Food neophobia in early childhood: A cross cultural study

Abstract

This study analyzed the evolution of food neophobia (FN) in early childhood across different cultures (Chile, China, and US). FN was measured in mothers and children using maternal reports through a 6-items version of the FN Scale. One hundred and five mothers of 1-year old children completed a survey in two consecutive years, answering questions about demographics, eating habits and FN. According to our results, independently of the country of origin, there is a significant increase in children’s FN between 1 and 2 years of age (p <.001). Moreover, when all the data was analyzed together, mothers showed to be less neophobic than their children at 2 years of age, but not at 1 year of age (p <.001); however, this difference was not consistent across countries (p <.01). Among mothers, FNs differed according to the country of origin, with Californian mothers being the least neophobic (p <.01). Regarding the effect of children’s eating habits on their levels of FN, the results showed that FN varied significantly with vegetable intake (p <.001) and food variety (p <.001), where the children who ate more vegetables and had a more varied diet were less neophobic. Finally, no significant difference in children’s FN was found between genders.