title: Child food neophobia is heritable, associated with less compliant eating, and moderates familial resemblance for BMI.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The heritability of food neophobia, the tendency to avoid new foods, was tested in 4-7-year-old twins. We also examined whether food neophobia is associated with parent-child feeding relations or child body fat.
  
  
  METHODS
  66 same-sex twin pairs, including 37 monozygotic (MZ) and 29 dizygotic (DZ) pairs were studied. Food neophobia was assessed by parent questionnaire (Child Food Neophobia Scale, CFNS), as were child-feeding practices and "division of responsibility" feeding relations. Child anthropometry and percent body fat were directly measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MZ and DZ twin pair correlations for food neophobia were r = 0.71 and r = -0.01, respectively: heritability= 72%. Greater food neophobia was associated with reduced child eating compliance of prompted foods (P < 0.001) reduced eating compliance of initially refused foods (P < 0.001), and--among girls only--fewer parental food demands (P = 0.01). Interestingly, the correlation between maternal BMI and child BMI z-score was significant only for children high (P = 0.03), but not low (P = 0.55), in food neophobia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Child food neophobia, a highly heritable trait previously linked to emotionality, was associated with less compliant parent-child feeding relations. Strategies to combat food neophobia and foster more harmonious feeding relationships may have a role in obesity prevention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutritional Sciences and Food Science, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. mfaith@unc.edu
authors.forename: Myles S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Faith
authors.forename: Moonseong
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heo
authors.forename: Kathleen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pietrobelli
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000235:genetics*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002755:Choice Behavior; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic / Q000235:genetics; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic