Increasing preschool children’s food literacy as a means of increasing fruit and vegetable acceptance

• In Event: Expanding research on child food acceptance to include individual differences, innovative interventions, and under-represented populations

Abstract

Introduction:
Food literacy is described as a set of skills that are needed to develop “a healthy, lifelong relationship with food.” These tools include knowledge, attitudes and behaviors that help individuals manage, select and eat foods that support healthy growth and development. In addition, repeated exposure to novel foods is an evidence-based approach to increasing children’s food acceptance. Using the theory of mere exposure, we examined the impact of a 28-week, food literacy nutrition education program on preschool children’s willingness to try fruit and vegetables.

Methods:
Participants included 546 children (Mage = 3.8 + 0.6y) attending center-based childcare programs serving low-income families in Pennsylvania. The 28-week, teacher-led food literacy program exposed children to 26, somewhat novel fruit and vegetables (e.g., jicama and quince) from A to Z during a 30-minute lesson during circle time. In each lesson, children learned about how and where each food grows, and had the opportunity to taste each food in small groups. Teachers recorded classroom-level food acceptance by indicating the total number of children who tried and liked each food each lesson. Trained staff visited classrooms and interviewed children one-on-one at baseline and post-test to assess food literacy (ability to identify 3 fruit and 3 vegetables); scores ranged from 0 to 12. At the beginning of the following school year, trained staff observed willingness to try 4 foods in a subsample of children (n=75), 42% of which completed the food literacy program the previous school year. In this “Tasting Game” task, small groups of 2 to 4 children were presented with 3 small bites each of cauliflower, sugar snap peas, grapefruit and figs. Children were invited to taste each food; scores ranged from 0 (did not taste) to 3 (tasted all bites).

Results:
A great deal of variability in willingness to try and liking of each food was observed. On average, teachers indicated that approximately 88% of children tried each of the A-Z foods; 73% of children indicated a liking of each food. Children’s food literacy increased by 53% (Mpre = 8.7; Mpost = 13.2). Of the 75 children for which willingness to try fruits and vegetables was directly observed, 78.2% were willing to try at least one of the foods, and 11.5% ate all 3 bites of all foods. Compared to new children (58%), there was a trend toward a greater willingness to try the Tasting Game foods in children who received the food literacy program the previous school year (M = 5.2 vs. 3.3; t =1.70; p=.09).

Discussion:
Repeated exposure to novel foods through education and tasting experiences may be an efficacious approach to increasing children’s food literacy and food acceptance. The majority of children in this low-income sample were willing to try the foods presented. We were limited by the fact that the observational task used to measure children’s willingness to try foods was measured once, nearly 6 months after the program began. The implications of the findings for interventions and experimental studies to increase children’s food acceptance will be discussed.

Authors

• Lori A. Francis, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  Presenting Author

• Brandi Rollins, The Pennsylvania State University
  Non-Presenting Author