But those failing to tempt their child to eat their broccoli can take solace, as research has found that picky eating is largely down to genes rather than environment. They found that non-identical twin pairs were much less similar when it came to picky eating than identical twin pairs. Picky eating “often causes a lot of stress for the children and their families,” Moritz Herle, a researcher at King’s College London and one of the study’s lead authors, said. The study found that environmental factors can, however, have an impact on a child’s food pickiness when they are a toddler. Abigail Pickard, a researcher in developmental child psychology at Aston University who wasn’t involved in the research, told CNN that picky eating is “quite common” in children.

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Persons: London CNN —, ” Moritz Herle, ”, Zeynep Nas, Abigail Pickard, Aston University who wasn’t, ” Pickard Organizations: London CNN, University College London, King’s College London, University of Leeds, Aston University who, CNN, Child Psychology, Psychiatry Locations: United Kingdom