{"id":2215378,"date":"2025-07-02T07:59:29","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T14:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/?p=2215378"},"modified":"2025-07-03T11:55:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T18:55:04","slug":"is-picky-eating-genetic-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Picky Eating in Kids Is Largely Due to Genetics, Study Says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anyone who has a picky eater<\/a> at home has probably felt loads of anxiety and guilt over what their kiddo puts in their body: Will they get the nutrients they need? Will they always be this picky? Is there something I could have done differently?<\/em> Well, parents, take a deep breath and relax\u2026 at least a bit. A study published in the Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry<\/a><\/em> found that genetics plays a bigger role in fussy eating than previously realized.<\/p>\n

Consisting of 2,400 sets of twins (identical and non-identical) from England and Wales, beginning at 16 months and concluding at 13 years, according to Science Daily<\/a>,<\/em> the study found that \u201cgenetic differences in the population accounted for 60% of the variation in food fussiness at 16 months, rising to 74% and over between the ages of three and 13.\u201d Wow.<\/p>\n

The study also found that fussy eating habits weren\u2019t as similar for the non-identical twins as the identical twins, pointing towards the likelihood that genetics plays a larger role than environmental factors. In other words, your picky eater might be predisposed to be exactly that, regardless of what you put on their plate or what tactics you use to get them to try new foods.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope our finding that fussy eating is largely innate may help to alleviate parental blame. This behavior is not a result of parenting,\u201d said lead author Dr Zeynep Nas.<\/p>\n

Related:\u00a04 Things NOT to Say to a Picky Eater<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

So, yay, it\u2019s not our fault our kids only eat chicken nuggets<\/a> and mac and cheese! Right? Not so fast. It\u2019s important to note that these findings don\u2019t mean other factors are completely<\/em> off the table. The study also found that nurture plays a role, too, as noted in Science Daily. <\/em>Kids are also influenced\u2014to a degree\u2014by their surroundings as they grow up. \u201cIdentical twin pairs became more different to each other in their fussy eating as they got older, indicating an increase in the role of unique environmental factors at older ages.\u201d So, yes, some of this might be beyond your control, but that doesn\u2019t mean you should give up trying to work with your picky eater.<\/p>\n

“Although fussy eating has a strong genetic component and can extend beyond early childhood, this doesn’t mean it is fixed. Parents can continue to support their children to eat a wide variety of foods throughout childhood and into adolescence, but peers and friends might become a more important influence on children’s diets as they reach their teens,” said senior author Dr Alison Fildes.<\/p>\n

Related:\u00a019 High-Protein Meals for Picky Eaters<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Something else to note: most of the survey participants were upper-class white children from the UK (meaning this sample doesn\u2019t account for important cultural and socioeconomic factors). Nevertheless, it’s a great start to investigating the roots of food fussiness. So don\u2019t lose heart, keep offering your kids different foods, and know that some picky eating issues are simply innate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

But there are still some important things to consider. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45456004,"featured_media":2221006,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"city":[551419385],"ml_tag_age":[700852432],"ml_tag_interest":[700856071,700852489,700859483,700859894,700852923,700852851],"ml_tag_season":[700852448],"ml_tag_holiday":[700852449],"class_list":["post-2215378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-and-drink","category-parenting","category-parenting-advice","city-national","ml_tag_age-all-ages","ml_tag_interest-chicken-nuggets","ml_tag_interest-early-childhood","ml_tag_interest-eating-habits","ml_tag_interest-high-protein","ml_tag_interest-mac-and-cheese","ml_tag_interest-picky-eaters","ml_tag_season-all-seasons","ml_tag_holiday-non-holiday"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Picky Eating Genetic? A New Study Says It Seems That Way<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Good news, parents. A study has found that genetics play a bigger role in picky eating than previously realized.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Picky Eating in Kids Is Largely Due to Genetics, Study Says\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Good news, parents. A study has found that genetics play a bigger role in picky eating than previously realized.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tinybeans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tinybeanskids\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-02T14:59:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-03T18:55:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/picky-eating-genetic.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gabby Cullen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@tinybeanskids\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@tinybeanskids\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gabby Cullen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gabby Cullen\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/56eaa3d272608db73e8a047d34ed4f6e\"},\"headline\":\"Picky Eating in Kids Is Largely Due to Genetics, Study Says\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-02T14:59:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-03T18:55:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/\"},\"wordCount\":507,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Food & Drink\",\"Parenting\",\"Parenting Advice\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/\",\"name\":\"Is Picky Eating Genetic? A New Study Says It Seems That Way\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-02T14:59:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-03T18:55:04+00:00\",\"description\":\"Good news, parents. A study has found that genetics play a bigger role in picky eating than previously realized.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Picky Eating in Kids Is Largely Due to Genetics, Study Says\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/\",\"name\":\"Tinybeans\",\"description\":\"Make Every Moment Count\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Tinybeans\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/cropped-Icon250.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/cropped-Icon250.png\",\"width\":250,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"Tinybeans\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tinybeanskids\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tinybeanskids\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tinybeanskids\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/tinybeans\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/tinybeans\/_created\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/56eaa3d272608db73e8a047d34ed4f6e\",\"name\":\"Gabby Cullen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70342e98367df29d85aa9ceddfc8077a0176ad595d2034471c60c868cd51d379?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Ftinybeans.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F07%2FGray.png&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70342e98367df29d85aa9ceddfc8077a0176ad595d2034471c60c868cd51d379?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Ftinybeans.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F07%2FGray.png&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gabby Cullen\"},\"description\":\"Gabby Cullen has worked in the media industry for over 15 years. Though she started out in public relations, her love of the written word brought her to the editorial side of things in 2009. She brings a decade of experience in the parenting and lifestyle world to her role as the senior lifestyle editor for Tinybeans, all while figuring out her own journey as a mom of two. An avid reader with a penchant for true crime podcasts, she lives in Dallas, TX with her family. Find her on Instagram and Twitter: @gabbycullen\",\"sameAs\":[\"rtgabbycullen\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/author\/rtgabbycullen\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is Picky Eating Genetic? A New Study Says It Seems That Way","description":"Good news, parents. A study has found that genetics play a bigger role in picky eating than previously realized.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Picky Eating in Kids Is Largely Due to Genetics, Study Says","og_description":"Good news, parents. A study has found that genetics play a bigger role in picky eating than previously realized.","og_url":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/","og_site_name":"Tinybeans","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tinybeanskids","article_published_time":"2025-07-02T14:59:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-03T18:55:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/picky-eating-genetic.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Gabby Cullen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@tinybeanskids","twitter_site":"@tinybeanskids","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gabby Cullen","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/"},"author":{"name":"Gabby Cullen","@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/56eaa3d272608db73e8a047d34ed4f6e"},"headline":"Picky Eating in Kids Is Largely Due to Genetics, Study Says","datePublished":"2025-07-02T14:59:29+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-03T18:55:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/"},"wordCount":507,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Food & Drink","Parenting","Parenting Advice"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/","url":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/","name":"Is Picky Eating Genetic? A New Study Says It Seems That Way","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-07-02T14:59:29+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-03T18:55:04+00:00","description":"Good news, parents. A study has found that genetics play a bigger role in picky eating than previously realized.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/is-picky-eating-genetic-study\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Picky Eating in Kids Is Largely Due to Genetics, Study Says"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/","name":"Tinybeans","description":"Make Every Moment Count","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#organization","name":"Tinybeans","url":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/cropped-Icon250.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/cropped-Icon250.png","width":250,"height":250,"caption":"Tinybeans"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tinybeanskids","https:\/\/twitter.com\/tinybeanskids","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tinybeanskids\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/tinybeans\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/tinybeans\/_created\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/56eaa3d272608db73e8a047d34ed4f6e","name":"Gabby Cullen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70342e98367df29d85aa9ceddfc8077a0176ad595d2034471c60c868cd51d379?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Ftinybeans.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F07%2FGray.png&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70342e98367df29d85aa9ceddfc8077a0176ad595d2034471c60c868cd51d379?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Ftinybeans.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F07%2FGray.png&r=g","caption":"Gabby Cullen"},"description":"Gabby Cullen has worked in the media industry for over 15 years. Though she started out in public relations, her love of the written word brought her to the editorial side of things in 2009. She brings a decade of experience in the parenting and lifestyle world to her role as the senior lifestyle editor for Tinybeans, all while figuring out her own journey as a mom of two. An avid reader with a penchant for true crime podcasts, she lives in Dallas, TX with her family. Find her on Instagram and Twitter: @gabbycullen","sameAs":["rtgabbycullen"],"url":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/author\/rtgabbycullen\/"}]}},"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/picky-eating-genetic.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2215378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45456004"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2215378"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2215378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2221010,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2215378\/revisions\/2221010"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2221006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2215378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2215378"},{"taxonomy":"city","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/city?post=2215378"},{"taxonomy":"ml_tag_age","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ml_tag_age?post=2215378"},{"taxonomy":"ml_tag_interest","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ml_tag_interest?post=2215378"},{"taxonomy":"ml_tag_season","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ml_tag_season?post=2215378"},{"taxonomy":"ml_tag_holiday","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tinybeans.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ml_tag_holiday?post=2215378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}