Your toddler demands a Bluey-themed yoghurt and has a tantrum when offered something else. If it\u2019s not a Nutella sandwich, your child\u2019s lunchbox comes home uneaten. And the dinner table can become a battleground unless there are sausages, chicken nuggets or pizza on the plate.<\/p>\n
These examples of fussy eating are everyday experiences for many parents. <\/p>\n
Fussy eating, also known as picky or selective eating, is common<\/a>, and can be frustrating. It\u2019s often seen as a child or parenting issue. But it\u2019s not merely shaped by what parents do, or the characteristics of the child<\/a>. <\/p>\n Our new research<\/a> suggests food fussiness and children\u2019s eating habits are also shaped by commercial interests in food.<\/p>\n This includes mass produced foods that are high in sugar, salt and additives, combined in irresistible combinations and that are heavily promoted to children<\/a> to maximise sales<\/a>. <\/p>\n This has important implications for children\u2019s health<\/a>, and sets up tensions between what parents want their children to eat, and what they\u2019ll actually eat.<\/p>\n What is \u2018fussy eating\u2019?<\/p>\n Fussy eating refers to having strong preferences for specific foods. Sometimes it involves not trying new foods, eating a limited variety of foods, or avoiding foods with a specific taste, texture or appearance.<\/p>\n Most research estimates<\/a> 10\u201330% of children two to six years old are considered fussy eaters, peaking at around three years old.<\/p>\n The origins of food fussiness lie in the age-old practice of learning which foods are safe to eat and provide enough energy. This is why we often like sweet foods<\/a> and not bitter<\/a> ones. <\/p>\n Today, food companies capitalise on this biology of survival. They engineer and market foods<\/a> to appeal to children, and in ways that confuse their parents. <\/p>\n What we did and what we found<\/p>\n We interviewed 34 parents of children aged one to 18 years old about their children\u2019s eating habits and how they navigated them.<\/p>\n Parents talked about how they felt pitted against powerful food companies that influenced their children\u2019s tastes.<\/p>\n Their comments also revealed fussy eating in children older than most earlier research presumes. We found this is developing in the primary school years when children are exposed to more ultra-processed foods.<\/p>\n Here are some of the common themes.<\/p>\n 1. \u2018Pester power\u2019<\/p>\n Parents felt responsible for teaching their children about healthy eating, yet this was challenging with so much food marketed directly to children. <\/p>\n Such concerns of children\u2019s \u201cpester power<\/a>\u201d have arisen with concerted efforts<\/a> by food corporations to market foods designed to maximise shareholder returns.<\/p>\n One mother of three pre-school and primary school-aged children talked about marketing \u201cbad\u201d foods to kids or placing them in reach:<\/p>\n [\u2026] my 2-year-old is always like Bluey!!! [\u2026] You almost don\u2019t want to take your kids to the supermarket [\u2026] Of course, my kids [are] gonna throw a tantrum \u2013 you\u2019ve got a lollipop at his eye level.<\/p>\n 2. Conflicting information<\/p>\n Parents today are swamped with misleading, confusing and often false information about food. This makes it challenging<\/a> for parents to discern what\u2019s healthy or unhealthy. <\/p>\n A mother of three primary school aged-children said:<\/p>\n You think you\u2019re getting something that\u2019s actually healthy because [\u2026] on the packaging, it says it\u2019s healthy. So you trust it [\u2026] but it\u2019s actually not.<\/p>\n 3. Impossible binds<\/p>\n Social situations that normalise processed foods influence the foods children see as desirable and place parents in impossible binds. A father of three pre-school and primary-school aged children said: <\/p>\n My son used to love hummus. But everyone else around eats doughnuts or chips [\u2026] It\u2019s a battle that we\u2019re not gonna win.<\/p>\n In this context, many parents were concerned about pushing healthy food too hard. They worried this could have the opposite effect in the longer term. A mother of two primary school aged children said:<\/p>\n It\u2019s a Catch-22 [\u2026] if I put Nutella toast in his lunch box, he\u2019ll eat it. But then do I stay strong and not put shit in his lunch box, knowing that he\u2019s going to be starving and be horrible at the end of the day? [\u2026] I don\u2019t want to make it a huge thing because I worry about making food a problem.<\/p>\n Fostering compassion and government action<\/p>\n