Emotional eating down to home life

Stress at home rather than genetics is more likely to cause a child to comfort-eat or lose their appetite, according to a study.

New research suggests that, unlike a number of other food-related traits, genes are “largely unimportant” when it comes to the tendencies to emotionally over- or undereat.

Instead, environmental factors - such as home life - have the biggest influence. The study by the University College London, is based on data on 394 twins at the age of four.