Almost half of British children (45%) refuse to eat vegetables according to a new study by parents.
Researchers surveyed UK parents about the eating habits of their children and revealed and a staggering 75 percent have worries or concerns about their fussy eating.
A further 52% claimed their child's refusal to eat healthy foods is a major issue according to the study.
66% of parents say to get their children to eat healthy is a stressful experience. Overall 82% of the parents who took part in the study claimed their are some foods that their child similar will not eat, including vegetables, salad, meat, fish and diary. However according to data vegetables is the main cause of concern with 46% of children refusing to eat them.
Greens such as Cabbage (43% of children wont eat it), spinach (39% of children) and broccoli (39% of children) were among the main vegetables that parents struggle to make children eat.
Mushrooms (39%) and beetroot (35%) were also revealed as highly likely for kids to refuse. While 13% said their child will not eat any red meat and a further 1 in 10 said their children will not eat an apple.
A desperate 38% said that the stress of meal times with their children had led to rows with their half with 59% saying they often feel at a wits end with the problem.
Heinz undertook the poll of 2000 parents to mark the 5th anniversary of grow your own campaign which encourages children to learn about where their food comes from by growing their own tomatoes and vegetables. Research revealed that one of the
major reasons that children are picky over their food as they dont know where it comes from with 64% of parents saying their children never have grown any type of vegetables at home compared to 36% that had, and of the 32% of these said that it made their children more willing to try new foods.
Also lots of parents say they are embarrassed at other peoples houses, because their children refuse to eat anything. Also 64% admitted they have caved inand given their children something high in sugar salt or fat, similarly to avoid a scene.
Heinz's study also revealed that 48% of parents say they feel pressure from other parents posting pictures of their children eating adventurous food on social media.
So we have involved children in growing their own vegetables, educating them where the food comes from so they can fall in love with healthy food.