Food preference learning strategies for toddlers with high food fussiness: a pilot study

Children's diets are poor quality. Repeated exposures to healthy foods can promote acceptance, but some children do not respond to this approach. This pilot study tested alternative approaches for toddlers high on food fussiness, a characteristic that as been associated with non-response to repeated exposure. Toddlers were randomized to an associative conditioning (n = 21) or modeling program (n = 20). Participation involved a baseline lab visit, four weeks of twice-weekly at-home vegetable exposures, and a post-program lab visit. Children's willingness to taste, liking, and intake of their assigned study vegetable were assessed in the lab. Parents completed weekly online surveys, reporting vegetable tastings administered, child willingness to taste, and child liking of the vegetable at home, and a post-program interview. Number of vegetable tastings administered and parent perspectives were examined as indicators of feasibility, and mixed models tested changes in willingness to taste and vegetable liking and intake overall and by group. Eighty-eight percent of parents offered the assigned number of vegetable tastings, and most children (90.2%) were willing to taste the vegetable at least sometimes. Willingness to taste did not change or differ by group. Parent-reported child vegetable liking increased overall (p < 0.05), while objectively-measured vegetable intake increased in the modeling group (p < 0.05). Interviews supported program feasibility, with parents noting that vegetable exposure outside of mealtime was helpful. The modeling group also enjoyed parent-child bonding. These programs may support food preference learning among young children with high food fussiness, with modeling potentially showing increased benefits.