The Role of Caregiver Communication in Children's Liking and Consumption of Lentils

Abstract

BackgroundUse of repeated exposure in fostering development of a child's taste preference for previously disliked foods has been thoroughly examined, however, other techniques such as adult verbal communication have not. Child Centered Nutrition Phrases (CCNP) were developed as part of the Child Care Mealtime and Active Play Partnerships project. The efficacy of adults’ use of these developmentally appropriate, nutritionally sound messages to improve children's intake and liking of lentils has not been evaluated.ObjectiveTo determine whether repeated taste exposure (RE) and RE + CCNP would increase young children's liking and intake of lentils.MethodsChildren (3–6 yr; n=30) attending the University of Idaho Children's Center were offered two tasting cups of lentils (24.4 ± 0.3 grams each) up to two times a week for a total of 5 exposures. Taste preference and consumption were recorded using three faces (“yummy,” “just okay,” and “yucky”) and plate waste, respectively. Lentil consumption was measured to the nearest 0.1 g. Repeated Measure Analysis of Variance was completed using PROC MIXED in SAS with Tukey's post hoc test to adjust for multiple comparisons. Main effects of group (RE or RE+CCNP) and exposure number and the interaction between group and exposure number were considered significant at p≤0.05.ResultsThere was a significant main effect of exposure on consumption (p=0.002) as children ate significantly more lentils at exposures 2–5 compared to baseline. The main effect of exposure on taste preference showed a trend to increased liking over time (p=0.07).There was no significant main effect of group on either liking (p=0.13) or consumption (p=0.56).However, there was a trend toward a significant interaction between group and exposure on consumption (p=0.09).ConclusionsRepeated taste exposure resulted in increased liking and intake of lentils in young children, and the use of CCNPs to engage children in trying and eating a novel food appears to have some promise. In order to further explore the trend toward a significant interaction between group and exposure continued research will be conducted.Support or Funding InformationAmerican Pulses Association