Washington: The reason kids fear trying out new food has less to do with what's on their plate and more to do with their genes, a study has revealed.

The work, led by Myles Faith, an associate professor of nutrition at University of North Carolina's (UNC) Gillings School of Global Public Health, adds to the growing body of knowledge that genes play a significant role in children's eating behavior, including the tendency to avoid new foods.

"In some respects, food neophobia, or the aversion to trying new foods, is similar to child temperament or personality," Faith said. "Some children are more genetically susceptible than others to avoid new foods. However, that doesn't mean that they can't change their behaviors and become a little less picky," he said.


Previous research has shown a similar genetic influence for food neophobia in 8 to 11-year-olds (78 percent) and adults (69 percent), suggesting that the impact of genes on food neophobia is constant across the developmental spectrum.


On the environmental side, the findings suggest that parents should consider each child's idiosyncrasies, even for siblings in the same household, when thinking about how to increase a child's acceptance of new foods.

For example, parents can serve as role models and provide repeated exposure to new foods at home, or show their child how much they enjoy the food being avoided. They might also provide a choice of several new items from which a child could select.

The study is published in the journal Obesity.


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