Many of England’s traditional tea time dishes for under-12’s look to be being taken over by Mexico’s, India’s and China’s spicy foods, which was revealed in a new study today which points to a drastic evolution of the national palette.

Annabel Karmel, best selling food writer commissioned the study of the release of “The Fussy Eaters Recipe Book” which disclose that current dishes like stew, casserole and bangers and mash could become rarities thanks to our changing culinary tastes.

It was unveiled that under-12’s in Britain prefers zesty and exotic foods over traditional British dishes, in a survey of over 2000 parents. Curry, Chinese, Houmous, Enchiladas, Olives and Sushi were the shocking favourites chose by entries on the list of top foods and meals. Surprisingly toad in the hole, casseroles and stews are dying out.

Research also revealed that today’s time-poor mothers are not as strict at mealtimes with their children as their parents were with them. Unsurprisingly, the family mealtime as an institution is waning with only 7% of parents spending more than 30 minutes at the dinner table encouraging their child to finish their meal. 67% of children are allowed to leave the table without clearing their plates and 52% let them eat whatever they like, wherever they like, even in front of the television.

On a positive note, the research also revealed that a massive 75% of parents are encouraging their children to get involved in the preparation of their food, as 70% believe this is the key to getting their children to understand food and eat a healthy diet.

The research also revealed that strongly flavoured cheese is as a favourite food amongst children today with 61% of parents listing it as one of their child’s top foods, suggesting a trend in maturing palettes amongst children. Boys favor the flavour of cheese, whereas girls are not as keen, with 15% and 8% respectively. This suggests that children’s taste buds are becoming more accustomed to stronger flavours as Indian and Chinese meals also rate highly amongst children’s favourite meals with both receiving around 20% of the parents vote.

Research suggests that food phobias are in no danger of dying out however, and even though children are being encouraged into the kitchen, food phobias are still around children and staple foods, including green veg and dairy products. Which are the highest rated for their dislikes. Children’s least favorable foods are butter, aborigines, mushrooms, avocados and peas, according to almost half (48%) of parents.

24 % of the 48% of parents producing a healthy lunchbox for their kids use fresh produce. This could be the reason for the dramatic decrease in children having school dinners. However being healthy proves to be more costly and timely, with an average of £4 for a parent to produce a lunchbox meal, and some spending up to 45 minutes preparing it.

The South West is the healthiest with 32% of parents preparing their children’s lunch entirely from fresh produce, in battle of the lunchboxes. However in Northern Ireland only 1% of parents make a completely fresh lunch, for their children. Also in Northern Ireland only 8% of children mentioned green vegetables when it comes to favourite foods, whereas across the UK 32% said green vegetable. Karmel said “It’s not surprising that children’s tastes are evolving with all the great recipes available to parents. More children prefer to take wraps to school as opposed to sandwiches, showing an evolution in their tastes. Developing a child’s taste buds when they’re young is vitally important, as is having variety in a child’s diet, so cooking ethnic foods and not just sticking to traditional British meals can only be a good thing.”

Top 10 Favourite Meals:
1. Roast Dinner
2. Pizza
3. Shepherds Pie
4. Lasagne
5. Sausage & mash
6. Curry
7. Chinese
8. Fajitas
9. Sushi
10. Chilli Con Carne

Top 10 Favourite Foods:
1. Cheese
2. Chips
3. Bananas
4. Apples
5. Red berries
6. Garlic bread
7. Spicy food
8. Fish
9. Salty foods (olives, peanuts)
10. Dips including Houmous and Tzatziki