Increasing children's acceptance of vegetables; a randomized trial of parent-led exposure

• Published in: Appetite 2003-04, Vol.40 (2), p.155-162
• Main Authors: Wardle, Jane, Cooke, Lucy J, Gibson, E.Leigh, Sapochnik, Manuela, Sheiham, Aubrey, Lawson, Margaret
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child Behavior; Child, Preschool; Children; Feeding Behavior; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Food acceptance; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; health care workers; Humans; Male; Neophobia; Parent-Child Relations; parents; Phobic Disorders; preschool children; Taste; Taste exposure; Vegetables; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems
• ISSN: 0195-6663; 1095-8304
• DOI: 10.1016/S0195-6663(02)00135-6

Despite considerable epidemiological evidence of the health benefits of a diet high in fruit and vegetables, consumption in pre-school children remains well below recommended levels. This study evaluated the effectiveness of an exposure-based intervention, carried out by parents in the home, in increasing children's liking for a previously disliked vegetable. 156 parents of 2–6 year old children were randomly assigned to Exposure, Information or Control groups after a pre-intervention taste test at which a ‘target’ vegetable was selected. Parents in the Exposure group gave their child a taste of this vegetable daily for 14 days, parents in the Information group were given nutritional advice and a leaflet, and parents in the Control group received no further intervention. All participants took part in a post-intervention taste test. Greater increases in liking, ranking and consumption of the ‘target’ vegetable from pre- to post-intervention occurred in the Exposure group than in either of the other two groups. Only the Exposure group showed significant increases across all three outcomes. It can be concluded that a parent-led, exposure-based intervention involving daily tasting of a vegetable holds promise for improving children's acceptance of vegetables. These findings suggest a parental advice strategy which could be disseminated directly to parents or by health professionals.