Wonderful news for parents of fussy eaters may not be as wonderful as all that

A study of 2,400 pairs of twins, who were followed between the ages of 16 months and 13 years, found genes were the main factor in picky eating, causing between 60 and 83 per cent of the trait.

Dr Zeynep Nas, of University College London, said: "Food fussiness is common among children and can be a major source of anxiety for parents and caregivers, who often blame themselves... or are blamed by others. We hope our finding that fussy eating is largely innate may help to alleviate parental blame. This behaviour is not a result of parenting.”

So don’t blame yourself, blame your child’s genes instead! Hmm, it’s maybe not cause for too much celebration. The scientists also added having meals as a family and providing a range of fruit and vegetables would help. No specific mention of trains but it probably wouldn’t hurt to try. Come on now, everybody, “choo, choo!”