If you’ve ever done the following:
I saw an Instagram tutorial on mixing seasonal gourds into pasta sauce to incorporate more vegetables into kids’ meals and thought, “What, kids eat sauce?” Ask your pediatrician how long your child can live on only blueberries. (“No, it’s literally just a blueberry.”) I begged my child to at least lick the chicken nuggets.
Then be careful.
A new study of children bravely trying to survive on crackers, air and the last bits of gentle parenting suggests that picky eating is largely explained by genetics, researchers say. He said he hopes the findings will help reduce parental responsibility.
The study, published September 19 in the peer-reviewed Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, surveyed parents of 4,804 twins born in the UK in 2007, aged between 16 months and 13 years.
By comparing identical and fraternal twins, the authors found that genetics is the main cause of individual differences in food preferences at all ages. At 16 months, genetics accounted for 60 percent of the variation in food likes and dislikes, but this rose to 74 to 84 percent between the ages of 3 and 13.
They defined picky eating as “the tendency to eat a limited range of foods, often due to picky tastes or textures, and/or a reluctance to try new foods or flavors.”
“Being picky about food is common among children and can be a source of great anxiety for parents and caregivers. They may blame themselves or be blamed by others for their behavior. many,” lead author Zeynep Nass of University College London said in a news release last Friday.
“This behavior is not the result of parenting.”
Noisy kids, stressful parents
Although nutritionally speaking, a typical carbohydrate-rich picky diet may not have a significant impact on a child’s health, trying to feed a picky eater can be incredibly difficult. , explains Megan Wallace, a registered dietitian and nutritionist based in Edmonton. the study.
But the comparison can make you feel “less than” as a parent, Wallace told CBC News.
“It becomes a very difficult question in terms of confidence and worth and whether we are good enough.”
View | Parental stress is a public health issue.
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New recommendations from the U.S. Surgeon General warn that raising children can have a major impact on physical and mental health, citing the extreme stress of financial strain, time demands, and social pressures.
Previous research has linked high stress levels in parents to problematic eating behaviors in children, including picky eating habits. They also found that picky eating can increase parents’ psychological distress.
US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called this “comparative culture” in his August public health advisory. This is a culture where parents feel burnt out by comparing themselves and their parenting strategies to what they see online. Murthy said it’s often propagated by influencers and online trends that create unrealistic expectations.
And with extra pressure on parents to make sure their kids are eating well, there are even more online resources to help if they can’t eat.
Advice found online, in person, and in Facebook parenting groups is often contradictory, including never making separate meals for your child, only making separate meals for your child, never offering alternative options, and offering buffets of alternative options. This includes, but is not limited to, providing. Positive reinforcement, zero reinforcement, get the child involved in cooking, and if that’s what the child really wants, just let them live on blueberries.
Instagram accounts like “Feeding Littles,” “Kids Eat in Color,” and “Yummy Toddler Food” have 1.9 million, 2.0 million, and 1.4 million followers, respectively, and share tips, advice, online courses, and more. We offer recipes for protein-packed pumpkin bars and blended broccoli pasta sauce. Help your child develop a positive relationship with food.
Meanwhile, social media is full of influencers who swear they’ve saved their children with ‘clean eating’, trad wives who roast their own nut butters and spread them on freshly baked sourdough, and kids who love curried chickpeas. There are many friends from high school who swear by this. (Jesus wept.)
Watch | Tips for picky eaters:
Encourage healthy eating habits for picky eaters
If you have a picky eater in your home, the dinner table can turn into a battlefield. Parent Guidance columnist Amy Bell explores strategies for introducing delicious foods to children with limited palates.
“Totally disappointed”
Laura Chevrefis’ 4-year-old son, Joseph, currently eats only three meals: Lipton’s chicken noodle soup, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and chicken fingers. He also eats fruit, but the only vegetables he eats are cucumbers.
“I wish I had a dollar for every unsolicited advice! I’m not getting it from social media, I’m getting it from my family,” Chevrefils, 44, of Winnipeg, told CBC News. Ta.
Chevrefis said they feed Joseph new foods, often eat together as a family, and never force him to do anything, but given the choice, he would choose to go hungry. . She added that she often turns to social media accounts like Feeding Littles for tips and inspiration, but often feels defeated when it doesn’t work.
“It’s completely discouraging and exhausting. To be honest, you start to feel like a failure,” Chevrefis said.
This photo shows Winnipeg resident Laura Chevrefils (left) and her son Joseph. Chevrefis said she often receives unsolicited advice about Joseph’s likes and dislikes. (Laura Chevrefis)
British study author and registered dietitian Wallace points out that environmental factors still influence picky eating, especially in early childhood.
Wallace said important developmental factors, such as neural divergence, also play a role in some children. Even neurotypical children can experience neophobia, or fear of new things, as part of neurotypical development, she says.
“There are so many factors that go into why a child picks something up and puts it in their mouth and why they don’t,” Wallace says.
So what can parents do?
Alison Fildes of the University of Leeds, senior author of the study, said in a news release that there is a strong genetic component to picky eating, but it cannot be completely cured.
“Parents can continue to help their children eat a variety of foods from childhood through adolescence, but as children become teenagers, peers and friends become more important influences. “Maybe,” she says.
The Canadian Pediatric Association offers a number of tips for parents on its website. These include avoiding distractions like screens during meals, offering at least one food you know your child likes at each meal, and giving small portions of everything.
Wallace said the key is to increase exposure, including allowing children to see, smell, touch, crush and play with new foods. We need to explore these sensations, she said.
“We were taught not to play with our food. It was rude and offensive,” Wallace said. “But you can talk to a child psychologist about how children learn. Children learn through play.”
Ask | How do I know if my child has iron deficiency?:
Intake24:55What do you need to know about iron deficiency?
Although iron deficiency is relatively easy to treat, a significant proportion of women and girls in Canada live with iron deficiency. Dr. Michelle Scholzberg, a hematologist at St. Michael’s Hospital and director of hematology at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, explains how to diagnose iron deficiency and maintain your body’s iron stores. For transcripts of The Dose, visit lnk.to/dose-transcripts. Transcripts for each episode will be published by the next business day. For other episodes of this podcast, click this link: https://link.chtbl.com/8bTIh3KB.
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