Efficacy of repeated exposure and flavour–flavour learning as mechanisms to increase preschooler's vegetable intake and acceptance

Abstract

These results suggest a robust and persistent effect of repeated exposure but no effect of flavour-flavour learning. Offering pure vegetable tastes repeatedly is sufficient to increase intake.

A Systematic Review of Methods for Increasing Vegetable Consumption in Early Childhood

“…Seven papers included in this review explored the effectiveness of repeated exposure alone for increasing children’s liking and consumption of vegetables [21, 31, 35, 36, 38, 44, 45]. With this method, children are repeatedly offered and encouraged to try a target vegetable, with papers in this review testing 7 to 14 exposures.…”

“…Six of these papers tested the effectiveness of flavour-flavour learning to increase children’s consumption of vegetables [35, 36•, 37, 38, 41, 44]. While most of these studies found no advantage of flavour-flavour learning beyond that of repeated exposure [35, 37, 38, 44], one study [41] suggests that offering familiar and liked dips to children who are sensitive to bitter tastes may be useful for increasing consumption of brassicae (green, cruciferous vegetables) in the short term when served with dip. Further to this, the research suggests pairing bitter vegetables (Brussels sprouts) with cream cheese (with or without added sugar) for 14 days can significantly increase children’s rated liking of Brussels sprouts when subsequently presented plain, although this did not increase their consumption [36•].…”

“…No effect of energy content of soup on children’s consumption (FNL).High energy paired flavour of soup liked significantly more post-intervention, but this did not remain significant at 2-month follow-upNo evidence for FNL in consumption but tentative evidence for the effectiveness of FNL for increasing preference in the short term. Robust evidence of a repeated-exposure effectde Wild et al [38]201539 1.5–4-year-oldsNetherlands/nurseryFFL RECrossover intervention7 weekly exposuresSignificant increase in consumption of relatively novel beetroot and parsnip crisps post-intervention (mean = 7–9 g), regardless of whether paired with familiar and liked ketchup or white sauceNo significant effect of FFLFindings maintained at 2 and 6 monthsRE is the primary mechanism for increasing vegetable consumption in young children, with evidence of long-term effectsde Wild, et al [39]201570 2–4-year-oldsNetherlands/homeProviding a choice of vegetablesRandomly assigned between subjects12 occasions (6 different vegetables)Significant but not robust model found to predict vegetable consumption including whether children were offered a choice, baseline liking, child age and gender. Whether children were offered a choice was not a significant predictorMarginal but not robust effect of choice of vegetable on consumption.…”

Understanding and changing children’s sensory acceptance for vegetables

“…The overall conclusion that emerges from this research is that repeated exposure is effective in increasing intake of vegetables in children, and that FFL and FNL offer no benefits beyond those found through the repeated exposure effect (52)(53)(54)(55)(56)(57)(58)(59)(60)(61)(62) . Our study added to this knowledge by comparing two variants of a repeated exposure paradigm for its effectiveness to increase vegetable acceptance and intake.…”

“…In addition, cognitive forms of learning can play a part in eating behaviour. However, children are not sensitive to health messages, which may even negatively affect their acceptance of foods (55) . When children are around 2 to 3 years old, they often develop an increased reluctance to try new foods (7,8) .…”