Turns out that if your kids are picky eaters, they get it from you, and not just from what you put on their plates. Research covered by the New York Times suggests that close to 80% of eating picky-ness comes from genes.
The study, led by Dr. Lucy Cooke of the department of epidemiology and public health at University College London, was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in August. Dr. Cooke and others in the field believe it is the first to use a standard scale to investigate the contribution of genetics and environment to childhood neophobia.
According to the report, 78 percent is genetic and the other 22 percent environmental.
“People have really dismissed this as an idea because they have been looking at the social associations between parents and their children,” Dr. Cooke said. “I came from a position of not wanting to blame parents.”
The remainder of the article is worth reading, since it explores some about the culture of food and family, that makes up some of the rest of the picture. As much as this data will resonate with some parents, I find the language from the main author notable, particularly use of the word “blame”. Genetics aside, does it mean parents are to be “blamed” if kids are doing something undesirable? Or are they “responsible”. I see a significant difference.
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Nutrition » Blog Archives » Countywide (10/17/2007)
2 Comments to
“Picky Eating & Parenting”
My mother has a way of handling picky eaters. Without going through all of the possible ways she deals, I’ll point out that her expectations tend to be met. She expects the kids to eat the food she’s prepared, and somehow they do.
I haven’t read the paper itself, but the article gives no indication as to why researchers would make the claim that the cause here is specifically genetic. The problems with twin research and the genetic fallacy are manifold. What’s heritable is not necessarily genetic, but it wouldn’t surprise me to find yet another researcher confusing these two concepts.
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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 17 Oct 2007
