concern for caregivers, who often blame themselves, or are blamed by others, for their child’s limited diets or food refusal,” health specialists noted on Sept. 19. in behavior from University College London. report.

Experts defined “food fudge” or “FF” as “the tendency to eat a small range of foods, due to choice and/or reluctance to try new foods.”

“This study shows that FF is under strong genetic influence,” the analysts said, “which may remain influential throughout childhood.”

Wild feeders, both young and old, are at higher risk for health problems due to their restricted diets.

Academics recently warned that allowing a small number to forego certain fares and consume only their favorite foods – typically hot dogs, mac and cheese and pizza – could cause a condition known as Eating Disorder. avoidant restrictive food intake, or ARFID. The disorder causes fear of the act or sensation of eating certain foods.

Nature Mental Health, a UK Biobank, also found that young people who carry out their restrictive diets in adulthood have worse cognitive function than people with wider tastes for all food groups.

But academics at University College London tried to identify the root of food resistance in some people.Â

The team surveyed parents of 2,400 sets of identical and fraternal twins across the UK, with types ranging in age from 16 months to 13 years. They found that genetic differences in children accounted for 60% of the variation in food concern at 16 months, increasing to over 74% between ages 3 and 13.

The researchers compared the food similarity between fraternal twins, who share 50% of their genes, with the food similarity of identical twins, who share 100% of their genes.

The examiners determined that fraternal pairs did not have as much similarity in nutrition as identical pairs, indicating a large genetic influence.

Environmental factors — how we sit down together as a family to eat meals and the types of food eaten at home — also play an important role in binge eating tendencies, but only during childhood, according to the findings.

Clare Llewellyn, a senior author of the study, said in a release: “This suggests that interventions to help children eat a wider range of foods, such as consistently exposing children to the same foods regularly and providing a variety of fruits and vegetables”. may be more effective in the early years.â€

And Zeynep Nas, the study’s senior author, hopes her research will alleviate the shame and parental guilt most moms and dads feel as they struggle to get their child to eat.

“This behavior is not the result of parenting,” she assured, adding, “binge eating is not necessarily just a ‘phase’, but can follow an ongoing trajectory.”