ICMR-NIN study: 77% of Hyderabad children aged 2-7 wary of new foods

A study by the ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) in Hyderabad has found that about three in four young children in a low-income Hyderabad neighbourhood are wary of trying new foods, and that what their mothers know and do at mealtimes is linked to how strong that wariness is. The findings, reported on October 29, 2026, come from a study of 150 mother-child pairs in Addagutta, published in the Journal of Nutritional Science.

Food neophobia is the term researchers use for a child's reluctance or refusal to try foods they have not eaten before. Some fussiness is a normal part of growing up, and many children grow out of it. But when it is strong, it can narrow a child's diet to a few familiar items, which can mean too few vegetables, pulses, fruit and protein foods at the very age when a child is growing fastest.

The study matters because most research on picky eating comes from richer countries. This one looks at families in a low-income urban community in India, where a narrow diet can add to existing problems of undernutrition. The reported link between neophobia and wasting is a reminder that, for these families, a child refusing new food is not only a mealtime annoyance; it can be tied to how well the child is growing. The study design does not show which comes first, so it cannot say whether the wariness causes poor growth or the other way round.

The finding on mothers puts the family at the centre of the answer. The study measured mothers' knowledge, attitudes and practices around feeding, often shortened to KAP. Children of mothers with better scores were less fearful of new foods. In most Indian homes, mothers still carry most of the daily work of feeding young children, often alongside paid work and other duties. The researchers' advice is about how food is offered rather than about buying anything new: the lead researcher said caregivers should be encouraged to offer a variety of foods again and again, without pressure.

(The three shares add to just over 100% because the reported figures are rounded.)

The institute's director, Bharati Kulkarni, said existing government programmes such as the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), which runs anganwadi centres, and POSHAN Abhiyaan, the national nutrition mission, could be used to strengthen feeding counselling for families. That matters because these programmes already reach mothers of young children through anganwadi workers, so better advice on feeding could be added without building anything new.

Short-term: The study gives anganwadi workers, health workers and nutrition counsellors evidence that advice on how children are fed, not just what they are fed, should be part of their work with mothers of children under seven.

Long-term: If the findings are confirmed in larger and more varied groups, feeding counselling in ICDS and POSHAN Abhiyaan could include steps to help children accept a wider range of foods early, which may support better nutrition in childhood.

Who is affected: Parents and grandparents of young children, especially mothers in low-income urban families; anganwadi and health workers; and the planners of child nutrition programmes. The study covered one community, so its numbers may not apply to all of India.

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