Good sources of carotene include yellow, red or green vegetables and yellow fruit, and good sources of iron and zinc include meat, seafood and beans.

But advice from Dr Caroline Taylor (University of Bristol) who led the research is for parents not to worry if their child is fussy about food but gradually to expand their child’s diet to include more nutrient-rich foods like fruit and veg and to cut back on less nutritious foods and those with ‘empty’ calories, like sugary drinks and snacks.

She also advises not to give up first time if a child doesn’t like a particular food but to offer it to them multiple times, or in different ways, e.g. carrot could be raw, cooked, pureed, grated, or mixed through other food.

She said:

Parents are the best role models for their children, so we should all make the effort to sit down and share a healthy, balanced meal with our family. If our children see us eating lots of fruit and veg, they’re more likely to do so too.

Parents can sometimes worry that their child isn’t getting enough to eat but we found that the children we looked at were consuming enough calories but, in some cases, just needed a better balance of foods.

The data were collected on the participants when they were aged two, three, four and a half, five and a half, and seven and a half.

Regardless of whether or not they were fussy eaters, most children consumed less than the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables.