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• FNS-PK can be used to assess novel food phobia in Pakistani mothers. • We adapted cross-cultural reliability and validity of 8-item FNS-PK for mothers in Pakistan. • Pakistani preschoolers' food neophobia linked to mothers' levels. • Mothers' food neophobia inversely relates to controlled feeding behaviors. Maternal food neophobia, a significant influencing factor in modeling maternal feeding practices, also plays a vital role in regulating preschoolers' food neophobia. This cross-sectional study was conducted to culturally adapt and validate the Food Neophobia Scale for Pakistani mothers (FNS-PK), assess the prevalence of maternal food neophobia, and explore the correlation between maternal food neophobia, maternal controlling feeding practices and preschoolers' food neophobia. The 10-item food neophobia scale was translated into the Urdu language following WHO guidelines, and various measures of validity (construct validity and discriminant validity) and reliability (internal consistency, test–retest consistency, and composite reliability) were used to test the scale. Afterward, a cross-sectional study was performed to assess the prevalence and correlation between maternal food neophobia, feeding practices and preschoolers' food neophobia. A total of 260 preschool children and their mothers were recruited for the cultural adaptation of the FNS-PK. The original 10-item FNS was modified to an 8-item FNS-PK, which exhibited good scale validity (χ2/ df = 1.113; TLI = 0.998; RMSEA = 0.021; AVE > 0.05) and reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.857). In a cross-sectional study involving 347 mother–child pairs, 15.9 % of the mothers and 8.0 % of the preschoolers exhibited food neophobia. Furthermore, there was a significant negative correlation between maternal food neophobia and controlling feeding practices, while there was a significant positive correlation between maternal and preschoolers' food neophobia. The adapted 8-item FNS-PK is a reliable tool for assessing food neophobia in Pakistan, and the significant correlation between maternal and preschoolers' food neophobia warrants further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The 6-item CFNS-PK exhibited high validity and reliability metrics. • The prevalence of food neophobia among Pakistani preschoolers was 22.3 %. • Preschooler's FN was correlated with their age, gender and maternal education status. The evaluation of food neophobia in preschool-aged children is crucial as it helps in understanding their eating habits, ensuring their nutritional adequacy, and promoting healthier food choices from an early age. This study aimed to culturally adapt the Child Food Neophobia Scale (CFNS) for Pakistan, determine the prevalence of preschooler's food neophobia and find out its correlation with different demographic characteristics. The CFNS was translated into Urdu language following the WHO scale translation guidelines. After that, various validity (construct validity, content validity, discriminant validity) and reliability (internal consistency, test–retest consistency, and composite reliability) measures were used to test the translated CFNS. The sample size consisted of 260 mother–child pairs from four kindergartens across three cities. About 64.6 % of the preschoolers were aged 55 to 72 months. Whereas the maternal mean age was 30.1 ± 5.9 years. The Child Food Neophobia Scale for Pakistan (CFNS-PK) retained all 6 items from the original scale and exhibited satisfactory validity (χ2/ df = 1.28; TLI = 0.99; RMSEA = 0.04; AVE > 0.05 and CVI = 0.80) and reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.80; Kappa > 0.07; CR > 0.7) indicators. Furthermore, the prevalence of preschooler food neophobia was found to be 22.3 %. Whereas preschooler age, gender and maternal education level was correlated with preschooler's food neophobia occurrence. Findings suggest that the 6 item CFNS-PK exhibited high validity and reliability metrics, making it suitable for use in food neophobia assessments among Pakistani children. Furthermore, the high prevalence of food neophobia among Pakistani preschoolers calls for attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]