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Effects of repeated exposure on acceptance of initially disliked vegetables in 7-month old infants
Abstract
In the weeks following the start of weaning, 70 mothers were asked to identify a vegetable purée that their infant disliked and that they normally would not offer again. The 49 who did so were then asked to offer that vegetable on alternate days for 16 days, and to offer a well-liked one (carrot purée) on the other days. Amount eaten and acceptance were measured at each meal. On the first day of exposure, mean intake of the initially disliked vegetable was 39 ± 29 g and of the liked one, 164 ± 73 g (mean ± SD). Over the following days, intake of the initially disliked vegetable increased rapidly and by the eighth exposure was 174 ± 54 g, similar to that of the liked vegetable (186 ± 68 g). A similar pattern of results was found for mother-reported liking ratings. These effects of repeated exposure appear to be long lasting because nine months later, 63% of the infants were still eating and liking the initially disliked vegetable. The present study shows that when a vegetable is initially disliked it is worth persisting in feeding it for at least eight subsequent meals.
... At weaning, food preferences develop due to repeated exposure to a variety of foods, especially vegetables and fruits [11][12][13]. The persistence of these early influences seems to be long lasting [1]. ...
... So, what to do when gourmet babies stubbornly resist something new? The most successful strategy to promote vegetable intake is repeated exposure [1,[12][13][14]. Repeated exposure to the pure/distinct taste of a vegetable during complementary feeding (on at least 8 occasions) can help infants learn to accept that vegetable, both immediately and in later childhood [1,12]. ...
... The most successful strategy to promote vegetable intake is repeated exposure [1,[12][13][14]. Repeated exposure to the pure/distinct taste of a vegetable during complementary feeding (on at least 8 occasions) can help infants learn to accept that vegetable, both immediately and in later childhood [1,12]. So, if the baby does not eat a certain type of vegetable, it does not automatically mean that he does not like it. ...
The early development of taste and food pleasure plays an important role in children and has long-lasting influences on subsequent food preferences and choices. Infants are born with a surprisingly sensitive sense of taste-they have more widely distributed taste buds (about 10,000) than adults. Thus, preferences for a variety of food flavors and textures develop early, through milk-related flavor exposure, or even during pregnancy, allowing for an easier acceptance to healthy foods. Breastfeeding favors the acquisition of a taste for a variety of foods. This process can continue throughout weaning and into childhood if infants are repeatedly exposed to a variety of healthful foods, even if they initially dislike them. Factors favoring the development of food acceptance at the beginning of complementary feeding include, in particular, the role of early variety, repeated exposure, timing of introducing the foods, and the sensory properties (texture, taste, and flavors). These early-life sensory experiences establish food preferences and dietary patterns that set the stage for lifelong dietary habits. This review provides the foundation for evidence-based recommendations to help parents promote healthy eating habits to their children.
... Bunlara ek olarak, tamamlayıcı besinlerle beslenmeye başlandığı zaman, bir besine düzenli ve tekrarlanan biçimde maruz kalınması ilerleyen dönemlerde o besinin çocuklar tarafından tercihini, beğenilirliğini ayrıca denemeye olan istekliliğini önemli ölçüde artırmaktadır (10,(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22). Ayrıca bebekleri yeni besinler ile tanıştırmak, diyetin besin çeşitliliğinin artmasını sağlamaktadır. ...
... Yedi aylık bebekler ile yürütülen bir çalışmada ise, bebeklere farklı sebze püreleri sunulmuş ve anneleri tarafından çocukların beğenme durumu puanlandırılmış, ayrıca tüketim miktarları hesaplanmıştır. Anne sütü ile beslenen bebeklerin anneleri tarafından başlangıçta beğenilmediği ifade edilen bir sebze püresini dahi mama ile beslenenlere göre daha fazla miktarda (anne sütü: 52,5±33 g, mama: 26±18 g) tüketmiş oldukları saptanmıştır (20). ...
... Bunu destekleyen diğer bir çalışmada da, en az 8 kez denedikten sonra başlangıçta beğenilmeyen sebzelerin tüketim miktarının ortalama 39±29 g'dan 174±54 g'a yükseldiği ve her denemede tüketim miktarındaki artışın ortalama 17 g olduğu saptanmıştır. Dokuz ay sonra bile tüketimdeki bu artışın benzer şekilde devam ettiği ve bebeklerin %63'ünün başlangıçta beğenmedikleri sebzeleri tüketmeye devam ettikleri belirlenmiştir (20). ...
... 18.5% of the participants belonged to the lower class, 49.0% to the middle class, and 32.5% to the upper class. (Maier et al., 2007) of the VARSEEK (Van Trijp & Steenkamp, 1992). Following the WHO guidelines (World Health Organization, 2016), the original scale was translated into German and then back-translated by Maier et al. (2007). ...
... (Maier et al., 2007) of the VARSEEK (Van Trijp & Steenkamp, 1992). Following the WHO guidelines (World Health Organization, 2016), the original scale was translated into German and then back-translated by Maier et al. (2007). Subsequently, the translation process included a pre-test procedure to ensure understanding of all items (Maier et al., 2007). ...
... Following the WHO guidelines (World Health Organization, 2016), the original scale was translated into German and then back-translated by Maier et al. (2007). Subsequently, the translation process included a pre-test procedure to ensure understanding of all items (Maier et al., 2007). The translated German scale was placed at our disposal by courtesy of this research group. ...
As part of a healthy diet, guidelines recommend eating a variety of foods to reduce risks associated with malnutrition. However, whether people follow this recommendation substantially depends on their willingness to try unfamiliar foods, also referred to as food neophilia. This study aimed at comprehensively validating the German version of the Variety Seeking Tendency Scale (VARSEEK), a common instrument to assess food neophilia. Two independent sub-studies were conducted to examine the German VARSEEK’s psychometric properties. Study 1 (N = 532, aged 18–91 years) and Study 2 (N = 468, aged 18–73 years) each comprised a German community sample. Data were collected both online and via a paper–pencil version. Whereas Study 1 included an EFA, Study 2 comprised a CFA, analyses of the VARSEEK’s reliability and construct validity, and different explorative group comparisons. EFA and CFA results supported the original scale’s unidimensionality. Internal consistency (α = .93) and test-retest reliability (r = .87) of the scale were high. VARSEEK scores were positively associated with openness, sensation seeking, and extraversion and negatively associated with food neophobia, general neophobia, and trait anxiety. Construct validity was further established by showing positive associations with ratings of familiarity with and willingness to try familiar and unfamiliar foods. Whereas group comparisons revealed no significant differences for sex, age, and weight status, analyses showed that people who belonged to the upper class were more food neophilic than those assigned to the lower and middle class. Findings further underscore that the German VARSEEK is a reliable and valid instrument for the assessment of food neophilia in the German population.
... Mother-child dyads visited the laboratory for an observation of child acceptance (baseline), at which time they were randomized to 1 version of the supplement (sweetened or unsweetened) and given 10 portions of the food to offer at home over a 2-week period (19). In previous repeated exposure studies, approximately 8-10 exposures have proven effective to increase children's liking and intake for a novel food (19)(20)(21)(22). The mother-child dyads then returned to the laboratory for a postexposure observation (see Figure 1). ...
... Previous experimental studies that have examined the effects of repeated exposure have consistently reported that repeated exposure is effective in promoting younger infants' (∼4-9 mo) acceptance of novel foods, both in short-term studies (5-10 exposures over days to months (19-21, 32, 33-37) and with longitudinal follow-ups (between 2-7 mo and followup at 6 years of age (15,21,37). As previously noted, these studies most often focused on vegetable and, in some cases, fruit acceptance, and a few studies included a variety of fruits and/or vegetables to be offered to young children. ...
... A caregiver's perception of acceptance can be based upon infant facial expressions and/or the amount of food consumed by the infant. In previous studies, there have been mixed findings for changes in caregiver ratings of children's acceptance of a target food after repeated exposure; some studies have reported increases in maternal perceptions of children's liking (21,37), while others have reported that mothers perceived no change in infant responses (32,19,34). Facial reactions as signals of liking have been suggested by some to be a less sensitive indicator of changes in children's acceptance, at least as rated by mothers (10,32). ...
Background
Small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) are designed to address undernutrition during the complementary feeding period. SQ-LNS contains added sugars, but limited research has assessed whether infants’ acceptance varies between versions with and without sugars.
Objectives
Our objective was to examine the effects of repeated exposure on children's acceptance of sweetened and unsweetened SQ-LNS. We aimed to understand caregivers’ perceptions of children's liking of the 2 SQ-LNS versions and their influences on infant acceptance of SQ-LNS.
Methods
Caregivers (86% non-Hispanic White) and children (7–24 mo), participated in a randomized, 2-week home-exposure study and baseline and post–home exposure assessments. Children were randomized to receive sweetened or unsweetened SQ-LNS versions, mixed with infant oatmeal. At in-person visits, caregivers fed both SQ-LNS versions to children and rated their child's liking for each. Caregivers fed the SQ-LNS version to which their child was randomized until the child refused to eat more. Acceptance was measured as total grams consumed. Mixed-effects linear models tested the change in SQ-LNS consumed between baseline and postexposure by the SQ-LNS version and number of home exposures. Covariates included the amount of SQ-LNS consumed at baseline, child BMI z-score, child age, and breastfeeding experience.
Results
Children's acceptance of both SQ-LNS versions increased from baseline to postexposure (β, 0.71 g; 95% CI: 0.54–0.89 g; P = 0.04), regardless of SQ-LNS version (P = 0.88) or number of home exposures (P = 0.55). Caregivers rated children's liking of unsweetened SQ-LNS higher at baseline (P = 0.02). Children with lower liking ratings at baseline showed the greatest increases in acceptance between baseline and postexposure (P = 0.01).
Conclusions
Children's acceptance of SQ-LNS increased with repeated exposure, whether offered the sweetened or unsweetened version, providing preliminary support that adding sugar to SQ-LNS may not improve acceptance in young children. Children who initially like the supplement less may need repeated experience to learn to accept SQ-LNS. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT04544332.
... Because parents largely determine what and how children are fed in the first years of life, early interventions focusing on parental feeding strategies during the transitional period of complementary feeding (CF) seem a promising way to foster healthy eating habits from the very beginning. To promote vegetable consumption (the what of CF), repeatedly exposing infants to a variety of vegetables is found to be an effective method (5,10,11). To foster self-regulation of energy intake and thereby reduce the risk of developing overweight (12,13), promoting parental responsive feeding behavior (the how of CF) is thought to be important, because responsively feeding parents adequately respond to infant hunger and satiety cues and do not pressure infants to eat beyond satiation (12,13). ...
... One study found only short-term effects of repeated vegetable exposure in the first year of life and no longer at 24 mo, suggesting that intervention effects might not be robust enough to have longlasting effects (55,52). Interestingly, another study did show a lasting effect of repeated exposure to a high compared with a low variety of vegetables at the start of CF on vegetable intake and liking at age 3 and 6 y (11,54). The absence of an effect at age 15 mo in the same study might suggest that children can still benefit from exposure to vegetables at the start of CF later in life, but other studies to confirm this theory are lacking. ...
Background
Parenting interventions during the first years of life on what and/or how to feed infants during complementary feeding (CF) may promote healthy eating habits.
Objective
An intervention promoting repeated exposure to a variety of vegetables (RVE; what) and an intervention promoting to respond sensitively to child signals during mealtime (VIPP-FI; how) were compared, separately and combined (COMBI), to an attention control condition (AC). Primary outcomes were vegetable consumption and self-regulation of energy intake; secondary outcomes were child anthropometrics and maternal feeding practices (sensitive feeding, pressure to eat).
Methods
Our four-arm randomized controlled trial included 246 first-time Dutch mothers and their infants. Interventions started when infants were 4–6 months old and ended at age 16 months. The present study evaluated effects at 18 (t18) and 24 (t24) months of age. Vegetable acceptance was assessed using three 24h dietary recalls, self-regulation of energy intake by an eating-in-the-absence-of-hunger experiment and mother-report, and maternal feeding behavior by observation and mother-report.
Results
Linear Mixed Model and ANOVA analyses revealed no follow-up group differences regarding child vegetable intake or self-regulatory behavior. The proportion of children with overweight was significantly lower in the COMBI group, compared to the VIPP-FI group at t18 (2% vs. 16%), and AC group at t24 (7 vs. 20%), although this finding needs to be interpreted cautiously due to the small number of infants with overweight and non-significant effects on the continuous BMI-z measure (P-values 0.29–0.82). Finally, more sensitive feeding behavior and less pressure to eat was found in the VIPP-FI and COMBI groups, compared to the RVE and AC group, mostly at t18 (significant effect sizes: d = 0.23–0.64).
Conclusion
Interventions were not effective in increasing vegetable intake or self-regulation of energy intake. Future research might do well to focus on risk groups such as families who already experience problems around feeding.
... Because parents largely determine what and how children are fed in the first years of life, early interventions focusing on parental feeding strategies during the transitional period of complementary feeding (CF) seem a promising way to foster healthy eating habits from the very beginning. To promote vegetable consumption (the what of CF), repeatedly exposing infants to a variety of vegetables is found to be an effective method (5,10,11). To foster self-regulation of energy intake and thereby reduce the risk of developing overweight (12,13), promoting parental responsive feeding behavior (the how of CF) is thought to be important, because responsively feeding parents adequately respond to infant hunger and satiety cues and do not pressure infants to eat beyond satiation (12,13). ...
... One study found only short-term effects of repeated vegetable exposure in the first year of life and no longer at 24 mo, suggesting that intervention effects might not be robust enough to have longlasting effects (55,52). Interestingly, another study did show a lasting effect of repeated exposure to a high compared with a low variety of vegetables at the start of CF on vegetable intake and liking at age 3 and 6 y (11,54). The absence of an effect at age 15 mo in the same study might suggest that children can still benefit from exposure to vegetables at the start of CF later in life, but other studies to confirm this theory are lacking. ...
... Asimismo, en muchas sociedades el rol de la madre es trascendental para la formación de los hábitos alimentarios, por tanto, es esperable que ella tenga una función sobresaliente en el despliegue del estilo adoptado durante los periodos de alimentación en la infancia (Birch y Fischer, 2006;Maier, Chabanet, Schaal, Issanchou y Leathwood, 2007;Kroller y Warschburger, 2009, Moding, Birch y Stifter, 2014. ...
... Le permito a mi hijo o hija comer quequitos u otras golosinas cuando lo desee. Nota: *Expresión peyorativa del argot popular costarricense para referirse a alimentos percibidos como de dudosa calidad nutricional o como "comida chatarra".Asimismo, el cuestionario se sustentó en escalas ordinales aditivas tipo Likert(Casais et al., 2017;Guedea, Solano, Blanco, Ceballos y Enríquez, 2017;Wong et al., 2018), siguiendo los procedimientos descritos porMaier et al. (2007). Las preguntas se diseñaron para ser contestadas con respuesta cerrada, en una escala de cinco puntos que contempló los siguientes ejes de anclaje: a) Estoy totalmente en desacuerdo, b) Estoy en desacuerdo; c) Me es indiferente, d) Estoy de acuerdo y e) ...
Objective: to analyze the validity of the factorial structure for a questionnaire adapted from the Preschooler Feeding Questionnaire (PFQ) with subscales associated with control and parental pressure when eating. Methodology: a questionnaire was prepared with 11 items expressed with “Likert” type scales and grouped into two subscales: “maternal pressure when eating” and “maternal control when eating”. This was evaluated with 50 mothers, subsequently carrying out a factor analysis to identify the underlying factorial structure, evaluating the reliability with Cronbach's α and using a principal components extraction with a Varimax rotation and Kaiser normalization. A confirmatory factor analysis was subsequently performed with 430 mothers. Descriptive statistics studied both “control” and “pressure” parental practices, while an SEM model assessed the existence of causal relationships between BMI, child gender and these practices. Results: a factorial structure of two scales was validated, “Control” and “Pressure”, each composed of three items (x2 = 187.3, df. = 116, x2 / df. = 1.62, CFI = 0.998, GFI = 0.991, AGFI = 0.983, NFI = 0.994, IFI = 0.998, and RMSEA = 0.018). No causal relationship was established between these factors with the BMI or the gender of the infants, both factors being greater than the average. Conclusion: The adaptation of the questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool of future utility in the study of parental nutritional practices.
... Cependant, la plupart des études supposent que 8 à 10 expositions à un nouveau légume vert (haricots verts ou petits pois) peuvent conduire à l'acceptation au début de la diversification alimentaire [93,94]. Chez les nourrissons de 6 mois, cette méthode s'est même révélée efficace pour favoriser la consommation d'aliments initialement rejetés [95]. L'exposition répétée est susceptible de déclencher des réactions positives aux aliments à tout âge, mais elle peut être plus efficace chez les jeunes enfants [96]. ...
... A further effective strategy to increase food acceptance and food pleasure during childhood is repeated exposure, in which children are exposed to a specific taste, flavour, texture or food multiple times, gradually enhancing the pleasure that derives from their consumption. Thus, children can learn to develop pleasure from the sensory properties of foods even when the food is initially disliked (34) . Repeated exposure has been shown to be a promising strategy to establish healthy eating behaviour in children and could be applied both at home and in school canteen settings. ...
This narrative review revises the scientific evidence of recent years on healthy eating in children and adolescents, making sense of promising avenues of action, from a food system perspective. A conceptual framework is provided to better understand how eating habits of children and adolescents are shaped to identify key multisectoral approaches that should be implemented to promote healthier diets. The following influencing factors are discussed: individual factors (physiological and psychological factors, food preferences and food literacy competencies), factors within the personal and socio-cultural food environments, external food environments, and the supply chain. In each section, the main barriers to healthy eating are briefly discussed focusing on how to overcome them. Finally, a discussion with recommendations of actions is provided, anchored in scientific knowledge, and transferable to the general public, industry, and policymakers. We highlight that multidisciplinary approaches are not enough, a systems approach, with a truly holistic view is needed. Apart from introducing systemic changes, a variety of interventions can be implemented at different levels to foster healthier diets in children, through fostering healthier and more sustainable food environments, facilitating pleasurable sensory experiences, increasing their food literacy, and enhancing their agency by empowering them to make better food related decisions. Acknowledging children as unique individuals is required, through interpersonal interactions, as well as their role in their environments. Actions should aim to enable children and adolescents as active participants within sustainable food systems, to support healthier dietary behaviours that can be sustained throughout life, impacting health at a societal level.
... In line with the optimal-level of stimulation model, exposure during infancy increases the appeal of a novel food (Appleton et al., 2016;Birch, 1998;Birch et al., 1987;Carruth et al., 2004;Gerrish & Mennella, 2001;Maier et al., 2007;Maier-Nöth et al., 2016;Mennella et al., 2008) but excessive familiarity may lead to "monotony" (Rozin & Vollmecke, 1986;Wadhera & Capaldi-Phillips, 2014). Other studies comparing food complexity and hedonic responses found either a negative relationship, or were inconclusive (Palczak et al., 2019). ...
Phenomena such as engagement, attention and curiosity rely heavily on the “optimal-level of stimulation (or arousal)” model, which suggests they are driven by stimuli being neither too simple nor too complex. Two points often overlooked in psychology are that each stimulus is simultaneously processed with its context, and that a stimulus complexity is relative to an individual’s cognitive resources to process it. According to the “optimal-level of stimulation” model, while familiar contexts may decrease the overall stimulation and favour exploration of novelty, a novel context may increase the overall stimulation and favour preference for familiarity. In order to stay closer to their optimum when stimulation is getting too high or too low, individuals can explore other stimuli, adopt a different processing style or be creative. The need and the ability to adopt such strategies will depend upon the cognitive resources available, which can be affected by contextual stimulation and by other factors such as age, mood or arousability. Drawing on empirical research in cognitive and developmental psychology, we provide here an updated “optimal-level of stimulation” model, which is holistic and coherent with previous literature. Once taken into account the role of contextual stimulation as well as the diverse factors influencing internal cognitive resources, such model fits with and enriches other existing theories related to exploratory behaviors. By doing so, it provides a useful framework to investigate proximate explanations underlying learning and cognitive development, and to develop future interventions related, for example, to eating, and learning disorders.
... Particularly, bitter-tasting types, such as spinach, broccoli, and cauliflower, were used in a few products. The innate dislike of bitter-tasting substances in humans [45] can be overcome by repeated exposure [46]. Therefore, the complementary feeding period is regarded as a "window of opportunity" [47], when exposure to a wider range of flavors increases acceptance and reduces reluctance towards disliked and novel tastes even in the long term [48]. ...
As consumption of commercial complementary food (CCF) during infancy and toddlerhood is common, the aim of the present study was to describe the current (2020) German market of CCF products targeted at infants and toddlers with a special focus on ingredients, macronutrients, and the practice of nutrient fortification. Information on age declarations, ingredients, energy and nutrient contents, and nutrient fortification was obtained in a market survey by contacting the producers and searching manufacturers’ websites. Each product was assigned to 1 of 13 product categories (menus, milk–cereal–meal, fruit–cereal–meal, oil, vegetables, meat, fish, fruits, cereals, snack foods, pouches, desserts, beverages). Descriptive statistics were used. We identified 1057 CF products on the German market (infants’ CCF (<12 months): n = 829; toddlers’ CCF (>12 months): n = 228)). The highest protein content (% of energy content, %E) was found in meat products. In pouches, beverages, cereal fruit meals, and fruits, more than 50% of energy came from total sugar. The highest median salt content was found in toddlers’ menus and desserts. Around one-third of infants’ CCF products and one quarter of toddlers’ products were fortified with nutrients. Vitamin B1 (thiamin) was the most frequently fortified nutrient, followed by vitamin C, iron, calcium, and vitamin D. Apple was the type of fruit listed most often in products with fruits, whereas carrot was the most frequent vegetable among CCF with vegetables. In particular, the high total sugar content of most CCFs currently available on the German market may promote unhealthy dietary habits. Parents need to be advised about the optimal selection of products.
... A further study also showed a similar exposure effect: after eight exposures to a new fruit or vegetable, intake increased (Birch et al., 1998). The effect of repeated exposures was potent enough to increase the acceptance of foods which had been previously identified by the mother as being refused by her infant at the beginning of the complementary feeding process, which were most often green vegetables, but also pumpkin (Maier et al., 2007). ...
In the first section of this chapter, an overview of what is known about early flavor exposure, distinguishing between taste and flavor (aroma), and texture exposure is provided. In the second section, we describe what has been researched regarding the influence of early flavor exposure on the development of food preference, looking at prenatal exposure, exposure received in the context of milk feeding and exposure received in the context of complementary feeding. The role of texture exposure is looked from the development of oral feedings skills perspective and parental feeding practices with respect to introduction of solids. The third section is a description of what has been shown regarding the relationships between early exposure and food neophobia. The chapter ends with a comment on likely future trends, and by a description of sources of further information.
... This was noted as a suggestion among authors in a systematic review on garden-based interventions among preschoolers [17]. Another strength of our study is providing children with repeat taste exposure of vegetables, which past research has shown to be effective in increasing intake [47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55]. Furthermore, our study focused on providing the ECE menus with local fresh vegetables, addressing the need for studies that intervene in the social determinants of health. ...
Establishing healthy eating habits during childhood is critical to prevent chronic diseases that develop in adulthood. Tribally owned Early Childhood and Education (ECE) programs signify fundamental influence in childhood obesity disparities. A strategy to improve diet is the use of school gardens; however, few studies have used rigorous methods to assess diet and health outcomes. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe results from the six-month Food Resource Equity for Sustainable Health (FRESH) study among Native American families. We aimed to recruit 176 families of children attending Osage Nation ECE programs in four communities. Two communities received the intervention and two served as wait-list controls. Outcomes included change in dietary intake, body mass index, health status, systolic blood pressure (adults only), and food insecurity in children and parents. There were 193 children (n = 106 intervention; n = 87 control) and 170 adults (n = 93 intervention; n = 77 control) enrolled. Vegetable intake significantly increased in intervention children compared to controls for squash (p = 0.0007) and beans (p = 0.0002). Willingness to try scores increased for beans in intervention children (p = 0.049) and tomatoes in both groups (p = 0.01). FRESH is the first study to implement a farm-to-school intervention in rural, tribally owned ECEs. Future interventions that target healthy dietary intake among children should incorporate a comprehensive parent component in order to support healthy eating for all household members.
... Using the LC scheme before an intervention trial could also help researchers gather insights on how they could tailor culturally appropriate material and messages to mothers and families in the local context. For example, if the food is not well accepted by infants initially, intervention messages could focus on the health benefits of the supplement and the importance of repeated exposure in increasing infants' acceptance of disliked foods over time (Maier et al., 2007). Similarly, if caregiver perceptions of infant liking are negative, but acceptance ratings are positive, messages could focus on which infant/toddler behavioural cues indicate acceptance, as well as the importance of offering the supplement for health reasons even if it appears to be disliked. ...
Validated measures predicting infant consumption of nutrient supplements or fortified foods are essential for the success of nutritional interventions to improve undernutrition. Behavioural coding of food acceptance is one promising approach, though the required time and resources are limiting. The overarching goal of the present study was to adapt a video coding (VC) protocol for use as a live coding (LC) method to assess infant food acceptance in naturalistic settings. Infants (n = 59; ages 7-24 months) were fed a small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplement (SQ-LNS) mixed with a familiar food by caregivers in the State of Morelos, Mexico. Trained coders used a VC scheme to rate infant acceptance of each spoon offer using a 4-point scale. The VC scheme was subsequently adapted for use as an LC method to be used in participant homes and a video live coding (VLC) method to monitor reliability. Reliability and validity of the LC method were tested in a subsample of dyads (n = 20). Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) indicated that the inter-rater reliability between coders using the LC method was moderate or good when compared to VC methods (ICCs = 0.75 and 0.87). Live coded acceptance scores were also moderately associated with consumption of the SQ-LNS (ρ = 0.50, p = 0.03). The LC scheme demonstrated initial reliability and validity as an assessment of infant food acceptance. Since VC is both resource and time-intensive, the LC scheme may be useful for assessing infant food acceptance in resource-limited settings.
... In-home studies present two advantages: they can be performed with few constraints on the participants, and children are in their usual environment with their usual feeder (55). Extant research has evidenced that parents are well aware of their infant's responses toward foods and therefore are likely to be more sensitive to subtle differences in their reactions (15,(56)(57)(58)(59)(60). Parents were randomly allocated to one of the two groups: high-sugar refined (n = 82) and low-sugar whole grain cereals (n = 83). ...
There is an urgent need to reduce sugar intake in early childhood. Commercial infant cereals are among the first solid foods introduced to infants at the beginning of the complementary feeding period in most countries. The aim of this study was to examine infants’ overall acceptability of low-sugar complementary cereals. To do so, a between-subjects experimental study with 165 parents and their infants aged 6–24 months was conducted where one group tested a high-sugar refined cereal (21 g/100 g), and the other a low-sugar cereal (<1 g/100 g) with 50% of whole grain, which represented a 95.2% decrease in sugar content. We found no significant differences between the two groups in terms of infants’ overall acceptability (infant’s reaction, estimated intake and relative intake). Importantly, infants’ reactions to high- and low-sugar cereals were not influenced by the time that infants had been consuming sweet cereals (15–25% sugar) before the experiment took place. In addition, parent’s overall liking and sensory evaluation (sweetness, color, taste, texture, and aroma) was positive and very similar in both groups. Overall, our findings show that it is feasible to reduce sugar content in infant cereals without sacrificing its sensory acceptability by infants and their parents. This represents a good opportunity for the infant food industry to adhere to current healthy and sustainable demands of lowering the sugar intake leading to important benefits in infants’ health, without compromising competitiveness in the market.
... Particularly, bitter tasting types, as spinach, broccoli, and cauli ower, were used in few products. The innate dislike of bitter tasting substances in humans (32) can be overcome by repeated exposure (33). Therefore, the complementary feeding period is regarded as a 'window of opportunity' (34), when exposure to a wider range of avors increases acceptance and reduces reluctance towards disliked and novel tastes even in the long term (35). ...
Background: As consumption of commercial complementary food (CCF) during infancy and toddlerhood is common, the aim of the present study was to describe the current (2020) German market of CCF products targeted at infants and toddlers with a special focus on ingredients, macronutrients, and the practice of nutrient fortification.
Methods: Information on age declarations, ingredients, energy and nutrient contents, and nutrient fortification was obtained in a market survey by contacting the producers and searching manufacturers' websites. Each product was assigned to one of thirteen product categories (menus, milk-cereal-meal, fruit-cereal-meal, oil, vegetables, meat, fish, fruits, cereals, snack foods, pouches, desserts, beverages). Descriptive statistics were used in order to give an overview of the available products.
Results: We identified 1057 CF products on the German market (infants’ CCF (< 12 months): n=829; toddlers’ CCF (> 12 months): n=228)). Highest protein content (% of energy content, %E) was found in meat products. In pouches, beverages, cereal fruit meals, and fruits, more than 50 % of energy came from total sugar . Highest median salt content was found in toddlers’ menus and desserts. Around one third of infants’ CCF products and one quarter of toddlers’ products were fortified with nutrients. Vitamin B1 (thiamin) was the most frequently fortified nutrient, followed by vitamin C, iron, calcium, and vitamin D. Apple was the type of fruit listed most often in products with fruits, whereas carrot was the most frequent vegetable among CCF with vegetables.
Conclusion: In particular the high sugar content of most CCFs currently available on the German market may promote unhealthy dietary habits. Parents need to be educated about the optimal selection of products.
... Feeders (parents) know their child's reactions towards foods best and therefore are likely to be more sensitive to subtle differences in their reactions. In fact, extant research has validated the use of subjective measurement (through parent's evaluations) of infants' and toddlers' reactions (Gerrish & Mennella, 2001;Haro-Vicente et al., 2017;Lange et al., 2013;Maier et al., 2007;Remy et al., 2013;Sanchez-Siles et al., 2020). Moreover, prior research has shown that parents' and external observers' (i.e., researchers) assessments of infants' and toddlers' sensory reactions are very similar (Demonteil et al., 2019). ...
Consumer demand of commercial baby food packaged in squeezable pouches has increased in the last few years. However, pouches have been criticized for having excessive levels of sugar and too many processed ingredients. This study examined how reformulations towards healthier (lower sugar levels) and more natural (fewer processed ingredients) products influenced toddlers’ and parents’ sensory acceptability. Three pairs of baby yogurt pouches (old versus reformulated recipes) were tested. In the reformulated recipes, fruit concentrates were replaced by fruit purees, and added sugar was eliminated. 150 parent-toddler (1-4 years) dyads were included in a 4-day double-blind randomized cross-over study in Spain. Each parent-toddler dyad tested one of the three yogurt pairs (A-B, C-D, E-F). Toddler’s acceptability was measured by the toddler’s reaction and by the estimated and relative intake. Parent’s overall liking and sensory evaluation was measured on a 7-point hedonic scale. Although the reformulated recipes of two yogurt pairs scored significantly lower on acceptability in toddlers (pair A-B: 3.39 ± 0.49 and 3.12 ± 0.70; pair C-D: 3.54 ± 0.61 and 3.30 ± 0.65, P < 0.05) and their parents (pair A-B: 5.73 ± 0.97 and 5.04 ± 1.43; pair C-D: 5.84 ± 1.27 and 5.04 ± 1.51, P < 0.05), all reformulated recipes were highly accepted. The reformulation of food products represents a huge challenge for food manufacturers. Our findings suggest that a reduction of sugar content up to 30% along with a reduction in the number of processed ingredients is acceptable by toddlers and their parents.
... Particularly, bitter tasting types, as spinach, broccoli, and cauli ower, were used in few products. The innate dislike of bitter tasting substances in humans (31) can be overcome by repeated exposure (32). Therefore, the complementary feeding period is regarded as a 'window of opportunity' (33), when exposure to a wider range of avors increases acceptance and reduces reluctance towards disliked and novel tastes even in the long term (34). ...
Background: As consumption of commercial complementary food (CCF) during infancy and toddlerhood is common, the aim of the present study was to describe the current (2020) German market of CCF products with a special focus on ingredients, macronutrients, and the practice of nutrient fortification.
Methods: Information on age declarations, ingredients, energy and nutrient contents, and nutrient fortification of 1057 CCF products was obtained by contacting the producers and searching manufacturers' websites. Each product was assigned to one of thirteen product categories (menus, milk-cereal-meal, fruit-cereal-meal, oil, vegetables, meat, fish, fruits, cereals, snack foods, pouches, desserts, beverages) and stratified into infants’ CCF (< 12 months, n=829) and toddlers’ CCF (> 12 months, n=228). Descriptive statistics were used in order to give an overview of the available products.
Results: Highest protein content (% of energy content, %E) was found in meat products. More than 50 %E of total sugar was found in pouches, beverages, cereal fruit meals, and fruits. Highest median salt content was found in toddlers’ menus and desserts. Around one third of infants’ CCF products and one quarter of toddlers’ products were fortified with nutrients. Vitamin B1 (thiamin) was the most frequently fortified nutrient, followed by vitamin C, iron, calcium, and vitamin D. Apple was the type of fruit listed most often in products with fruits, whereas carrot was the most frequent vegetable among CCF with vegetables.
Conclusion: The available product categories as well as the high sugar content of most CCFs currently available on the German market may promote unhealthy dietary habits. Parents need to be educated about the optimal selection of products.
... Mothers will complete a 4-day weighed food diary during the first and last 4 days of the 4-week intervention to primarily measure infant food intake (grammes). In alignment with other studies [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][55][56][57], this will involve weighing the food before and after consumption . Foods will be labelled by colour and none list the ingredients but mothers are reassured that the foods align with New Zealand infant feeding guidelines. ...
Background
Vegetables as first complementary foods for infants may programme taste preferences that lead to improved vegetable intake in children. Yet few studies have investigated the impact of a ”vegetables first” approach to complementary feeding, especially in New Zealand. The purpose of this randomised control trial is to investigate the effect of starting complementary feeding with vegetables only on infants’ later intake and liking of vegetables, compared to those starting with fruit and vegetables.
Methods/design
One-hundred and twenty mother-infant pairs living in Auckland, New Zealand, will be randomised to receive either vegetables only (intervention) or fruit and vegetables (control) for 28 days, starting from the first day of complementary feeding at around 4–6 months of age. Infants will be presented with a brassica (broccoli), followed by a green leafy vegetable (spinach) and sweet fruit (pear) at 9 months of age. The primary outcome measures of intake of each food will be assessed using a weighed food diary. Secondary outcome measures of overall intake, liking and wanting of vegetables will be assessed using a food frequency questionnaire, liking tool and video coding tool, respectively, at 9, 12, and 24 months of age. Infant growth and iron status will be assessed as part of health screening and monitoring at baseline, post intervention and 9 months of age. Other biological samples to be collected include infant stool samples, vitamin D (mother and infant), iron status (mother), and mothers’ diet.
Discussion
This randomised, controlled trial will be the first to our knowledge to investigate a “vegetables first” approach to complementary feeding on infants’ liking and intake of vegetables in New Zealand. Comparison against standard practice (fruit and vegetables as first foods) should complement other trials underway, such as the Baby’s First Bites and Nordic OTIS trial. Results may contribute to the evidence supporting complementary feeding guidelines in New Zealand and worldwide.
Trial registration
Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry ACTRN12619000737134 . Registered on 16 May 2019.
... Most studies that have gathered data about infant exposure to novel foods and infant behaviors in response to foods have focused primarily on infants 6-12 mo of age (33). The results from repeated exposure studies are mixed with respect to maternal ratings of children's liking, with some studies finding evidence of a relationship between maternal liking ratings and children's facial expressions (31) and intake (23,29), whereas others reported no relation to these acceptance variables (28,32). ...
Background
Infants are born with the biological predisposition to reject bitterness. Dark green vegetables contain essential nutrients but also bitter compounds, making them more difficult to like.
Objective
The Good Tastes Study was designed to determine whether reducing bitterness by adding small amounts of sugar or salt would alter infant acceptance of kale purées.
Methods
Caregivers (n = 106, 94% mothers, 82% Non-Hispanic White) and children (53% male, aged 6–24 mo) participated in a videorecorded laboratory visit during which infants were offered 4 versions of puréed kale: plain, 1.2% or 1.8% added sugar, or 0.2% added salt. Caregivers rated their children's liking for each kale version. Videos were coded for the number of tastes accepted and for children's behaviors and acceptance of each kale version. A multilevel ordered logistic model was fit for the number of accepted tastes and caregiver ratings of child liking of kale versions with age, breastfeeding history, order effects, and kale version as predictors.
Results
Infants 6 to <12 mo accepted more tastes (b = 2.911, P < 0.001) and were rated by caregivers as liking the kale more than older toddlers (≥18 mo; b = 1.874, P = 0.014). The plain kale was more likely to be accepted (P < 0.001); also, the first version offered was more likely to be rejected (b = −0.586, P < 0.007). Older infants (≥18 mo) exhibited more avoidant behaviors (b = 1.279, P < 0.001), more playing (b = 2.918, P < 0.001), and more self-feeding (b = 1.786, P = 0.005) than younger infants (6 to <12 mo). Children who were reported to have been breastfed more in the last 7 d were more likely to self-feed (b = 0.246, P < 0.001) and play with food (b = 0.207, P < 0.005).
Conclusions
Our findings support that there may be a sensitive period, during the early phase of complementary feeding, to improve success of introducing a novel, bitter, more difficult-to-like food. When low levels of sugar or salt were added, no advantage of bitterness reduction was observed. This study has been registered with ClinicalTrials.gov as NCT04549233.
... Au début de la diversification, la plupart des aliments nouveaux sont appréciés (Lange et al., 2013), mais la saveur module l'appréciation d'un aliment ; ainsi, un légume légèrement salé est plus apprécié qu'un légume amer (Schwartz et al., 2011). La présentation répétée d'un aliment conduit à une augmentation de sa consommation et de son appréciation (Sullivan, Birch, 1994), et ceci est vrai même pour les aliments peu appréciés par l'enfant lors de ses premières découvertes (Maier et al., 2007). La modification du goût de l'aliment, en ajoutant par exemple du sel ou de l'huile, ne module pas l'effet très robuste de la « simple » exposition à l'aliment (Remy et al., 2013). ...
... RE is most effective when used with infants during CF [9,72]. At this time, approximately 5-10 separate exposures can be required for children to acquire liking for, willingness to try (WTT) and to increase intake of a target vegetable, even when it is initially novel or disliked [92]. The number of exposures is likely to vary based on the type of food, child age and individual characteristics (e.g. ...
Children eat too few vegetables and this is attributed to disliked flavours and texture as well as low energy density. Vegetables confer selective health benefits over other foods and so children are encouraged to eat them. Parents and caregivers face a challenge in incorporating vegetables into their child's habitual diet. However, liking and intake may be increased through different forms of learning. Children learn about vegetables across development from exposure to some vegetable flavours in utero, through breastmilk, complementary feeding and transitioning to family diets. Infants aged between 5-7m are most amenable to accepting vegetables. However, a range of biological, social, environmental and individual factors may act independently and in tandem to reduce the appeal of eating vegetables. By applying aspects of learning theory, including social learning, liking and intake of vegetables can be increased. We propose taking an integrated and individualised approach to child feeding in order to achieve optimal learning in the early years. Simple techniques such as repeated exposure, modelling, social praise and creating social norms for eating vegetables can contribute to positive feeding experiences which in turn, contributes to increased acceptance of vegetables. However, there is a mismatch between experimental studies and the ways that children eat vegetables in real world settings. Therefore, current knowledge of the best strategies to increase vegetable liking and intake gained from experimental studies must be adapted and integrated for application to home and care settings, while responding to individual differences.
... La etapa más importante para formar hábitos y preferencias saludables es la etapa de alimentación complementaria, ya que es en esta donde los niños tienen la experiencia y reciben el contacto a un sin número de texturas y sabores. Los mayores predictores de la aceptación de alimentos son el sabor de los alimentos, la duración de la lactancia y si la madre incluyó en su dieta esos alimentos durante el embarazo, y la exposición repetida a estos alimentos durante el periodo de introducción de alimentos (en promedio de 8 a 10 días) (2,31). El exponer repetidamente a cierto alimento no significa que no deban incluirse otros alimentos en ese periodo, es más, resultados de más complejos como el nivel educativo, estado de salud, tipo de actividad, creencias y cultura, nivel socioeconómico y el contexto ambiental y social entrarán en juego para modelar las preferencias y hábitos alimentarios. ...
El deterioro de la calidad de la dieta está afectando la salud de los niños menores de dos años. Por tal motivo, es de vital importancia la identificación de factores relacionados con el desarrollo y establecimiento de preferencias alimentarias en etapas tempranas de la vida y brindar recomendaciones que faciliten su adopción. Esta revisión sistemática de la literatura tiene como objetivo resumir la evidencia existente sobre los factores asociados a formar y modelar las preferencias alimentarias en etapas tempranas de la vida. Para esto se realizó una búsqueda en PubMed de estudios que evaluaran la asociación entre la exposición prenatal y posnatal de sabores, introducción temprana de alimentos y habituación al sabor dulce, alimentación complementaria y diversidad dietética. Se incluyeron artículos publicados desde el 2000 hasta el 2019. Resultados de 39 artículos sugieren que la alimentación durante los primeros dos años de vida y el desarrollo de preferencias alimentarias en etapas tempranas de la vida tiene el potencial de modificar los patrones de alimentación y establecerse en etapas posteriores de la vida, por lo que, los primeros mil días de vida constituyen una ventana de oportunidad para formar preferencias alimentarias saludables y mejorar la calidad de dieta de los niños.
... Most studies use a novel or a non-preferred food, aiming to increase the acceptance of it by repeatedly exposing children to it. Lakkakula et al. [27] proved that repeated taste exposures to poorly liked vegetables increased liking for most of them by elementary school children, while Maier et al. was able to demonstrate the same effect in infants [72]. According to Cooke [26], age is a determinant of the number of exposures needed to change the initial attitude, with older children requiring more exposures. ...
Fruit and vegetables are important components of a healthy diet, but unfortunately many children are not consuming enough to meet the recommendations. Therefore, it is crucial to develop strategies towards increasing the acceptance of this food group. This study aims to investigate the effect of different repeated exposure frequencies on fruit and vegetable acceptance using a novel vegetable, daikon, among 3–6-year-old children. One hundred and fifty-nine children participated in this study. Eight kindergarten teams were assigned to one of the following groups: Three different intervention groups with varying exposure frequencies, but all receiving seven exposures: Twice a week (n = 47), once a week (n = 32) and once every second week (n = 30), and a control group (n = 50). Liking and familiarity of daikon and other vegetables (cucumber, celery, celeriac, broccoli, cauliflower and beetroot) were assessed at baseline, post-intervention and two follow up sessions (3 and 6 months) to test for potential generalisation effects and observe the longevity of the obtained effects. Intake of daikon was measured at all exposures and test sessions. Results showed significant increases (p ≤ 0.05) in liking and intake of daikon for all three frequencies and the control group. Over the exposures, intake of daikon increased until the 4th exposure for all the groups, where a plateau was reached. No systematic generalisation effects were found. Repeated exposure was a successful approach to increase liking and intake of a novel vegetable with all exposure frequencies to be effective, and no particular exposure frequency can be recommended. Even the few exposures the control group received were found to be sufficient to improve intake and liking over 6 months (p ≤ 0.05), indicating that exposures to low quantities of an unfamiliar vegetable may be sufficient.
... In a classic study by Sullivan and Birch, for example, feeding peas or green beans to 4-to-6-month-olds on 10 occasions, over approximately one month, led to significant increases in consumption of the vegetable over time (Sullivan and Birch, 1994). Relatedly, Maier et al. found that repeated exposure to a disliked vegetable (8 times in 16 days) early in the complementary feeding period resulted in intakes that were four-fold greater than the amounts the infants initially consumed (Maier et al., 2007). Thus, early exposure to healthy foods during the early feeding period may strongly influence infant feeding behavior. ...
Objective: To characterize the prevalence of hyperpalatable foods (HPF) among baby foods in the U.S. and examine the prevalence of HPF exposure and consumption from both baby food and adult food sources among infants aged 9–15 months.
Methods: A U.S. baby food database as well as baby foods from three 24-h dietary recalls of 147 infants were used to identify baby foods as HPF per previous publication. HPF exposure was defined as intake of any HPF during the 3-day measurement period. To determine the extent of HFP consumption, % kilocalorie (kcal) intake from HPF was characterized.
Results: Only 12% of baby foods were HPF; however, nearly all participants (>90%) consumed HPF, primarily through exposure to adult foods. Younger infants (<12 months) consumed 38% [standard deviation (SD) = 23.6%] of their daily food kcal from HPF and older infants (≥12 months) consumed 52% (SD = 16.4%) of daily food kilocalorie from HPF. Most younger infants (68%) and older infants (88%) had repeated exposure to the same HPF across the measurement period.
Conclusions: The prevalence of HPF among baby foods in the U.S. is low. However, almost all infants were exposed to HPF, and HPF comprised a substantial percentage of daily food kilocalorie in infants' diets. Findings highlight the transition to solid food consumption during complimentary feeding period is a critical time for early HPF exposure.
... Dans un tiers des cas, les connaissances sur la conduite de l'alimentation du nourrisson étaient insuffisantes. L'allaitement exclusif pendant les 6 premiers mois et l'exposition visuelle antérieure et répétée à une variété de saveurs dès le début de la diversification favorise l'acceptation des aliments par les enfants et conduit à une croissance optimale (Maier et al., 2007). ...
Introduction: La période des 1000 premiers jours est celle qui va de la conception jusqu’au deuxième anniversaire de l’enfant. Cette période unique et critique pendant laquelle se met en place le potentiel physique, psychomoteur, intellectuel et cognitif conditionne la santé immédiate et future de l’enfant. Notre travail avait pour objectif d’évaluer les connaissances des médecins sur cette période clé. Méthode : Un questionnaire a été administré à un total de 71 médecins. Résultats : Près de la moitié (49,30%) avaient déjà entendu parler du concept des 1000 premiers jours au moment de l’enquête. Le groupe pédiatre et médecins en cours de spécialisation en pédiatrie (soit respectivement 10/71 et 32/71) avaient une meilleure connaissance du concept (p=0,04) par rapport au groupe gynécologues et médecins en cours de spécialisation en gynécologie (soit respectivement 5/71 et 28/71). Un médecin sur cinq ignorait les risques encourus à l’âge adulte lorsque la croissance fœtale n’était pas optimale. Trente médecins (42,25%) estimaient leurs connaissances sur le microbiote intestinal insuffisantes ou médiocres. La moitié des médecins (50,70%) affirmaient avoir abordé le thème des 1000 premiers jours avec leurs patients. Les connaissances des médecins spécialistes de la mère et de l’enfant au Togo sur le concept des 1000 premiers jours doivent être améliorées. Conclusion : Un renforcement général des compétences s’avère nécessaire pour espérer réduire le fardeau de toutes les maladies non transmissibles qui trouvent leur origine depuis la conception et pour lesquelles des actions efficaces peuvent encore être menées dans la petite enfance.
... In one study, mothers of seven month old infants were asked to identify a vegetable their infant disliked and were instructed to offer that vegetable on alternate days for 16 days, and to offer a well-liked vegetable, typically something sweet like carrots, sweet potatoes or squash, on the other days. On the first day, infants ate substantially less of the disliked vegetable than the well-liked vegetable however by the eighth repetition, the intake of the liked and unliked vegetables were identical (35). A number of studies have demonstrated similar findings with anywhere between five and ten repetitions (36,37). ...
Humans are the only mammals who feed our young special complementary foods before weaning and we are the only primates that wean our young before they can forage independently. There appears to be a sensitive period in the first several months of life when infants readily accept a wide variety of tastes and this period overlaps with a critical window for oral tolerance. As a result, infants should be exposed to a wide variety of flavors while mother is pregnant, while mother is nursing and beginning at an early age. There also appears to be a sensitive period between 4 and 9 months when infants are most receptive to different food textures. There remains debate about when it is best to begin introducing solid foods into an infant's diet however, the available evidence suggests that provided the water and food supply are free of contamination, and the infant is provided adequate nutrition, there are no clear contraindications to feeding infants complementary foods at any age. There is emerging evidence that introduction of solid foods into an infant's diet by 4 months may increase their willingness to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables later in life, decrease their risk of having feeding problems later in life, and decrease their risk of developing food allergies, and the early introduction of solid foods into an infant's diet does not appear to increase their risk of obesity later in childhood.
... These findings are consistent with a study that showed that acceptance of a cricket-based biscuit by school children increased over a four week study period (Homann et al. 2017). Other studies have shown that children can learn new tastes with increased exposure to a new food Maier et al. 2007). However, for improved acceptance, it would be necessary to improve the flavour of the cricket-based porridge by creating flavours that relate easily with the local tastes for example beef or fruit flavours. ...
Crickets have been promoted as a possible animal protein source in child feeding by enriching porridge with cricket powder due to its nutritional contribution and affordability. The aim of this study was to develop a nutrient-dense cereal- cricket porridge suitable for school feeding programmes in Kenya and determine its safety and acceptability in comparison to cereal and cereal-milk porridges. Porridge flours containing maize and millet (MM), maize, millet and milk powder (M10) or maize, millet and cricket powder (C5) were processed by extrusion cooking based on nutritional requirements of children aged 3–5 years. Microbial and aflatoxin safety was determined using standard methods. Caregivers (n = 73) evaluated the sensory attributes of the porridges using a seven-point hedonic scale while consumer acceptability by children (n = 138) was evaluated in a randomized parallel intervention study over four weeks. The children were served 300 ml of either MM, M10 or C5 porridge during school days for four weeks. Daily porridge consumption quantities were taken with consumption of >75% of the porridge being rated highly acceptable, 50–75% moderately acceptable and < 50% least acceptable. The results showed that the developed porridge flours contributed essential macro- and micronutrients for 3–5 years old children. They were safe for human consumption with all assessed microbes being below the acceptable limits and no aflatoxins detected. M10 porridge had the most preferred colour (6.4) and taste (5.5) by the caregivers. Overall, the caregivers preferred M10 and MM, however, all the porridges including C5 registered overall acceptability scores of ≥5 (Liked very much). Among the children, acceptability of the different types of porridge increased from week 1 to 4. Based on the proportion of children who consumed >75% of the serving, acceptance of MM increased from 98% in week 1 to 100% in week 4, M10 increased from 91% to 100% while C5 increased from 55% to 70% over the same period. Only 5% of the children recorded <50% acceptance of C5 porridge in the fourth week compared to 15% at week 1. The study shows that crickets can be used to develop nutritious, porridge with considerable acceptability compared to conventionally consumed porridges. The study also shows that children can develop a liking for the less familiar food with continued exposure over time.
... As noted above, familiarizing a child with a food by providing repeated opportunities to taste a food is probably the simplest way to promote food acceptance (Birch et al., 1998, Sullivan andBirch, 1994). In 6-month-old infants, it has even proven efficient to enhance the consumption of initially disliked foods (Maier et al., 2007). Repeated exposure is likely to trigger positive reactions to foods at any age, but it may be more efficient in younger children (Caton et al., 2014). ...
This chapter aims at examining the question of food neophobia in healthy children up to the end of school age, excluding adolescents. Firstly, the definition of food neophobia in children is clarified, as well as its partial overlap with the notion of fussiness/pickiness; then the association between food neophobia and children’s diet quality and weight status is described. The second part describes the internal influence on food neophobia, more precisely by depicting the development of neophobia in children as a function of individual forces such as the affective and cognitive development, as well as temperament. The third part examines the psychosocial influences on food neophobia, focusing on how they may alter the typical development of neophobia, looking at the influence of parents and peers. The fourth part describes strategies that can be useful to overcome neophobic reactions in children, based on food properties modifications and modifications of the psychosocial context. Finally, directions for future studies are indicated.
... Dans ces deux dernières situations, l'alimentation de la mère est un vecteur de transmission des arômes des aliments. Au moment de la diversification alimentaire, la présentation répétée d'un aliment nouveau [10,11] et la variété des expériences alimentaires du nourrisson favorisent l'appréciation d'aliments nouveaux [12,13], et pourraient donc contribuer à la mise en place du répertoire alimentaire. Dès la petite enfance, des tempéraments alimentaires bien différents coexistent, entre des enfants «faciles» qui apprécient le moment du repas, et des enfants «difficiles» qui se refusent en particulier à goûter tout aliment nouveau. ...
Les progrès récents de la biologie nous ont éclairés sur la programmation précoce de certaines maladies en lien avec l’alimentation durant la grossesse et les premiers mois de vie. Qu’en est-il de la programmation précoce du comportement alimentaire ? L’étude Opaline vise à comprendre la mise en place des aspects sensoriels et comportementaux de l’alimentation des enfants, en suivant un groupe de 300 bébés depuis le dernier trimestre de grossesse jusqu’à l’âge de deux ans. Quelques résultats préliminaires de cette étude actuellement en cours seront présentés.
... This study demonstrated that sweet fruits and vegetables such as banana, watermelon, apple, carrot and cucumber were recognised vegetables among the children. One possible reason that may account for this observation is the children's familiarity and repeated exposure of the fruit and vegetables consumed (15,18,27). Therefore, familiarising children with fruits and vegetables through repeated exposure may improve their fruits and vegetables preferences and consumption. ...
Background:
The low consumption of fruits and vegetables among children is a global challenge. Foods recognition, nutrition knowledge and attitude are factors that influence children's dietary practices. This study aims to assess the preference, attitude, recognition and knowledge of fruits and vegetables intake among Malay children.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted among Malay children from five primary schools in Kuala Lumpur using self-administered questionnaires.
Results:
A total of 134 Malay children (70 males and 64 females) with a mean (SD) age of 10.3 (1.0) years were recruited. Majority of the children had a father (61.9%) and a mother (56.0%) with secondary school education and earned below RM3,900 (70.9%) per month. The most preferred fruits and vegetable were bananas (91.9%) and carrots (71.4%), while the most recognised was oranges (100.0%) and tomatoes (96.3%). The children demonstrated an overall moderate level of attitude, recognition and knowledge with mean (SD) scores of 70.3 (19.9), 76.8 (18.1) and 73.6 (17.5), respectively, towards fruits and vegetables intake. Majority of the children (53.0%) were not aware of the daily recommended servings of fruits and vegetables, while 40.0% of children expressed a low attitude towards eating a variety of fruits and vegetables. The willingness to try a new type of vegetables and consume more vegetables was lower (68.7%) compared to fruits (75.4%).
Conclusion:
The preferences and recognition of fruits were higher compared to vegetables among the children. The children demonstrated a moderate level of attitude, recognition and knowledge towards fruits and vegetables consumption. Efforts to educate children on the recommended number of servings per day and improve their acceptability of vegetables should be implemented to promote the increase in fruits and vegetables consumption among children.
... On the other hand, late introduction of complementary foods, especially of lumpy food, may lead to later infant feeding problems and increased fussiness (Coulthard et al., 2009). In principle, early exposure to a variety of food should favour child's later openess toward new food as repeated exposure is reported being one of the strongest factors to overcome FN in children of different ages (Laureati et al., 2014;Maier, Chabanet, Schaal, Issanchou, & Leathwood, 2007). Based on the data acquired in the present study, however, it is not possible to formulate a hypothesis about the variety of the child's diet when parents started introducing semi-solids as we did not ask explicity about the type of foods that were introduced. ...
Large amounts of money, time and effort are devoted to sensory and consumer research in food and beverage companies in an attempt to maximize the chances of new products succeeding in the marketplace. Many new products fail due to lack of consumer interest. Answers to what causes this and what can be done about it are complex and remain unclear. This wide-ranging reference collates important information about all aspects of this in one volume for the first time. It provides comprehensive, state-of-art coverage of essential concepts, methods and applications related to the study of consumer evaluation, acceptance and adoption of new foods and beverages. Combining knowledge and expertise from multiple disciplines that study food sensory evaluation and consumer behaviour, it covers advanced methods including analytical, instrumental and human characterization of flavour, aspects of food processing and special research applications of knowledge and methods related to consumers’ evaluation of new food products. Researchers and professionals working in food science and chemistry are sure to find this an interesting read.
Large amounts of money, time and effort are devoted to sensory and consumer research in food and beverage companies in an attempt to maximize the chances of new products succeeding in the marketplace. Many new products fail due to lack of consumer interest. Answers to what causes this and what can be done about it are complex and remain unclear. This wide-ranging reference collates important information about all aspects of this in one volume for the first time. It provides comprehensive, state-of-art coverage of essential concepts, methods and applications related to the study of consumer evaluation, acceptance and adoption of new foods and beverages. Combining knowledge and expertise from multiple disciplines that study food sensory evaluation and consumer behaviour, it covers advanced methods including analytical, instrumental and human characterization of flavour, aspects of food processing and special research applications of knowledge and methods related to consumers’ evaluation of new food products. Researchers and professionals working in food science and chemistry are sure to find this an interesting read.
Parental feeding practices that support healthy eating in children are particularly important because a child's food intake will strongly influence healthy growth and development. Childhood obesity and suboptimal diets are found among children from the time they move to a solid diet, suggesting the need to focus on feeding and eating from very early in a child's life. Although the early years are critical for establishing healthy eating habits, children continue to learn about food and gain greater independence in their food choices and intakes throughout childhood, indicating that continued parental support to promote healthy eating in children is essential. Feeding and eating is a complex and ongoing area of research, and this entry provides a broad overview of the key concepts related to feeding and eating in early and later childhood, including food exposure, repetition, and role modeling and parental use of pressure to eat, restriction, and reward.
Baby-led weaning (BLW), proposed as a new form of complementary feeding, has emerged as a real trend phenomenon in the media. Infants are seated at the family table from the age of 6 months, facing the foods they grab and bring to their mouth: they decide which foods they want to eat and what amount. The consumption of mashed foods and the use of a spoon are totally discouraged. BLW is increasingly used in nurseries and centers of young children.
A bibliographic search carried out between 2000 and 2021 found 423 articles, of which 38 were selected. The clinical studies selected are 11 cross-sectional observational studies and two randomized controlled studies.
BLW promotes breastfeeding, the early introduction of morsels, the respect of the child's appetite, the use of unprocessed foods, and the choice of “homemade” and friendliness. These benefits can nonetheless be reached with usual complementary feeding (SCF), according to current recommendations. Other benefits are claimed without scientific evidence such as easier achievement of dietary complementary feeding and an optimal growth with prevention of excess weight gain. BLW has some obvious downsides. The infant may not get enough energy, iron, zinc, vitamins, and other nutrients, or too much protein, saturated fat, salt, or sugar. The risk of choking, which must be distinguished from the physiological gagging reflex, has not been ruled out by scientific studies.
Currently, the Nutrition Committee of the French Pediatric Society considers that the data published to date in terms of benefits and risks of BLW do not lend themselves to advice for this practice in preference over SCF carried out according to current recommendations.
Healthy food subsidies made some food purchases temporarily healthier, but the effect was not always persistent.
Infancy may represent a sensitive window for establishing food preferences that could affect the individual's long-term potential to establish healthy eating patterns. Our study was based on the hypothesis that preserving the natural flavor of the ingredients of commercially prepared complementary foods would increase the acceptance of new foods, especially vegetables.
Frozen vegetable-based meals for infants were developed to preserve the natural taste of the ingredients better than sterilization of meals in jars. In a 3-month randomized, controlled intervention study, 51 infants were fed either frozen menus (intervention group IG) or commercial sterilized meals in jars (control group CG) on at least 5 days per week. Then the acceptability of a known vegetable-based puree was tested in comparison to an unknown puree, measuring the quantities consumed and also the mother's assessment of the infant's liking.
In conclusion, the results of this study clearly indicated that infants fed vegetable-based frozen meals for 3 months accepted a new vegetable better than infants fed sterilized commercial meals in jars.
Environmental factors and lifestyle behaviors have an impact in future individual's health from early life through programming effect. For instance, early influence on the development of food preferences or the microbiome establishment that might lead to obesity development start at that time. In this sense, infancy is a crucial period from a growth and development point of view and to assure a good nutritional status must be an aim. The immaturity of the digestive organs followed by the wide list of advantages for the baby and the mother highlighted breastfeeding as the gold standard of nurture in this lifespan. Despite all the benefits, it is not always possible to breastfed infants, due to parental choice or medical complications such as human immunodeficiency virus infection, among others. In that sense, the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition, based in its last revisions, agreed that infant (<1y) and young children (>1y) formulas, constituting the feeding substitution, are also safe and adequate. They have also introduced new aspects to consider in terms of complementary feeding (>6m) in relation to physiological and neurological maturation, nutritional adequacy of exclusive breastfeeding, taste and preference development, and health outcomes.
En France, le goûter est une habitude fréquente chez les enfants qui se caractérise généralement par la consommation d’aliments gras, sucrés et riches en énergie. Si les comportements alimentaires restent flexibles et peuvent évoluer tout au long de la vie, ils sont déjà fortement établis dès l’enfance. Dans ce contexte, améliorer les habitudes alimentaires en matière de goûter semble primordiale. L’objectif de cette thèse est donc d’évaluer l’efficacité de leviers visant à favoriser des choix de goûters favorables à la santé au sein du binôme mère-enfant. Une première expérimentation a été conduite de façon à évaluer l’impact du système d’étiquetage nutritionnel Nutri-Score sur la qualité nutritionnelle et sur l’appréciation des goûters choisis au sein du binôme mère-enfant. Les résultats soulignent une amélioration de la qualité nutritionnelle des goûters choisis par les participants pour eux-mêmes et pour l’autre membre du binôme à la suite de l’étiquetage des aliments avec le logo Nutri-Score. Cette amélioration s’accompagne toutefois d’une diminution de l’appréciation à l’égard des goûters choisis par les enfants et par les mères. Une deuxième expérimentation a été menée de façon à évaluer l’efficacité d’une intervention hédonique conduite au domicile mobilisant trois dimensions du plaisir alimentaire (sensorielle, interpersonnelle et psychosociale) pour stimuler la consommation d’aliments sains sur la qualité nutritionnelle des goûters choisis au laboratoire au sein du binôme mère-enfant. Cette intervention a également été testée sur différents indicateurs caractérisant la composition nutritionnelle des goûters consommés au domicile par les enfants. Si l’intervention n’a pas permis d’améliorer la qualité nutritionnelle des goûters choisis au laboratoire par les enfants et leur mère, elle a réduit la charge énergétique des goûters consommés au domicile par les enfants. Cette réduction serait due à une diminution des quantités consommées. Les résultats obtenus dans le cadre de ce travail pourraient fournir des pistes de réflexion à destination des autorités publiques chargées de la communication et des recommandations en matière d’alimentation chez les enfants.
Past research shows that high-quality public preschool may disproportionately support low-income children's school readiness, because low-income children tend to arrive at school with fewer of the academic skills needed for success. This suggests a compensatory process in human development in which the children who benefit most from a promotive factor are those who stand to gain the most. We propose that high-quality public preschool may similarly confer its greatest health rewards to low-income children, who are generally in poorer health than their peers. If that is true, preschool has the potential to narrow health disparities by income, which without intervention, persist into adulthood. To date, no one has articulated all the pathways through which high-quality public preschool may improve children's health, much less those that should disproportionately benefit those from low-income families. Drawing on the bioecological paradigm of human development, we propose a model identifying specific mechanisms likely to promote equity in child health. These mechanisms reflect core characteristics of high-quality public preschool that may disproportionately benefit low-income children's health. This model serves as a working template for a program of future research.
Background:
Insufficient consumption of fruits and vegetables in childhood increases the risk of future non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease. Testing the effects of interventions to increase consumption of fruit and vegetables, including those focused on specific child-feeding strategies or broader multicomponent interventions targeting the home or childcare environment is required to assess the potential to reduce this disease burden.
Objectives:
To assess the effectiveness, cost effectiveness and associated adverse events of interventions designed to increase the consumption of fruit, vegetables or both amongst children aged five years and under.
Search methods:
We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase and two clinical trials registries to identify eligible trials on 25 January 2020. We searched Proquest Dissertations and Theses in November 2019. We reviewed reference lists of included trials and handsearched three international nutrition journals. We contacted authors of included trials to identify further potentially relevant trials.
Selection criteria:
We included randomised controlled trials, including cluster-randomised controlled trials and cross-over trials, of any intervention primarily targeting consumption of fruit, vegetables or both among children aged five years and under, and incorporating a dietary or biochemical assessment of fruit or vegetable consumption. Two review authors independently screened titles and abstracts of identified papers; a third review author resolved disagreements.
Data collection and analysis:
Two review authors independently extracted data and assessed the risks of bias of included trials; a third review author resolved disagreements. Due to unexplained heterogeneity, we used random-effects models in meta-analyses for the primary review outcomes where we identified sufficient trials. We calculated standardised mean differences (SMDs) to account for the heterogeneity of fruit and vegetable consumption measures. We conducted assessments of risks of bias and evaluated the quality of evidence (GRADE approach) using Cochrane procedures.
Main results:
We included 80 trials with 218 trial arms and 12,965 participants. Fifty trials examined the impact of child-feeding practices (e.g. repeated food exposure) in increasing child vegetable intake. Fifteen trials examined the impact of parent nutrition education only in increasing child fruit and vegetable intake. Fourteen trials examined the impact of multicomponent interventions (e.g. parent nutrition education and preschool policy changes) in increasing child fruit and vegetable intake. Two trials examined the effect of a nutrition education intervention delivered to children in increasing child fruit and vegetable intake. One trial examined the impact of a child-focused mindfulness intervention in increasing vegetable intake. We judged 23 of the 80 included trials as free from high risks of bias across all domains. Performance, detection and attrition bias were the most common domains judged at high risk of bias for the remaining trials. There is low-quality evidence that child-feeding practices versus no intervention may have a small positive effect on child vegetable consumption, equivalent to an increase of 5.30 grams as-desired consumption of vegetables (SMD 0.50, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.71; 19 trials, 2140 participants; mean post-intervention follow-up = 8.3 weeks). Multicomponent interventions versus no intervention has a small effect on child consumption of fruit and vegetables (SMD 0.32, 95% CI 0.09 to 0.55; 9 trials, 2961 participants; moderate-quality evidence; mean post-intervention follow-up = 5.4 weeks), equivalent to an increase of 0.34 cups of fruit and vegetables a day. It is uncertain whether there are any short-term differences in child consumption of fruit and vegetables in meta-analyses of trials examining parent nutrition education versus no intervention (SMD 0.13, 95% CI -0.02 to 0.28; 11 trials, 3050 participants; very low-quality evidence; mean post-intervention follow-up = 13.2 weeks). We were unable to pool child nutrition education interventions in meta-analysis; both trials reported a positive intervention effect on child consumption of fruit and vegetables (low-quality evidence). Very few trials reported long-term effectiveness (6 trials), cost effectiveness (1 trial) or unintended adverse consequences of interventions (2 trials), limiting our ability to assess these outcomes. Trials reported receiving governmental or charitable funds, except for four trials reporting industry funding.
Authors' conclusions:
Despite identifying 80 eligible trials of various intervention approaches, the evidence for how to increase children's fruit and vegetable consumption remains limited in terms of quality of evidence and magnitude of effect. Of the types of interventions identified, there was moderate-quality evidence that multicomponent interventions probably lead to, and low-quality evidence that child-feeding practice may lead to, only small increases in fruit and vegetable consumption in children aged five years and under. It is uncertain whether parent nutrition education or child nutrition education interventions alone are effective in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in children aged five years and under. Our confidence in effect estimates for all intervention approaches, with the exception of multicomponent interventions, is limited on the basis of the very low to low-quality evidence. Long-term follow-up of at least 12 months is required and future research should adopt more rigorous methods to advance the field. This is a living systematic review. Living systematic reviews offer a new approach to review updating, in which the review is continually updated, incorporating relevant new evidence as it becomes available. Please refer to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for the current status of this review.
La néophobie alimentaire est une réticence à goûter et/ou le rejet des aliments inconnus. Elle a une incidence négative sur la variété du répertoire alimentaire de l’enfant et sur le climat familial lors des repas. L’objectif de notre étude, qui se situe dans une perspective développementale, est de répondre à trois questions concernant cette conduite qui demeurent insuffisamment traitées dans la littérature scientifique : 1/ la néophobie alimentaire émerge-t-elle brusquement à 2 ans ; 2/ si oui, quels sont les processus développementaux à l’origine de cette évolution ? ; 3/ quels liens la néophobie alimentaire entretient-elle avec la sélectivité alimentaire (réticence à goûter des aliments familiers) et l’alimentation difficile (rejet d’aliments inconnus et familiers, assorti de fortes préférences alimentaires) ?Via l’utilisation de questionnaires, nous avons évalué : 1/ la néophobie alimentaire en termes de prévalence et d’intensité ; 2/ les compétences développementales susceptibles d’expliquer son évolution dans les sphères motrice, praxique, linguistique et psycho-affective ; ces compétences ont été sélectionnées sur la base d’arguments temporel (évolution synchrone) et fonctionnel (liens théorique et psychologique) ; 3/ les conduites avec lesquelles elle est fréquemment confondue, à savoir la sélectivité alimentaire et l’alimentation difficile. Notre échantillon principal s’est trouvé composé de 432 sujets âgés de 3 à 60 mois. Nos résultats ont indiqué que la néophobie alimentaire constituait une période normale du développement de l’enfant. La prévalence de la néophobie alimentaire était de 57 % et associée à une intensitée modérée entre 3 et 6 mois ; elle augmentait de manière importante en termes de prévalence et d’intensité entre 19 et 36 mois, concernant 90 % des enfants à cet âge, puis elle se stabilisait jusqu’à 60 mois. Suivant cette évolution, nous avons proposé un modèle développemental de la néophobie alimentaire comprenant deux phases : 1/ une néophobie primaire commune aux nourrissons et aux animaux, liée à la perception de la nouveauté d’une texture ou d’une flaveur et sous-tendue par des processus de pensée intuitifs ; 2/ une néophobie secondaire, liée aux acquisitions réalisées par les enfants aux alentours de 2 ans, reposant largement sur l’aspect visuel des aliments et impliquant des traitements cognitifs plus élaborés. Nous n’avons pas identifié les processus développementaux à l’origine de son évolution entre 19 et 36 mois. Plusieurs explications méthodologiques et théoriques ont été envisagées pour expliquer cette absence de résultat telles que l’existence d’une phase intermédiaire dans l’acquisition des compétences ou l’implication d’autres mécanismes psychologiques ou neurobiologiques non mesurés dans cette recherche. De plus, nous avons constaté une intrication des processus développementaux mesurés aux alentours de 2 ans. Tous les progrès réalisés par l’enfant sur une courte période semblent converger dans une même direction, celle de l’autonomie : une autonomie à la fois motrice, avec l’acquisition de la marche et de la capacité à se nourrir seul, et une autonomie psychique, avec l’acquisition de la conscience de soi et l’entrée en phase d’opposition. Dans ce cadre, le développement du langage permettrait à l’enfant d’exprimer son individualité à travers l’affirmation de ses goûts et de ses besoins. La capacité à exprimer des demandes verbales et l’acquisition de la conscience de soi ont d’ailleurs été les compétences approchant le plus des critères de validation d’hypothèse. De ce fait, nous pouvons nous demander si l’augmentation de la néophobie alimentaire aux alentours de 2 ans vise à protéger l’enfant d’un éventuel empoisonnement à un moment où il devient de plus en plus autonome et/ou si elle reflète simplement des tentatives d’individuation.
It is proposed here that there is a sensitive period in the first two to three years of life during which humans acquire a basic knowledge of what foods are safe to eat. In support of this, it is shown that willingness to eat a wide variety of foods is greatest between the ages of one and two years, and then declines to low levels by age four. These data also show that children who are introduced to solids unusually late have a narrower diet breadth throughout childhood, perhaps because the duration of the sensitive period has been shortened. By reducing the costs associated with learning, a sensitive period for food learning should be adaptive for any omnivore (including early humans) that remains in the same environment throughout its life.
How children acquire preferences for added sugar and salt was examined by investigating the effects of repeated exposure to 1 of 3 versions of a novel food (sweetened, salty, or plain tofu) on children's preference for those and other similar foods. Participants were 39 4- and 5-yr-olds assigned to taste only 1 of 3 flavored versions 15 times over several weeks. Preferences for all versions were obtained before, during, and after the exposure series. Preference increased for the exposed version only. Experience with 1 flavored version did not produce generalized liking for all 3 versions of the food. Experience with 1 version (flavored or plain) actually produced a decline in preference for the other version. This was true whether children had experience with plain or flavored versions of the food. The acquired preference was restricted to the particular food/flavor complex; through exposure, children seemed to learn whether it was appropriate to add salt or sugar to a particular food. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Using standard test construction techniques, we developed a paper and pencil measure of the trait of food neophobia, which was defined as a reluctance to eat and/or avoidance of novel foods. The resulting 10-item test was found to have satisfactory test-retest reliability and internal consistency. Three behavioral validation studies demonstrated that test scores predicted behavior in laboratory food selection situations. Scores on the measure were found to be correlated with trait anxiety, age, the Experience Seeking subscale of the Sensation Seeking Scale, general neophobia, and general familiarity and experience with unusual foods. Scores were not related to gender or to finickiness.
Research in humans and animal models suggests that acceptance of solid foods by infants during weaning is enhanced by early experiences with flavor variety.
We tested the hypotheses that the acceptance of novel foods by formula-fed infants could be facilitated by providing the infants with a variety of flavors at the time when beikost is first introduced and that, contrary to medical lore, infants who had previously consumed fruit would be less likely to reject vegetables when first introduced than would infants without such an experience.
The infants' acceptance of a novel vegetable (puréed carrot) and a novel meat (puréed chicken) was evaluated after a 9-d exposure period in 3 groups of infants, some of whom had previously consumed fruit. During the home-exposure period, one group was fed only carrots, the target vegetable; a second group was fed only potatoes, a vegetable that differed in flavor from carrots; and a third group was fed a variety of vegetables that did not include carrots.
Infants fed either carrots or a variety of vegetables, but not those fed potatoes, ate significantly more of the carrots after the exposure period. Exposure to a variety of vegetables also facilitated the acceptance of the novel food, puréed chicken, and daily experience with fruit enhanced the infants' initial acceptance of carrots.
These findings are the first experimental evidence to indicate that exposure to a variety of flavors enhances acceptance of novel foods in human infants.
Consumers' variety seeking tendency (intrinsic desire for variety) is recognized as an important characteristic that influences consumers' food choice behavior. Empirical studies in economics and marketing have not specifically focused on this consumer characteristic, but instead have approached the issue from the overt behavior side. Given the great many factors that may underlie variation in behavior, intrinsic desire for variety cannot be validly derived directly from observed behavior. Instead, a measure specifically tapping this consumer characteristic is required. In this paper a scale (VARSEEK) for measuring consumers' variety seeking tendency with respect to foods is developed. The construct validity of this VARSEEK-scale is investigated extensively and managerial implications are discussed. Copyright 1992 by Oxford University Press.
Understanding "what" consumers want and "why" are two of the most significant hurdles faced by any business creating products for consumers. Properly conducted sensory research experiments can provide answers to these questions and more. Sensory evaluation provides strategic information at various stages in the product lifecycle including the front end of innovation, new product development, product optimization, marketplace audits, and quality control among others. Sensory research can help identify issues that contribute to a product's success (or failure). This fourth edition draws on the author's practical experience in partnering with business associates in marketing and development teams to bring creativity and innovation to consumer driven product development in today's global business environment. The field of sensory science continues to grow and is now recognized as a strategic source of information for many Fortune 500 companies. Many scientists working in this field depend on the core textbooks such as this one to enhance their working knowledge base with practical business applications. * Appeals to sensory professionals in both in academia and business * Methods to integrate sensory descriptive information and consumer assessment * Coordinate marketing messages and imagery with the product's sensory experience.
Publication Inra prise en compte dans l'analyse bibliométrique des publications scientifiques mondiales sur les Fruits, les Légumes et la Pomme de terre. Période 2000-2012. http://prodinra.inra.fr/record/256699
This research examined variables associated with young children's feeding problems. Mothers of 79 children ranging in age from 2 years to nearly 7 years completed extensive questionnaires with items pertaining chiefly to their children's feeding histories and past and current eating habits, their own (mothers') practices related to their children's eating habits, and the children's psychological problems. In addition, the mothers completed questionnaires supplying information about their own food likes and dislikes as well as those of their children and husbands. Children whose eating behavior was relatively problematic differed from other children in our study in several respects. They had less exposure to novel foods, and they were more likely to be prodded and rewarded to eat and punished for not eating. In addition, they had higher scores on 3 of the variables indicative of behavioral/psychological problems: aggressive behavior, toileting difficulties, and fearfulness. Finally, the problem eaters were more likely to have developed a conditioned taste aversion.
Food likes and dislikes and snacking patterns of 44 children were examined during the preschool period and followed up during early elementary school years. Home interviews with the children's mothers revealed that most considered their child's diet nutritionally adequate. This was borne out by analysis of food intake records, which showed that at both periods children's nutrient intakes were very good.
Meat, especially chicken, was the favorite food of the children—named by 40% (preschool period) and 50% (elementary period)—followed by pizza and spaghetti. Snacks provided proportionately more calories than protein, and there was a tendency for the children to consume less food as snacks as they became older.
This study points out the importance of teaching the foundations of good nutritional practices early in life and illustrates that nutrition education should be aimed at the whole family.
The vegetable preferences and dislikes of 36 children, aged 41 to 65 months, who were in attendance at a day care center, were studied. Each child rated 12 vegetables on a 3-point facial hedonic scale. Children rated vegetables from 3 types of stimuli: the names, photographs, and tastes of the vegetables. The children gave consistent ratings over time. The photographs were the most satisfactory stimuli for the ratings. The children preferred and were best able to identify the vegetables frequently served in their homes and at the day care center. The children disliked unfamiliar vegetables and rarely identified them. The mothers used the hedonic scale to express the children's preferences for vegetables. For most vegetables, the mothers were unable to give ratings similar to those given by their children. © 1980, Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. All rights reserved.
Discusses the problem of studying food selection; genetically determined aspects of food selection in rats and humans; how learning about food occurs; the conflict between neophobia and neophilia; the relations between familiarity, preference and early experience; the concept of humans as omnivores; and the importance of the idea of cuisine in assessing the development and maintenance of food preferences. Implications for changing food habits, for studying the cultural and behavioral significance of flavors (e.g., spices), and for understanding the paradox of widespread preferences for unpalatable foods are also considered. (90 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Die besonderen ernährungs- und entwicklungsphysiologischen Anforderungen an die Säuglingsernährung werden in dem praktisch
bewährten “Ernährungsplan für das 1. Lebensjahr” berücksichtigt. Auch kulturell bedingte Ernährungsgewohnheiten und das aktuelle
Produktangebot sind von Bedeutung. In den ersten 4–6 Lebensmonaten ist ausschließliches Stillen die optimale Ernährung. Industriell
hergestellte Säuglingsanfangsnahrung als Muttermilchersatz unterliegt umfassenden nährstoffbezogenen toxikologischen und hygienischen
Vorschriften. In der Beikost ab dem 5.–7. Lebensmonat werden nur wenige nährstoffreiche Lebensmittel in gut aufeinander abgestimmten
Mahlzeiten benötigt. Zusätzliche Flüssigkeitszufuhr wird mit zunehmendem Beikostanteil erforderlich. Die Supplementierung
von Vitamin K und D und von Fluorid wird generell empfohlen. Gegen Ende des 1. Lebensjahres gehen die Mahlzeiten der Säuglingsernährung
in die Familienernährung über.
The specific nutritional and developmental requirements of infants have been considered with the “Dietary Schedule for 1st
year of life” in Germany. Also, the cultural background of dietary habits and the current food market for infants is respected.
Exclusive breastfeeding is the optimal nutrition during the first 4–6 months of life. Nutritional toxicological and hygienic
requirements for infant formula to be used as breastmilk substitute are distinctly specified. Beikost starts from the 5th–7th
month of age using a small variety of nutritious foods in well balanced meals. Additional fluid intake becomes necessary when
the beikost proportion increases. Supplemental Vitamin K, D and fluoride is generally recommended. Around the end of the 1st
year of life, the transition to the family diet takes place.
This study has evaluated the impact of food choices at 2–3 years old on food preferences later in life, by following up the same subjects. Early preferences were estimated through recordings of food choices conducted in a nursery canteen in children aged 2–3, from 1982 to 1999. The children were free to choose the composition of their lunch from among a varied offering of eight dishes. The same subjects (n=341) were contacted in 2001–2002 and so their ages varied from 17–22 (n=91), 13–16 (n=68), 8–12 (n=99) to 4–7 (n=83). Their present preference for the 80 foods most frequently presented at the nursery canteen was assessed through a questionnaire. Five food categories were studied: vegetables, animal products, cheeses, starchy foods and combined foods. The ranking of preference for the different food categories changed especially after puberty. However, regressions performed by food category indicated that for most categories, individual present preference was highly linked to individual preference at 2–3 years old. The link was the stronger for cheeses, followed to a lesser extent by animal products and vegetables. Present preferences increased with age for vegetables and they decreased with age for animal products only in females (to a lesser extent, they decreased with age for starchy foods and cheeses). Analyses by specific foods confirmed the global analysis. Individual present preference was linked to individual early preference for all mature cheeses and for 50% of the foods for other categories: most of these items were strongly flavoured. This study showed that preferences were stable from 2- to 3-year-old until young adulthood and that some changes in preference occurred during adolescence.
Previous studies showed that (1) breastfeeding and (2) higher food variety early in weaning can increase acceptance of new foods for the next few days. Here we measure, in two European regions, effects of breast or formula feeding and experience with different levels of vegetable variety early in weaning on new food acceptance during two months following the start of weaning.
Breast- or formula-fed infants received their first vegetable (carrot purée) and, over the next 9 days, either carrots every day; 3 vegetables changed every 3 days; or 3 vegetables changed daily. On the 12th and 23rd days they received new vegetable purées, zucchini-tomato then peas. Several weeks later, they received 2 more new foods, meat and fish. Acceptance of new foods was measured by quantities eaten and by liking ratings.
Breastfeeding and variety early in weaning increased new food acceptance. Frequency of change was more effective than number of vegetables fed. The combination of breastfeeding and high variety produced greatest new food intake. This effect persisted 2 months later.
These interventions correspond to differences in milk and vegetable feeding observed in the regions studied suggesting that the results have practical consequences for acceptance of new foods.
Objective To compare children's food preferences longitudinally and identify factors related to food preferences.Design Mothers completed the Food Preference Questionnaire for children at 2 to 3 years of age (T1), 4 years (T2), and 8 years (T3) and for themselves at T1 and T3 Both groups completed a Food Neophobia Scale at T3.Subjects 70 child/mother pairs who had participated continuously in the longitudinal study.Statistical analyses performed Changes in food preferences over time were tested with paired t tests and correlations. Consistency percentages were calculated by summing the consistent matches (like/like) for each food between two time periods. Similarly, concordance percentages were calculated for child/mother pairs by summing the concordant matches for each food. General linear models were developed to identify influences on children's food preferences.Results Although children liked most foods, the number of liked foods did not change significantly during the 5 to 5.7 years of the study. The strongest predictors of the number of foods liked at age 8 years (R2=0.74) were the number liked at 4 years (P
Taste preferences for sucrose solutions and water were studied in 199 human infants at birth and 140 of the same infants at 6 months of age. Taste preferences were determined by allowing ad libitum ingestion of sucrose solutions and water during brief presentations. At 6 months, 7-day dietary records for the infants were obtained from the mothers. According to the dietary records, many infants (27%) were fed sweetened water (water plus table sugar, honey or Karo syrup) by their mothers. Compared with infants not fed sweetened water, the infants fed sweetened water ingested more sucrose solution but not more water during the brief taste tests conducted at 6 months of age. Those infants not fed sweetened water exhibited a diminished intake of sucrose solution relative to water at 6 months of age. In contrast, infants fed sweetened water at 6 months maintained the same level of intake of sucrose solution relative to water as existed at birth. The data obtained also revealed relationships between intake of taste solutions and whether the infant was breast or bottle fed, whether the infant was black or white, and birth weight of the infant. None of these factors interacted with the sweet water feeding history variable. These data suggest that the experience of consuming sweetened water maintains the preference for sucrose solutions whereas an absence of this experience results in a depression of preference. Experimental studies are needed to investigate this phenomenon further.
In order to construct a behavioral neophobia measure for children, we had 5-, 8- and 11-year-olds choose from ten novel and ten familiar foods which ones they were willing to taste. Meanwhile, their parents indicated their own willingness to taste each of the foods, predicted the children's willingness, estimated the number of times they and their children had eaten the foods, and completed trait measures of food neophobia for themselves and the children. The children's levels of behavioral neophobia were significantly related to both their levels of trait neophobia and their parents' predictions of their willingness to eat the foods (r = 0.38 and 0.34, respectively; p < 0.001). In addition, children's and parents' behavioral and trait neophobia scores were significantly related (both r = 0.31; p < 0.001). Finally, parents but not children were more neophobic with respect to foods of animal (vs. vegetable) origin.
To examine the effects of dietary experience and milk feeding regimen on acceptance of their first vegetable by 4- to 6-month-old infants.
Longitudinal study, of 26-days duration, observing infants aged 4 to 6 months at the start of the study. Random assignment to treatments, within-subject control.
General community in a medium-sized midwestern town.
Thirty-six infants and their mothers. Subjects were solicited through birth records and advertisements in local newspapers.
Infants were randomly assigned to be fed one vegetable on 10 occasions, either salted or unsalted peas or green beans, for a 10-day period.
Infant intake of the vegetable consumed during the 10-day exposure period; intake of salted and unsalted versions: (1) before the 10-day exposure period, (2) immediately after the exposure period; and (3) after a 1-week period of delay. Intake of a control food was also measured before and after repeated consumption of the vegetable. Adult ratings of the infants' videotaped responses during test feedings were also obtained before and after the exposure period.
After 10 opportunities to consume the vegetable, all infants significantly increased their intake (P < .001). Although they did not differ initially, infants fed breast milk showed greater increases in intake of the vegetable after exposure and had an overall greater level of intake than formula-fed infants. Adult ratings of the infants' nonverbal responses correlated positively with infant intake.
Infants increase their acceptance (reflected both in changes in intake and in behavioral response) of a novel food after repeated dietary exposure to that food. Relative to formula-feeding, breast-feeding may facilitate the acceptance of solid foods.
The aims were to study food and general neophobia in Swedish families, age and gender differences and familial resemblance. Also, the relationships between the level of food neophobia of individual family members and earlier experience with and the likelihood of future tasting of specific foods were investigated. A group of randomly selected families (nation-wide, stratified, N=1593) with children age 7-17 years were invited and 722 participated. The results are based on the Food and General Neophobia Scales and an ad hoc Food Frequency Questionnaire. The overall levels of food and general neophobia were low. Fathers showed significantly higher total food neophobia scores than did the mothers, and children were significantly more neophobic than their parents. The younger children had higher food and general neophobia scores than the older children. Nine-year-old boys had higher food neophobia scores than 9-year-old girls. Some evidence was found for familial resemblance with respect to both food and general neophobia. Gatekeepers' (the person who takes the greatest responsibility for food purchase and preparation) self-reported serving of the foods and mothers', fathers' and children's self-reported consumption of foods were correlated with their respective levels of food neophobia. The strongly neophobic subjects in all groups of family members were less likely to have eaten the listed foods than were the less neophobic. Thus, food neophobia seems to be related to everyday food choice.
The number of feedings needed to increase intake of a novel target food was investigated, and whether exposure effects generalized to other foods in a sample of 4 to 7-month-old infants (N=39). Other foods varied in their similarity to the target food, including the same food prepared by another manufacturer, similar foods (other fruits for infants receiving a target fruit) and a different food (e. g. vegetables for infants receiving a target fruit). Infants were fed the target food once a day for 10 days. Intake was used to indicate acceptance. Results revealed that exposure dramatically increased infants' intake of the target food, from an average of 35-72 g. Intake of the different food was unchanged. Same and similar food intake increased with target food exposure. Intake of the target, same and similar foods nearly doubled to 60 g after one exposure to the target food. These rapid increases in intake contrast the slower changes seen in young children. Results for the other foods suggest that infants may have difficulty discriminating among many foods.
Little detailed information is available on feeding practices of infants in Europe. The Euro-Growth Study is a longitudinal, observational, multicenter study of milk feeding, the introduction of complementary solid foods, and vitamin and mineral supplementation. Current practice is compared with international feeding recommendations.
Healthy term infants (n = 2,245) were recruited at birth or during the first month of life. Dietary records were completed at the ages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months by semiquantitative dietary recall.
At the age of I month, 52% of the infants were exclusively breast fed and 26% were exclusively formula fed. At the age of 9 months, 18% of infants were fed only cow's milk. At the ages of 3, 4, and 5 months, 50%, 67%, and 95% of infants were fed solid foods, respectively.
Feeding practices vary considerably throughout Europe. High rates of breast-feeding initiation are found in Umea, Sweden, and in Athens, Greece; and low rates in Dublin, Ireland, in Toulouse, France, and in Glasgow, United Kingdom. The use of cow's milk as the main milk drink before the age of 12 months is still common in certain European centers.
To compare children's food preferences longitudinally and identify factors related to food preferences.
Mothers completed the Food Preference Questionnaire for children at 2 to 3 years of age (T1), 4 years (T2), and 8 years (T3) and for themselves at T1 and T3. Both groups completed a Food Neophobia Scale at T3.
70 child/mother pairs who had participated continuously in the longitudinal study.
Changes in food preferences over time were tested with paired t tests and correlations. Consistency percentages were calculated by summing the consistent matches (like/like) for each food between two time periods. Similarly, concordance percentages were calculated for child/mother pairs by summing the concordant matches for each food. General linear models were developed to identify influences on children's food preferences.
Although children liked most foods, the number of liked foods did not change significantly during the 5 to 5.7 years of the study. The strongest predictors of the number of foods liked at age 8 years (R2=0.74) were the number liked at 4 years (P<.0001) and the food neophobia score (P=.0003). Newly tasted foods were more likely to be accepted between T1 and T2 than T2 and T3. Mothers' and children's food preferences were significantly but moderately related. Foods disliked by mothers tended not to be offered to children.
The important role of children's early food preferences is confirmed by this study. Mothers influence children via their own preferences, which may limit foods offered to children.
To determine the prevalence of infants and toddlers who were considered picky eaters, the predictors of picky eater status and its association with energy and nutrient intakes, food group use, and the number of times that caregivers offered a new food before deciding their child disliked it.
Cross-sectional survey of households with infants and toddlers (ages four to 24 months) was conducted.
National random sample of 3,022 infants and toddlers.
Data included caregiver's socioeconomic and demographic information, infants' and toddlers' food intake (24-hour recall), ethnicity, and caregivers' reports of specified times that new foods were offered before deciding the child disliked it.
For picky and nonpicky eaters, t tests were used to determine significant mean differences in energy and nutrient intakes. Logistic regression was used to predict picky eater status, and chi(2) tests were used for differences in the specified number of times that new foods were offered.
The percentage of children identified as picky eaters by their caregivers increased from 19% to 50% from four to 24 months. Picky eaters were reported at all ages for both sexes, all ethnicities, and all ranges of household incomes. On a day, both picky and nonpicky eaters met or exceeded current age-appropriate energy and dietary recommendations. Older children were more likely to be picky. Those in the higher weight-for-age percentiles were less likely to be picky. The highest number of times that caregivers offered a new food before deciding the child disliked it was three to five.
Dietetics professionals need to be aware that caregivers who perceive their child as a picky eater are evident across gender, ethnicity, and household incomes. When offering a new food, mothers need to provide many more repeated exposures (eg, eight to 15 times) to enhance acceptance of that food than they currently do.
The objective was to show patterns of food selection by 2- to 3-y-old children for a wide variety of foods in a self-service cafeteria and to assess the effect of individual variables (gender, BMI, mode of feeding after birth and rank in sibship).
In a nursery self-service canteen, food choices at lunch made by children (n=418, 24-36 mo; 109 observations per child on average) were recorded by trained assistants who monitored portion size. An offer of eight dishes (animal products, starchy foods, combination dishes, vegetables and dairy products), excluding dessert-type foods, was proposed. Choice level was calculated for each food. Analysis of variance was used to compare choices for the various foods and to assess the effect of the individual variables.
The choice of a food largely depended upon its nature: animal products, starchy foods and their combinations were widely chosen, whereas vegetables were not often selected; the choice for dairy products depended upon the type. The mode of preparation of the food influenced its choice. Segmenting products were identified; however, except for cheeses, a given child did not refuse an entire food category. Children's characteristics did not explain the choice variability.
At the age of 2 to 3 y, children preferentially choose animal products and starchy foods and avoid vegetables; the high individual variability of their food choices could be related to previous food experiences.
This study describes infant feeding practices among mothers from two European regions from the perspective of early sensory experiences. Two groups of mothers, one in Dijon , France (n=139), the other in Aalen , Germany (n=157) with infants aged 4-9 months were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Clear between- and within-group differences in weaning practices were found, particularly with respect to breastfeeding duration (Aalen>Dijon) and exposure to flavour variety early in weaning (Dijon>Aalen). By 4 months, 65% of infants in Dijon and 20% in Aalen, had received their first non-milk, solid foods. Before beginning to wean, 39% of mothers in Dijon offered their infant a variety of foods "just for a taste". This was the case for only 25% of mothers in Aalen. During the first 28 days of weaning, infants in Dijon were offered a greater number of vegetables compared to those in Aalen and more frequent changes from day-to-day. Thus, while Aalen infants were likely to be exposed for a longer period to different sensory experiences via breast milk, Dijon infants tended to be exposed to a greater flavour variety during the first weeks of weaning.
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- C D Spielberger
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Exposure to different regimes of food variety influences the acceptance of new flavours by weanling infants
- A S Maier
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- C Chabanet
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Birch, L. L. (2002). Acquisition of food preferences and eating patterns in children. In H. Anderson, J. Blundell, & M. Chiva (Eds.), Food selection: From genes to culture (pp. 71–84). Levallois-Perret: Institut Danone. Birch, L. L., Gunder, L., Grimm-Thomas, K., & Laing, D. G. (1998).
Behavior disorders in children Dietary experience and sweet taste preferences in human infants
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Acquisition of food preferences and eating patterns in children
- Birch
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Breastfeeding and experience with variety at weaning increase infants' acceptance of new foods
- A S Maier
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- S Issanchou
- B Schaal
Maier, A. S., Leathwood, P., Chabanet, C., Issanchou, S., & Schaal, B.
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Criteria of food acceptance. How man chooses what he eats
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