February 14, 2012 See Your Way Through Your Toddler's Resistance to New Foods
Can you increase food acceptance simply by showing toddlers pictures of unfamiliar food?
Researchers are sneaking up on a surprising answer: YES!
Actually, you’re probably not too surprised. Everyone knows that the multi-billion dollar advertising industry exists because images can pack a powerful punch.
Well, now there is mounting evidence that parents can tap into the advertiser's advantage without spending quite so much money. You may be able to reduce your toddler’s fear of the unfamiliar by showing them pictures of food in books.
And while this technique might not work for all kids, the results are lining up to be most favorable for the most resistant kids.
Researchers distinguish between two types of toddler resistance: Neophobia and Picky Eating.
- Neophobic kids are reluctant to eat unfamiliar foods but they are happy to eat the foods they are familiar with.
- Picky eaters, on the other hand, reject foods they previously accepted.
Most toddlers I know exhibit a combination of the two conditions, making the distinction between neophobia and picky eating seem like a moot point for many parents. But it’s not.
Delineating between the different factors that make feeding our little fiends so much fun can actually make things easier. (Think of it as increasing your arsenal so you can mount a stronger attack.)
Visual cues seem to be an effective way to fight back against the unfamiliar.
If you’ve got a kid who is gripped by a fear of new foods, i.e. you’ve got a kid who is highly neophobic, start thinking about pulling out those picture books.
Makes sense: Most people eat with their eyes.
Study 1
Researchers discovered that increasing the number of times kids see unfamiliar fruits and vegetables could improve how much they say they like a food before they taste it. In other words, assessment on sight tilts in favor of "yum" over "yuck." But, the kids still have to taste the new food in order to actually like it.
Study 2
Researchers found that 2-year-old toddlers were more interested in looking at pictures of fruits and vegetables that they had never tasted but had previously seen in picture books compared to pictures of fruits and vegetables they had never seen before.
Researchers interpreted this finding to mean that looking at pictures in books increases children's interest in (and perhaps openness to) unfamiliar foods.
Study 3
Parents of 2 year old toddlers were asked to read their children a picture book every day for 2 weeks. The book featured:
- 2 familiar foods, such as sweetcorn and strawberries, and
- 2 unfamiliar foods, such as radishes and lychees.
Children then took part in a taste test. They were offered plates, one of fruits and then one of vegetables, each containing a combination of:
- Familiar foods
- Items the children had seen in the books
- Totally unfamiliar items.
You're probably not surprised to learn that the children tasted more of the familiar foods than the unfamiliar foods. However:
- The children touched the unfamiliar vegetable they had seen in the book before they touched the non-exposed vegetable. (Touching is often a preliminary step to tasting. Read Why Some Kids Should Play with their Food.)
- The children tasted the fruit they had seen in the book before they tasted the non-exposed fruit.
Seeing is a crucial part of eating.
It’s easy to overlook this point, but every time a child tastes a new food, he’s seeing it too (unless you use a blindfold!).
And kids size up new foods to make sure they match their ideas about what acceptable food looks like. Read:
Advertising works through creating positive messaging, but it also works through creating visual familiarity and appeal.
This research shows you can do this too. Just another reason to love BOOKS!
~Changing the conversation from nutrition to habits.~
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Source: Heath, P., C. Houston-Price, and O. B. Kennedy. 2011. “Increasing Food Familiarity Without the Tears. a Role for Visual Exposure?” Appetite 57: 832-38.
Reader Comments (6)
Thanks, I'm sending a link about this to my favorite children's librarian.
Hi,
I am writing on behalf of the MDPA Conference on Communicating Childhood Obesity Prevention and Policy. The conference is to take place March 20-21 in Silver Spring, MD. I came across your blog while doing research for our bi-weekly newsletter on childhood obesity called MDPA Minute. I think our conference something your audience would be interested in. Would you be interested in receiving some press passes for this event in exchange for helping to promote it to your readers and blogging about it?
Thanks!
Interesting study. It makes sense.
I often involve my two year old in the cooking of new vegetables: putting the cut up pieces into the steamer basket for example. This gives her exposure to the new food well before there is any expectation that she will try it, and seems to make her much more likely to try the food once it is ready. And if she doesn't want to try it this time, she might next time, and at least we passed a bit of time doing something fun together.
I was so proud of her yesterday when she showed her grandfather the steamer basket and explained that "the steam goes through the little holes".
Chenoameg: Thanks for passing on the post.
Amanda: I think it sounds interesting. Send me more info!
April: Thanks for sharing your story. Your daughter sounds like she is really exploring. Fantastic.
Dina
Thank you for this article. My husband, who grew up in the Dominican Republic, has expressed similar thoughts on food. They ate what was placed in front of them b/c it was their only option for food. No snacks, no desserts - just three meals/day - and not all-you-can-eat meals - just enough. And if you took your time eating, someone might come along and eat your food for you!
This is the first of your posts that I've read, so I don't know if you've addressed this elsewhere, but I wonder if pickiness in the US also has something to do with differences in breastfeeding rates compared with other cultures. Infants who are breastfed are exposed to many different flavors of foods during the first months and years of their lives that formula fed babies are not. I would assume that the majority of Indian infants are breastfed and thus already exposed to their culture's wide variety of foods before they even start eating them. In the same vein, the lack of variety in many adult diets might mean even breastfeeding infants are not exposed to as wide a variety of tastes as they would have been before convenience foods became so bland and similar and a staple of American diets.
My son is 5months, and I am very much looking forward to exposing him to all of the different foods we eat as a blended, multicultural family. Hopefully he will learn to love eating and exploring new foods as much as I do!
Thanks for sharing your story NewMama. I also grew up in a house where someone might steal your food if you didn't claim it quickly.
You are right that there is a relationship between breastfeeding and food acceptance because, as you point out, breastfeeding is a natural way to introduce a variety of flavors to infants. But, you don't have to breastfeed to get it right.
Good luck with your son. It sounds like you are well on your way to producing the adventurous eater you desire!
Dina