Child Food Neophobia Research Articles

Genetic and environmental determinants of children's food preferences

Omnivores have the advantage of a variety of food options but face a challenge in identifying foods that are safe to eat. Not surprisingly, therefore, children show a relative aversion to new foods (neophobia) and a relative preference for familiar, bland, sweet foods. While this may in the past have promoted survival, in the modern food environment it could have an adverse effect on dietary quality. This review examines the evidence for genetic and environmental factors underlying individual differences in children's food preferences and neophobia. Twin studies indicate that neophobia is a strongly heritable characteristic, while specific food preferences show some genetic influence and are also influenced by the family environment. The advantage of the malleability of human food preferences is that dislike of a food can be reduced or even reversed by a combination of modelling and taste exposure. The need for effective guidance for parents who may be seeking to improve the range or nutritional value of foods accepted by their children is highlighted.

Measuring willingness to try new foods: A self-report questionnaire for French-speaking children

The study was designed to develop and validate a self-report questionnaire on food neophobia in French children. We evaluated food neophobia in a specific cultural context, examining an age group that has hardly been studied (5- to 8-year-olds). The questionnaire items were based on methods known for changing neophobic behavior (imitation, information, flavor principle and external stimulation) in order to diversify food presentation situations. In addition, we used colored pictures of food for seven items. Thirteen items that referred to acceptance of unfamiliar food were selected out of 25 items tested in an earlier stage. Six hundred and three children filled out the food neophobia questionnaire and a food task used to check its predictive validity was given to 503 of them. A factor analysis emphasized the one-dimensional structure of the questionnaire. Results showed satisfactory internal consistency and good test–retest reliability. The children's choices and their willingness to try new types of food were significantly correlated with the questionnaire scores. Food neophobia conceived as a personality trait was discussed.

Genetic and environmental influences on children’s food neophobia

Background: Food neophobia in children has been associated with a low intake of fruit, vegetables, and protein foods. The design of effective interventions to improve children’s diets would be facilitated by a better understanding of the determinants of neophobia.Objective: Our objective was to quantify the contribution of genetic and environmental differences to variation in child food neophobia.Design: Parents of twins aged 8–11 y (n = 5390 pairs) completed questionnaires about their children’s eating habits, including a measure of food neophobia.Results: The results showed that neophobia is highly heritable. The heritability estimate from model fitting was 0.78 (95% CI: 0.76, 0.79). A further 22% of the variance was explained by nonshared environmental factors, with no influence of shared environmental factors.Conclusions: Neophobia appears to be a heritable trait, but almost a quarter of the phenotypic variation is accounted for by nonshared environmental factors. An important aim for future research is the identification of influential aspects of the environment specific to individual children.

Food neophobia and mealtime food consumption in 4–5 year old children

BackgroundPrevious research has documented a negative association between maternal report of child food neophobia and reported frequency of consumption of fruit, vegetables, and meat. This study aimed to establish whether neophobia is associated with lower intake of these food types in naturalistic mealtime situations.MethodsOne hundred and nine parents of 4–5 year olds completed questionnaires which included a six-item version of the Child Food Neophobia Scale (CFNS). The children took part in a series of 3 test lunch meals at weekly intervals at school at which they were presented with: chicken, cheese, bread, cheese crackers, chocolate biscuits, grapes and tomatoes or carrot sticks. Food items served to each child were weighed before and after the meal to assess total intake of items in four categories: Fruit and vegetables, Protein foods, Starchy foods and Snack foods. Pearson Product Moment Correlations and independent t tests were performed to examine associations between scores on the CFNS and consumption during lunches.ResultsNeophobia was associated with lower consumption of fruit and vegetables, protein foods and total calories, but there was no association with intake of starch or snack foods.ConclusionThese results support previous research that has suggested that neophobia impacts differentially on consumption of different food types. Specifically it appears that children who score highly on the CFNS eat less fruit, vegetables and protein foods than their less neophobic peers. Attempts to increase intake of fruit, vegetables and protein might usefully incorporate strategies known to reduce the neophobic response.

Specific social influences on the acceptance of novel foods in 2–5-year-old children

Social influences have been shown to be very important to overcome food neophobia in young children. However, there is no experimental evidence about whether social influences on food acceptance are specific, that is if models eating the same food as the child are more effective in promoting food acceptance than models eating a different food. We assessed children's behavior towards novel foods when an adult model (a) was not eating ( Presence condition), (b) was eating a food of a Different color ( Different color condition), and (c) was eating a food of the Same color ( Same color condition). We tested 27 children (ages 2- to 5-years-old) recruited from The Pennsylvania State University day-care facilities. Results show that children accepted and ate their novel food more in the Same color condition than in the Different color and in the Presence conditions. Therefore, in young children food acceptance is promoted by specific social influences. These data indicate that children are more likely to eat new food if others are eating the same type of food than when others are merely present or eating another kind of food.

Parental control over feeding and children’s fruit and vegetable intake: How are they related?

Objectives To replicate the finding of a negative association between parental control and fruit and vegetable consumption in girls. To extend the investigation to boys and examine sex differences. To test the hypothesis that children’s food neophobia explains this association. Design Cross-sectional questionnaire survey. Measures The questionnaire included items assessing parents’ and children’s fruit and vegetable intake, the Parental Control Index, and the Child Food Neophobia Scale. Subjects Parents of 564 2- to 6-year-old children, recruited from 22 London nursery schools. Statistical analysis Relationships between continuous variables were examined with Pearson product moment correlation coefficients. Sex differences were tested using independent sample t tests, and sex differences in correlations were assessed from their 95% confidence intervals. Parental control and children’s food neophobia were entered into a hierarchical multiple regression to test the hypothesis that neophobia explains the association between parental control and children’s fruit and vegetable intake. Results We replicated the finding that parental control was correlated with children’s fruit and vegetable consumption and found no significant sex differences. Parental fruit and vegetable consumption and children’s food neophobia were also strong predictors of children’s fruit and vegetable consumption, and both were associated with parental control, suggesting that they might explain the association between control and intake. Controlling for children’s food neophobia and parental intake reduced the association of parental control with children’s fruit and vegetable intake to nonsignificance. Conclusions These findings emphasize the importance of systematic research about associations between parental feeding styles and children’s dietary habits so that dietetics professionals can give parents sound advice.

Impact of Parental Food Choices on Child Food Neophobia

This study examined the impact of parental food choices on children's willingness to try new foods. The participants were 33 students in Grades 5 and 6 in one public school in Cincinnati, Ohio. One parent per student completed the Food Neophobia Scale (FNS) and food records. Outcome measures included (a) FNS scores for both parents and children, and (b) Healthy Eating Index (HEI) scores and number of different foods consumed by parents only. Parent-child FNS scores were significantly correlated. Negative associations occurred between the parent HEI fruit score and the child FNS score and the number of different foods consumed by the parent and the child FNS score. Findings suggest that parental food choices influence children's responses to new foods.

Demographic, familial and trait predictors of fruit and vegetable consumption by pre-school children.

To examine the contribution to fruit and vegetable eating in children of potential predictive variables within the domains of demographics, parental feeding practices and personality traits. Cross-sectional survey. Questionnaires were distributed to parents through 22 London nursery schools. Questionnaires were completed and returned by 564 parents or principal caregivers of 2-6-year-old children. Significant predictors of children's fruit and vegetable intake emerged from all three domains examined. Demographic variables associated with child's vegetable consumption were mother's education and child's age and gender. Only ethnicity was significantly associated with fruit consumption. Parental consumption, breast-feeding and early introduction to fruit and vegetables were related to intake of both. Family meal times were associated with higher intake of vegetables, but not of fruit. Two characteristics of children themselves (food neophobia and enjoyment of food) were strongly related to the consumption of fruit and vegetables. Subsequent multivariate analyses revealed that parental intake and child food neophobia independently predicted intake of both foods. In the presence of these, fruit consumption was affected by breast-feeding and early introduction to fruit, whereas vegetable consumption was related only to child's gender and enjoyment of food. These findings may be used to inform future interventions aimed at increasing children's consumption of fruit and vegetables. Parents should be made aware of the possible impact of their own behaviour on the eating habits of their children.

Cognitive-behavioral treatment of food neophobia in adults

Food neophobia is an eating disturbance defined as the fear of trying new foods. In its extreme, the disorder can lead to malnutrition, limited social functioning, and psychological difficulties. Successful treatment of food neophobia in children has been reported, but if those children are not provided with treatment, it stands to reason that the disorder may follow them into adulthood. To date, adult cases have not been described in the literature and the prevalence in adults is unknown. Our paper will review the methods used to treat children with the disorder then delineate how the procedures were modified for an adult population, giving two case examples.

Cognitive-behavioral treatment of food neophobia in adults

Food neophobia is an eating disturbance defined as the fear of trying new foods. In its extreme, the disorder can lead to malnutrition, limited social functioning, and psychological difficulties. Successful treatment of food neophobia in children has been reported, but if those children are not provided with treatment, it stands to reason that the disorder may follow them into adulthood. To date, adult cases have not been described in the literature and the prevalence in adults is unknown. Our paper will review the methods used to treat children with the disorder, then delineate how the procedures were modified for an adult population, giving two case examples.

Temperament and Food Neophobia in Children and their Mothers

We obtained measures of behavioral neophobia, rated neophobia, temperament, and liking for novel and familiar foods for 81 pairs of siblings (ranging in age from 5–11 yearsand their mothers. The children's data revealed a decrease with age in behavioral but not rated neophobia, and there were positive correlations between both measures of neophobia and the temperament dimensions of emotionality, shyness, and negative reactions to foods. In addition, liking for good-tasting novel foods was negatively related to shyness and to negative reactions to foods. For mothers, both measures of neophobia were related to negative reactions to foods and unrelated to any other temperament dimension. The data revealed little evidence of family resemblance (mother-child or sibling-siblingin food neophobia.

Development of Measures of Food Neophobia in Children

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 traits measures of foods 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.

What kind of exposure reduces children's food neophobia?: Looking vs. tasting

To determine the relative effectiveness of two different types of exposure on young children's preference for initially novel foods, 51 two- to five-year-old children received either "look" or "taste" exposures to seven novel fruits. Foods were exposed five, 10 or 15 times, and one food remained novel. Following the exposures, children made two judgments of each of the 21 pairs: one based on looking, the other on tasting the foods. Thurstone Case V scaling solutions were correlated with exposure frequency, and these were significant for the visual judgments of the looked at foods (r = 0.91), the visual judgments of the tasted (and looked at) foods (r = 0.97) and the taste judgments of the tasted foods (r = 0.94). The only non-significant relationship was for the taste judgments of the looked at (but never tasted) foods (r = 0.24). The results indicate that to obtain significant positive changes in preference, experience with the food must include experience in the modality that is relevant for the judgments. While visual experience produced enhanced visual preference judgments, visual experience was not sufficient to produce significantly enhanced taste preferences. This finding is consistent with a "learned safety" interpretation of the exposure effects noted in the taste judgments: experiences with novel tastes that are not followed by negative gastrointestinal consequences can produce enhanced taste preference.