Fussy eating is very common in young children and peaks around the age of 3. Fussy, picky, selective, or choosy eating refers to an unwillingness to eat familiar or new foods, and a lack of diet variety – typically less than 20 different foods in your child’s diet.

This can be a huge stress for parents because if the fussiness persists, it can lead to poor growth and development, nutrient deficiencies, and constipation. Plus it’s really annoying.

The literature shows that almost half of all children will go through a fussy eating period and it’s a normal stage of development. Most kids are selective eaters. And if you think about it, it makes perfect sense, because it’s this food “fussiness” that ensured the survival of our ancestors, thousands of years ago. We sought out foods high in sugar and fat as these foods gave us best bang for our buck during times of food scarcity. And we rejected unfamiliar foods and bitter flavours - such as vegetables - to avoid ingestion of potential toxins.

Over time, our genes haven’t changed, but the food environment has. Now we’re spoilt for choice – you can find your favourite foods on every block and our kids scream out for the stuff. But as the studies show, while the genes that determine food fussiness have been passed on from our ancestors, it’s not our fate, and there’s some simple tips to deal with our kids unwillingness to eat new foods.

Join Dr Nick as he takes you on a deep dive into the science to find out.

Relevant studies and resources can be found here:

https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-9-387

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666307003716

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666315003438

https://www.jandonline.org/article/S2212-2672(15)00657-7/fulltext

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031938416311015

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26055848/

For more help on your health and weight loss journey, check out the IWL award-winning program found here: https://intervalweightloss.com/

For advice on what to eat and how to eat throughout the day, check out this 1-minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru_YiyHTRPA

For resistance training circuits you can do in the comfort of your own home, check out these 30-minute workouts here: https://youtu.be/n9qYzjLY9G4

For better sleep, follow these simple tips: https://youtu.be/JPRIzMUhPMo

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Dr Nick Fuller is a Leading Obesity Expert at the University of Sydney and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, and the founder of the IWL program: https://www.sydney.edu.au/medicine-health/about/our-people/academic-staff/nick-fuller

He holds the following qualifications:

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Obesity Treatment - The University of Sydney

Bachelors Degree, Human Movement & Sports Science - University of Technology, Sydney

Masters Degree, Nutrition & Dietetics - The University of Sydney