January 2013
Featured in this insight: Food & drink, Children & young people, International
Europe wide survey finds UK toddlers are fussiest eaters: A survey has questioned 1,005 UK mums and a further 1,531 mothers across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the Netherlands to investigate the eating habits of toddlers.
The European Toddler Nutrition Index research by Growingupmilkinfo has found that young children from Britain are the most likely to refuse food, as well as have parents that give in to what they want.
Overall, UK kids under five years old are the fussiest eaters – 69% of British toddlers regularly refuse food, compared to 54% of French under-fives and 58% of those in Germany.
A total of 26% of British toddlers cause their parents stress by refusing to eat the meal that is put in front of them at least once a day, which stands in stark contrast to 15% of kids doing so in both France and Germany.
In addition, 43% of the British mothers surveyed let their toddler get away with not eating certain foods to save time and effort, compared to 33% in France and 41% in Germany.
Nevertheless, children’s food expert Annabel Karmel defended British mums: "We work longer hours than anyone else in Europe and, as a consequence, parents feel quite guilty about not spending enough time with their children, and so often just give children whatever they want to eat just so they're happy."
View more of our sector specific insights: Food & drink
