Picky Picky
October 10, 2007 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
Yet another recently published study highlights not one but two concerns of autism families, picky eating or “neophobia” and the interactions of genes and environment. According to an article in today’s New York Times:
For parents who worry that their children will never eat anything but chocolate milk, Gummi vitamins and the occasional grape, a new study offers some relief. Researchers examined the eating habits of 5,390 pairs of twins between 8 and 11 years old and found children’s aversions to trying new foods are mostly inherited.
The message to parents: It’s not your cooking, it’s your genes.
The study, led by Dr. Lucy Cooke of the department of epidemiology and public health at University College London, was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in August. Dr. Cooke and others in the field believe it is the first to use a standard scale to investigate the contribution of genetics and environment to childhood neophobia.
According to the report, 78 percent is genetic and the other 22 percent environmental.
And the foods preferred by these neophobes? Bread, cheese, “the occasional chicken nugget,” and pasta—-sounds like just the foods that many parents of autistic children note their children prefer. It is true that, given the option, my son Charlie would eat an awful lot of carbohydrates—French fries, rice, the rice paper wrappers used in Vietnamese summer rolls. We’ve worked on—and we keep on working on—Charlie trying new foods (fortunately for us, Charlies is a good eater and will try “just one bite” so he can get on with the rest of what he’d rather eat). Notes Patricia Pliner, a social psychology professor at the University of Toronto:
“We have to understand that biology is not destiny……This doesn’t necessarily mean there is nothing we can do about the environment.”
It can seem a “Sisyphean task” (to quote the New York Times) to get that bit of nutritious whatever into your child’s mouth but even a condition (neophobia) that is 78% genetic can be changed, that it’s not hopeless—-slowly, gruelingly (I’ll admit), and, yes, one bite at a time.
(And then, you always know you can boil up some water for the favorite noodles if all else completely fails…….)
78% genetic – what an outrage! I demand to see the statistic data. Now pass me the Marmite this minute.
Cheers
The “occasional” chicken nugget? ROFL!!!
What did all these non-foodie kids DO before chicken nuggets?
Moi;),
Same thought here
.
The chicken nugget: one of the kidsworld basic food groups.
Kristina–isn’t getting to the “try one bite” nice? That has been the icebreaker for eating what everyone else eats at mealtime. The interesting part is that my daughter has waves of preferences–lots of meat, and then lots of vegetables, and then lots of fruits, and then lots of nuts…etc. I guess on balance it ends up working out.
One bite and I’m done for the day! Sometimes those new foods we’ve worked on Charlie eating for so long have become favorites—-there was a time he had no interest in sushi. Charlie has similar “waves of preference”—last fall, it was Fuji apples and then Granny Smiths; Charlie’s preference ended before I realized it had and we had a lot of apples to finish.
Bug LOVES Granny Smiths…….
I’m looking forward to the day when the twins get the “just one bite” concept!
At this point, I consider it a huge accomplishment when they try a new kind of french fry or chicken nugget.
I’m sorry, but I do not see this as a purely “autism” subject.
Lots of kids are picky.
These stereotypes of disabled behavior seem to link certain behaviors to a diagnosis of “autism”. But that is often not so…
In my house one son was not potty trained until he was five years old. Was it seizure/speech disorder boy (the one the high school psychologist pegged with Aspergers) or the high school honor student boy?
Actually, the special ed. preschool teacher wrote me a note telling me that my older disabled son did not wish to be in diapers anymore. He was perfectly capable of using the toilet at age 3. I donated the leftover disposable diapers to them.
It was very bright child who saw no reason to become potty trained because he told me “But you clean me up!”. The boy who I warned his kindergarten teacher about possible accidents is an honor student with lots of friends (including a girlfriend)! I was very glad that I was able to stop using the waterproof pants with him when he did start kindergarten!
Picky eaters?!!!
Only one of my children will willingly eat a salad. It is my disabled 19 year old, who will make himself a salad for lunch. He also will try almost anything I make.
It is the high school honor student who refuses green food, or even salad dressing (though he has decided tomatoes are okay on hamburgers), which is odd considering he often tried to eat his older (disabled) brother’s art supplies as a toddler!. At least he realizes that mushrooms are an essential element in one of his favorite dishes, beef bourguignon.
The daughter who seems to absorb languages easily (she thinks Japanese class is easy) is often reluctant to try new foods. She made me buy her a shirt that said “I (heart) sushi”, but I have yet to see her eat any! Well, at least the type with actual fish, she does make and eat rice balls. Trust me, I have waved more than a few sushi rolls in front of her, often accompanied by her best friend who does the same!
In many ways my most disabled kid was the easiest. He was both easy to potty train, and the easiest to feed.
By the way, I blame all traits of picky eating on their father. The man is from Vancouver Island and does not eat fish! How weird is that?! Okay, he also the only (ex)Canadian I know who also refuses to go camping and sleep in a tent.
oooh, dad DNA is mentioned in this song (it is perfectly work safe… it is a MOM song!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxT5NwQUtVM&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcrankyprof%2Eblogspot%2Ecom%2F
Interesting! Whish my son would eat chicken nuggets!
He is now over 6 foot, dont know how as he hardley eats anything!
So parents, dont worry to much!
Both my husband and I were picky eaters when we were children. I myself recall not eating any kind of pasta(!!!), or peppers, or meat (apart from meatballs), and the list goes on. So, my son’s eating habits are no surprise. What is especially remarkable about him though, is that he also doesn’t eat any chocolate or lays, or any of the other treats that children adore. In fact, it was his problem with eating that opened the way to his diagnosis. We didn’t suspect that something was wrong with him until he was two years old and we were adviced to see a child psychiatrist to help us deal with his eating problem. He is now 4 years old and no matter what we’ve tried, we didn’t see any improvement. However, I feel more relaxed about it now and I just let him decide what he’ll eat. It’s the only way to keep myself sane.
I’ve heard children have to try a new food 10 times before they will like it. It has to do with them having more tastebuds. I have found this to be true with Patrick. Used to hate lasagne. We insisted he eat some each time we had it and by the 12th try he now loves it!!!
Obviously this won’t work for everything but I found it very heartening. It’s a slow campaign for sure.
After reading this article, I don’t feel too bad about my kids’ eating habits. Lola will eat several types of fruits and vegetables, breads, pasta, any and all dairy, and “soft” meats (meatloaf, meatballs, hot dogs, nuggets, etc.) – she just doesn’t like her stuff mixed together, doesn’t like most sauces, and often doesn’t eat much for dinner (she prefers to graze). She takes after her parents and aunt, though – I didn’t eat a casserole until I was in my teens, my husband ate nothing but PB&J for lunch as a child, and my sister shunned “chewy” meat for years.
The study calculated heritability at 78%. They also used the classical twin study method which compares the ratio of concordance in identical twins compared to fraternal twins. The classical twin design is coming under increasing scrutiny since there is no environmental component, specifically the intrauterine enironment.
More in depth methods have been used that segregates concordance rates of identical twins by placentation status. A number of studies in the general population have found the highest variance in cognition, brain structure and even personality development all aggregate in identical twins who did not share the same prenatal environment having developed in seperate placentas. Identical twins who share a single placenta are more alike than identical twins who did not share the same prenatal environment.
In leprosy, the concordance rate for identical twins is 60 – 85% and there is a rapid falloff in concordance in fraternal twins 5 – 20%. Using the classic twin study design for calculating heritability has produced the astonishing figure of 80% heritability. The cause of leprosy is exposure to myobacterium laprae so even though there is a strong genetic component the heritability calculation could lead to a misinterpretation in the etiolgy of leprosy. The same phenomena may also be at work in calculating heritibality estimtes in autism which to data has only used the classical twin design method.
A recent article in cardiology explains why heritability estimates may be uninformative.
http://www.circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/113/8/1136
My son is now 13. He used to eat anything I put in front of him as a baby. Then the elimination process started. It is now and has been for some time now, a chore to get him to eat anything he sees as non-edible. I noticed along with this that it seemed all the sensory functions seemed to become extremely hightened around the same time ( in his toddler years). Sounds were too loud, lights too bright, SMELLS too strong, foods became offensive to him when he put them in his mouth. I would even have to put socks on him inside out because he would scream, because the seam on the inside was bugging him.
Due to the sensory factors, I noticed if it didn’t look right he wouldn’t eat it, if it didn’t smell right he wouldn’t eat it. (too hot, too cold, texture, you name it, and nothing was to be mixed up or forget it!) An opened can of tuna in the kitchen could send him to throwing up clear in another room.
we have learned to accept that he only eats certain foods, along with an offer to try new things periodically. We’ve also tried really hard to try to make sure he understands the dangers as he ages of not eating healthy foods. We can now only pray that eventually he will reintroduce better foods as he gets older along with some gentle reminders of healthy eating.