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Background: A majority of children's restaurant meals are nutritionally deficient; use of behavioral economics may improve healthful menu selections. Parents play a role in children's restaurant meal selection, thus understanding parent preferences for potential behavioral economic strategies is warranted., Objective: To examine parent-derived and -stated preferences for selected attributes of children's restaurant menus, which included behavioral economic strategies (eg, optimal defaults and vice-virtue bundles)., Design: A descriptive, cross-sectional, within-subjects survey integrating a conjoint design was developed along with 8 children's menus. Menus were manipulated by varying levels of attributes (meal price, healthful side dishes, number of side dish items, healthful entrées, and cost for sugar-sweetened beverages [SSB]). Parents rated menus and attributes using Likert scales., Participants/setting: A national sample of US parents with children 4 to 10 years (n = 463) were recruited in August of 2019 via Amazon's Mechanical Turk., Analysis: A conjoint (regression) analysis was conducted to derive parent preference for each attribute and overall menu preference. Descriptive statistics (means) described overall stated parent menu preferences and ratings. Cluster analysis segmented parents into groups with similar preferences., Results: Derived preferences showed parents had the strongest preference for choice of side dishes (β = .73) and low-priced menus (β = .51), and weak preferences for inclusion of healthful entrées (β = .04) and added cost for SSB (β = .18). Parents stated preference was for a menu that included healthful entrées, was low priced, and featured choices for side dishes. Cluster analysis revealed half of parents preferred the low-cost children's menu with the other half of parents split evenly across preferences related to health, choice, and traditional menus., Conclusion: Parents stated preference was for a socially desirable menu featuring healthful entrée options and added cost for SSB, which was contrary to the conjoint derived menu preferences. Understanding parent preferences may help guide nutrition professionals working to build a more healthful food environment through the use of behavioral economic strategies., (Copyright © 2021 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Prompted engagement with a new food's sensory properties (smell, texture) has been associated with young children's acceptance of new foods. However, little is known about the prevalence and stability of children's sensory exploratory behaviors exhibited spontaneously when trying new foods. The aim of this analysis was to examine developmental trajectories of sensory exploratory behaviors (i.e., smelling, licking, spitting) in response to new foods., Method: This 3-year longitudinal study included observational data collected from 244 preschoolers. At age 4 years, children were asked to taste four novel foods. An experimenter recorded the child's displays of smelling, licking, spitting, refusals, and acceptance. Assessments were repeated at 4.5, 5.5, and 6.5 years of age. Summary scores were created for each child by totaling the number of foods smelled, licked, spit out, refused, and accepted at each time point. A series of growth models were fit to the summary scores to examine individual sensory behavior trajectories and associations between trajectories of sensory behaviors and acceptance., Results: Linear growth model parameters indicated that spitting and refusals decreased over time (p-values < 0.01), whereas acceptances increased (p < 0.01). Licking and smelling showed non-significant change (p-values > 0.01) Furthermore, decreases in licking, spitting, and refusals were associated with increases in acceptance across the study period (p-values < 0.01)., Discussion: The decline in young children's sensory exploratory behaviors in response to new foods was associated with increases in food acceptance. Our findings suggest that sensory exploratory behaviors may promote familiarity and help children learn that new foods are acceptable and safe to consume., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this manuscript., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Microgreens are an emerging functional food crop with promise for sustainably diversifying global food systems, facilitating adaptations to urbanization and global climate change, and promoting human health. Previous work suggests microgreens have high nutritional quality, low environmental impacts, and broad consumer acceptance. For better reception into the global food system and increased per capita consumption, research is needed to elucidate consumer acceptance of various microgreens species, including factors contributing to their acceptance or lack thereof. Using a consumer panel (n = 99), this study evaluated consumer sensory perception and acceptability of six microgreens species (arugula, broccoli, bull's blood beet, red cabbage, red garnet amaranth, and tendril pea), and potential drivers and barriers to consumer acceptance. All microgreens species received high mean liking scores for acceptability by consumers (means ranged from highly acceptable to slightly acceptable), with more distinct differences across microgreens species for flavor and overall acceptability, which appeared to be driven by specific sensory properties. Data from principal component analysis demonstrated that high acceptability scores were associated with higher intent to purchase microgreens and negatively associated with food neophobia. Participants indicated that factors such as knowledge and familiarity of microgreens, cost, access/availability, freshness/shelf life, among other factors, influence their intention to purchase microgreens. These findings suggest that further integration of microgreens into the global food system will be met with high consumer acceptability, but needs to be aligned with enhanced consumer education regarding microgreens, as well as considerations of cost, availability/access, and freshness/shelf life. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Researchers investigated consumer sensory perception and acceptability of six microgreens species (arugula, broccoli, bull's blood beet, red cabbage, red garnet amaranth, and tendril pea), and potential drivers and barriers to consumer acceptance. All microgreens tested had high consumer acceptability, but certain factors such as sensory perception and food neophobia impacted their acceptability. Additionally, participants indicated that factors such as knowledge, access and availability, cost, freshness, and shelf life may impact the purchasing of microgreens and thus are important factors to consider for further integration of this emerging functional food crop into the global food system., (© 2020 Institute of Food Technologists®.)

Food neophobia, or reluctance to try new foods, emerges typically in early childhood and can impact child food acceptance and dietary quality. Measures of child neophobia have largely been developed from an adult point of view and the items focusing on fear and disgust were created from observations of children's behaviors or from adult assumptions regarding the source of children's reluctance to try new foods. Using group interviews with 3-5-y-old children (n = 229) we investigated what the experience of being asked trying new foods is like for preschoolers. From their answers, we crafted a new assessment, The Trying New Foods Scale, designed to ask children about their self-competence to try new foods. Next, we measured preschoolers' responses (n = 233; 3-5 years of age; 107 boys, 126 girls) to these items and observed their willingness to taste 7 novel foods and their affective ratings of the foods as measures of criterion validity. A principal components analysis (PCA) revealed a single 9-item component for the Trying New Foods Scale (mean ± s.d. = 3.08 ± 0.70; α = 0.88). Children's Trying New Foods Scale score positively correlated with their willingness to try foods ratio (r = 0.21, p = .001). Initial findings indicate that the Trying New Foods Scale for preschoolers has good psychometric characteristics, including preliminary evidence of criterion validity. Children who perceived themselves as more willing to try foods actually performed the behavior of trying more foods and rated the foods more favorably than children who reported lower self-competence to try foods. Understanding neophobia from the perspective of the young child, and their perceptions of self-competence related to trying new foods, may facilitate our ability to evaluate young children's food acceptance patterns., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: Food neophobia in children has been associated with poor dietary variety and nutrient intakes. Underlying characteristics that may predispose a child to neophobia have not been widely studied., Objective: We investigated the associations between children's food neophobia, sensory sensitivity, and dietary intake in a diverse sample of typically developing preschoolers., Methods: Caregiver reports of children's food neophobia and sensory behaviors (SBs) as measured by the Food Neophobia Scale and the Sensory Profile, children's observed weight outcome [body mass index z score (BMIz)], and children's food intake as estimated from the Block Kids Food Screener were collected at baseline in the Colorado LEAP (Longitudinal Eating and Physical Activity Study) study of childhood obesity. Preschool-aged children (n = 249; 136 girls, 113 boys; aged 55.6 ± 4.7 mo; BMIz = 0.54 ± 1.14) and caregivers [n = 180; 57 Hispanic, 119 non-Hispanic white (NHW), 4 unknown] participated. Data were analyzed by Pearson correlations and multivariate hierarchical linear regression analyses., Results: Lower scores for children's oral sensory characteristics (i.e., more atypical) were related to higher neophobia ratings (r = -0.53, P < 0.001), and neophobia was negatively associated with reported vegetable intake (r = -0.31, P = 0.001) and dietary variety (r = -0.22, P < 0.001). Hispanic caregivers reported more atypical child SB scores (46.2 ± 8.8) than did NHW caregivers (50.5 ± 7.6; P = 0.006); however, no differences were noted for neophobia and SB scores by parent income and education or child sex. Neophobia was negatively associated with vegetable intake and dietary variety (P < 0.001 for both). SBs were associated with children's energy intake from sugar-sweetened beverages in bivariate analyses (r = -0.18, P < 0.05); however, in regression models, only ethnicity was significantly associated with energy from sugar-sweetened beverages (P < 0.001). Hispanic ethnicity was positively associated with sugar-sweetened beverage consumption (P < 0.001)., Conclusions: Children's neophobia and sensory sensitivity may be important in understanding underlying issues related to limited food acceptance in typically developing young children and for helping caregivers facilitate healthy dietary intake patterns for their children. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01937481., (© 2015 American Society for Nutrition.)

Objectives: To determine the effectiveness of a pilot social marketing program to increase preschoolers' willingness to try new foods., Methods: Four Head Start centers participated (2 experimental, 2 control) in a study using a quasi-experimental design. Experimental sites received a 12-week intervention developed using social marketing techniques. The program was evaluated via preference assessments, classroom observations, and teacher surveys., Results: Increased preference for and willingness to try new foods were observed in children from the experimental sites (P<0.05). The program was positively received by Head Start staff., Conclusions: A social marketing campaign is an effective method to reduce children's neophobia.

Abstract Objective To modify and test a self-report checklist for the home food and activity environment, Home–Inventory Describing Eating and Activity (IDEA2), psychometrically with families of young children. Design A mixed-methods approach: (1) cognitive interviews informed instrument design (content validity), (2) parent and trained independent raters concurrently and independently completed the Home-IDEA2 during home visits (criterion validity); (3) the Home-IDEA2 was compared with a national sample via the Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS) database (construct validity). Setting Rural communities in Colorado. Participants Families of preschoolers: cognitive interviews (n = 20) and home visits (n = 26). Main Outcome Measures and Analysis Content validity: responses to each question were analyzed using a general inductive approach. Criterion validity: Cohen's kappa (κ) coefficient was calculated for each Home-IDEA2 item. Construct validity: frequencies were calculated to determine the proportion of Home-IDEA2 food items found in FoodAPS households. Results Cognitive interviews identified the need for more food descriptions and the reduction of total items from 154 to 134. Testing resulted in acceptable agreement (κ = 0.6–1.0) for 82 items (58 food, 16 physical activity, and 8 electronics), moderate agreement for 36 (35 food and 1 physical activity; κ = 0.4–0.5), and poor agreement for 16 (15 food and 1 electronics; κ ≤ 0.3). Overall reliability improved from 55% to 65% for Home-IDEA2 items. Comparison of Home-IDEA2 items with FoodAPS demonstrated that 60% of foods found in US homes were covered by the Home-IDEA2. Conclusions and Implications This study resulted in a valid, reliable, and low-burden self-report measure for food, activity, and electronic home environments by low-income, minority parents of preschoolers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses childhood has a time the development of healthful eating and activity behaviors occurs; has a critical window for obesity prevention efforts.

Background: Many interventions have been conducted to improve young children's liking and consumption of new foods however their impacts on children's consumption have been limited. Consistent evidence supports the use of repeated exposure to improve liking for new foods however longitudinal effects lasting greater than 6 months often have not been demonstrated. Here we report the eating-related findings of the Colorado Longitudinal Eating And Physical Activity (LEAP) Study, a multi-component intervention, delivered primarily in the school setting, which aimed to improve children's liking and consumption of a target food via repeated exposure and positive experiential learning. Methods: Four sites in rural Colorado, each housing Head Start preschool programs, matched on state vital statistics for childhood obesity rates, (2 intervention and 2 control sites) took part in a quasi-experimental study design which included 4 time points (baseline, post-intervention, one-year [Y1] and two- year [Y2] follow ups). A total of 250 children and families were enrolled (n = 143 intervention and n = 107 control; 41% Hispanic and 69% low-income). A 12-week intervention, Food Friends – Fun With New Foods®, delivered by trained preschool teachers and which focuses on positive and repeated experiences with new foods, and a 5-month (1 unit/month) social marketing "booster program" was delivered in kindergarten (one-year follow up) and 1st grade (two-year follow up). Main outcome measures included change in children's liking for new foods, analyzed by ordinal regression using generalized estimating equations, and change in weighed consumption of new foods over time, analyzed using a hierarchical mixed effects model. Results: The intervention was delivered with good fidelity (87%). Both intervention and control groups demonstrated an increase in liking for the target food over time (p = 0.0001). The pattern of consumption of the target food was different, over time, for intervention and control groups (p < 0.005). In particular the change in intake between baseline and post-intervention was significantly greater in the intervention compared to the control group (p < 0.0001) though this pattern of change did not hold between baseline and Y2 follow up (p = 0.1144). Children in the intervention group who liked the target food consumed nearly double their baseline consumption at post-intervention (p < 0.0001;) and maintained this increase at Y2 follow up (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: The Food Friends intervention, which utilized positive, repeated experiences with new foods, and was delivered with good fidelity by trained preschool teachers, found that larger improvements were observed in children's eating behaviors than would be expected with developmentally-based changes in eating behaviors. Trial registration number: This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01937481. Date registered: 09/09/2013; Retrospectively registered. Date first participant registered: 09/15/2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that the ubiquity of mobile devices and their use in daily life create new paths for health promotion interventions such as promoting healthy behaviors among families. Topics include examines the preschool years are an important stage of development when children begin displaying independence while still requiring guidance to help them develop healthy eating and physical activity (PA) behaviors.

This report summarizes an EU-US Task Force on Biotechnology Research symposium on healthy food choices and nutrition-related purchasing behaviors. This meeting was unique in its transdisciplinary approach to obesity and in bringing together scientists from academia, government, and industry. Discussion relevant to funders and researchers centered on (1) increased use of public--private partnerships, (2) the complexity of food behaviors and obesity risk and multilevel aspects that must be considered, and (3) the importance of transatlantic cooperation and collaboration that could accelerate advances in this field. A call to action stressed these points along with a commitment to enhanced communication strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore parental perspectives on the ideals and realities of family mealtimes. Mini-focus groups (n = 7). Rural Colorado, US. Parents (n = 30) were recruited at Head Start /preschool centers. Parent perspectives on mealtimes with preschool-aged children. Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Three categories of themes emerged: participant conceptions of ideal family meals, challenges to achieving their ideal family meal, and parental solutions. The theme of participant conceptions of ideal family meals composed family togetherness, children liking and eating the prepared food, healthfulness of food, and a nonchaotic mealtime. Challenges to achieving their ideal family meal included work schedules, disruptive child behaviors, child pickiness, snacking, and negative role-modeling. Finally, parental solutions to challenges incorporated having flexible meal timings, considering child preferences in premeal preparations, role-modeling, and numerous other parenting strategies. While parents valued many aspects of a version of the ideal meal rooted in historical standards, families faced many challenges in trying to attain that ideal. Although parents employed various strategies to combat mealtime challenges, parental expectations for preschool-aged children's mealtime behaviors may be unrealistic for the developmental stage of early childhood. Future interventions could help parents develop age-appropriate mealtime expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the impact of an experiential nutrition education program, The SPORKS for Kids program, on preschoolers' willingness to try a novel vegetable. Intervention approaches which integrate repeated taste exposure, sensory learning, and nutrition education to provide repeated exposures to novel foods in fun, positive environments (positive valence) have been successful at increasing willingness to try new foods. These approaches were coupled with Social Cognitive Theory constructs to develop The SPORKS activities. Preschool-aged children from 2 rural Colorado communities. The 6-week program was conducted in evenings as a complementary component to parent workshops. Children attended weekly 90-minute sessions focused on taste exposure and sensory learning via nutrition-related activities and imaginary trips/musical journeys. The SPORKS family consists of Sally Spoon (mom), Frankie Fork (dad); Buddy and Bubbles (preschoolers) and Junior and Freckles (older siblings). The SPORKS characters were embedded into activities and materials to facilitate experiential learning and build children's familiarity with the target vegetable (cauliflower). At tasting activities, 3 pieces of cauliflower were provided to each child and children were encouraged to try the food in a group setting. Observers recorded whether each child tried the cauliflower provided during the sessions. Sixteen children participated in the program across 2 sites. During week 1, 50% of children tried cauliflower and tries steadily increased (58%, 80%, 73%, 85%, weeks 2-5, respectively), and by week 6 this number rose to 100%. Once children tried cauliflower, they continued to try it across subsequent weeks (100%). Half of the children requested 'seconds' beginning in week 3. While half of the children tried the food at the start of The SPORKS program, repeated exposure with positive valence resulted in the remaining children's willingness to try a target vegetable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's restaurant meals are nutritionally deficient; use of behavioral economic strategies may improve healthfulness. Parents play a role in children's restaurant meal selection, thus understanding parent preferences and potential behavioral economic strategies for healthful children menu options is warranted. To examine parent preferences for 5 children's menu attributes featuring behavioral economic strategies. A descriptive, cross-sectional survey integrating a conjoint design was developed along with 8 children's menus. Menus were manipulated by varying levels of attributes [meal price, healthful side dishes, number of side dish items, healthful entrees, and cost for sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB)]. Parents with children 4–10 years old were recruited via Amazon's Mechanical Turk and asked to rate menus using an 11-point Likert scale (0 = Not at all appealing, 10 = Very appealing). A conjoint (regression) analysis was conducted to discern parent preference for each attribute and an overall menu preference. Descriptive statistics (means) were used to describe overall parent menu preferences and ratings. Ratings were generally high for the menus (µ = 6.7, SD = 2.4). Parents (n = 463) had the strongest preference for choice on side dishes (β = 0.73) and low-priced menus (β = 0.51). Parents reported the weakest preference for inclusion of healthful entrees (β = 0.04) and SSB (β = 0.18). The most preferred menu selected (60.7%, n = 281) included a low price, no bundled side (choice of side dish from multiple options), choice of 2 sides, healthful entrée present, and an additional $1 for SSB. A discrepancy between derived menu preference and a stated menu preference exists. Parents selected a socially desirable menu with healthful options and cost for SSB, contrary to the conjoint derived menu preferences. This discrepancy, along with derived preferences for multiple side dish options, could have implications for which behavioral economic strategies may be effective to improve quality of children's meals in restaurants, as parents' true interest in healthful entrees is undetermined. USDA Colorado State University, Departments of Marketing and Food Science and Human Nutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]