Welcome to Nutricia’s Fussy Eating Hub

Fussy eating is defined as unwillingness to eat familiar foods or try new foods, severe enough to interfere with daily routines to an extent that is problematic to the parent, child, or parent-child relationship¹. Hence fussy eaters will typically have a routine diet that is characterised by:

• low quality of foods
• low quantity of foods
• low variety of foods².

This could have consequences on the child’s dietary intake, overall health, growth and development.^3,4

1. Taylor C.M. et al., (2015) Picky/fussy eating in children: Review of definitions, assessment, prevalence and dietary intakes. Appetite, 95:349-359.
2. Levene I.R. & Williams A. (2018) Fifteen-minute consultation: The healthy child: “My child is a fussy eater!”. Archives of Disease in Childhood-Education and Practice, 103(2):71-78.
3. de Barse L.M. et al., (2015) Longitudinal association between preschool fussy eating and body composition at 6 years of age: The Generation R study. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 12(1):153.
4. Volger S. et al., (2017) Nutrient intake and dietary patterns in children 2.5-5 years of age with picky eating behaviours and low weight-for-height. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 26(1):104-109.