Parents Dread Family MealTime!

The research found that 35 percent of the 2,000 moms and dads polled said sitting down to dinner with everyone was a 'stressful' experience. And 41 percent struggle to enjoy their meal because their child is fussy with food.

As a result, one in six would often prefer to have a sitting for the children first and eat their meal in peace later on.

The study also found feeding the children too much sugar, not enough vegetables and a meal that lacks variety are among the top concerns parents have. While 56 percent struggle to get their child to eat a healthy balance of fruit, vegetables, protein and carbohydrates.

Related: Kids Say Family Dinner Time Should Last No Longer Than 30 Minutes...

Nearly three-quarters of children have even been known to ask for takeout over a home-cooked meal.

Vegetables are considered the hardest food to get a child to eat, followed by proteins such as fish, eggs and lean meat and healthy carbs such as brown bread or wholegrain rice.

Sprouts, mushrooms, olives and onions are the foods children are most likely to fuss over at dinner. While others will pick out or refuse to eat shrimp, broccoli, couscous and salmon.

In a bid to keep the children happy, half of the parents find it easier to pull something out of the freezer for convenience.

And to get the whole family eating well, those prepared to serve different meals at different sittings will often cook up to three meals a night to provide food everyone will like and finish.

TOP REASONS MEALTIMES ARE STRESSFUL

1.            Your child is fussy

2.            Complaints about the food on offer

3.            Your child won’t finish their meals

4.            Your child wants to leave the table

5.            Your child refuses to come to the table when called

6.            Children fall out with each other

7.            Your child eats in a messy way

8.            Everyone insists on watching TV

9.            No one can sit still for long

10.         Everyone sits down at different times

TOP FOODS KIDS PICK OVER

1.            Sprouts

2.            Mushrooms

3.            Olives

4.            Onions

5.            Shrimp

6.            Broccoli

7.            Couscous

8.            Salmon

9.            Peppers

10.         Tomatoes