Consumption of vegetables is lowest in children between the ages of 4 and 6. It is possible that early interactions with vegetables before age 4 might affect whether children eat these vegetables when they begin to make their own choices about what to eat. Environmental influences such as whether a child is breast-fed or formula-fed and other aspects of parenting style might affect how a child chooses food when they are older. In addition, biological factors such as being predisposed to avoid new foods (neophobia) and having a predisposed sensitivity to bitter foods might also affect feeding as a child ages.
The aim of this longitudinal research is to examine what role parents play in the development of food neophobia and food preferences in children over time. Experiment 1 will investigate whether the presence of parents can reduce food neophobia in children when they are presented a group of familiar and nonfamiliar vegetables. This experiment will also test whether biological predispositions to bitter tastes and neophobia are related. Experiment 2 will show whether parents can affect their children's food choices by indicating their own preferences. These data will be compared to other parental and child characteristics.
