*Disclaimer: Please note that parts of this English sci-fly were automatically translated.*
A picky eater is someone who is very selective about what he or she eats and often has limited food preferences. In children, fussy eating is often a normal stage in their development. They then refuse many foods and say ‘I don’t like it’. This usually passes and children expand their diet on its own. Yet some adults are also picky eaters. Sometimes all their lives, sometimes it only starts in adulthood.
For picky eaters, going out to eat or eating at others’ houses is difficult. They often eat only a few familiar or ‘safe’ foods. They may dislike certain textures (e.g. soft, slimy or crunchy), or the smell or appearance of a dish. They may also have difficulty with mixed foods (dishes where ingredients are mixed together such as a stew).
Background
Genetic vulnerability seems to play an important role in adult picky eating. Environmental influences are also important, but the family environment from childhood does not seem to play a role. This is in line with other studies on food preference or (severe) aversion. Important next steps are to (1) find the specific genes that play a role in picky eating, in order to gain more insight into the underlying mechanism such as, for example, taste sensitivity or control/compulsiveness. And (2) to map environmental influences, with the aim to providing support for picky eaters.
Research method
WHAT?
In the pre-study, the research question was: Which questionnaire scores can be used to measure picky eating? And in the main study, the research question was: What is the role of hereditary predisposition in picky eating in adults?
WHO?
For the pre-study: 414 Dutch adults with a mean age of 35 years. Women comprised 77% of the group. For the main study: 8016 twins from the Dutch Register of Twins. Their mean age was 35 years, and 69% of the group was female.
HOW?
In the pre-study: participants completed several validated questionnaires on food preference, avoidance of certain foods, food neophobia (fear of unfamiliar foods) and picky eating. All scores were compared with the ‘gold standard’ to determine picky eating. In the main study: by comparing the picky eating scores of identical and twin pairs, mathematical models can be used to estimate the relative contribution of: hereditary predisposition, shared family environment and unique environment (together 100%).
Main findings
The pre-study found that a food preference questionnaire was suitable to measure ‘picky eating’ in adults. This questionnaire asked for 85 different types of food and drinks how palatable they are found, on a scale from 0 (strong dislike) to 10 (strong like). Subsequently, the twin study found that 49% of individual differences in picky eating (based on the food preference questionnaire) are determined by differences in hereditary predisposition, while the rest of the differences are determined by the (unique) environment. Interestingly, the environment a person grows up in does not influence picky eating later in life
Reference
Emma A Koenders, Laura W Wesseldijk, Dorret I Boomsma , Junilla K Larsen, Jacqueline M Vink. Heritability of adult picky eating in the Netherlands. Appetite 2024 Apr 1:195:107230. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2024.107230. Epub 2024 Jan 24.
This sci-fly was written by Prof. dr. Jacqueline Vink (Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University), for RAD-blog, the blog on smoking, alcohol, drugs and diet.
Leave a Reply