No abstract

This study was designed to compare the measured consumption of eight high‐fiber snack foods (cookies, muffins, crackers and cheese, pretzels, dry cereal, applesauce, chocolate pudding, carrots and ranch dip) with the level of liking of the food in children attending a local daycare center. Snacks were served in the mornings of eight different days to a sample of 2–5 year old children (n=42). Food intake was calculated with pre‐and post consumption plate weighing. Liking of the foods was estimated using a 3‐point likert scale (yummy, so‐so, yucky) for the following characteristics: appearance, taste, texture, sweetness, and overall liking; non‐parametric test (p‐value<0.05) was used to determine statistical significance. Results showed that amount consumed and liking of food were not associated except for increased intakes with higher ratings for the appearance and overall liking of the applesauce (p‐value<0.001), the taste of cookies (p‐value<0.04), and the appearance of the ready‐to‐eat cereal (p‐value<0.02). Our results indicate that in these preschool‐age children consuming a morning snack at daycare, food consumption is not predicted by the liking of the food. Further studies to determine the predictors of food intake behavior in this age group are needed.