Flavor variety enhances food acceptance in formula-fed infants

Gerrish, Carolyn J.; Mennella, Julie A.

doi:10.1093/ajcn/73.6.1080

Cited by 261 publications

(183 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…In addition, FV from packets, jars and tins are likely to have a uniform taste and texture, whereas those cooked at home or eaten raw will vary according to the variety of the particular fruit or vegetable, whether it is in season and the cooking method. These variations in the taste and texture of FV should expose the infant's palate to a wider range of experience, thus increasing the likelihood they will accept a wider range of foods (12) . In addition, there was evidence that the type of FV consumption before 6 months influenced the range of FV eaten at 7 years.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term consequences of early fruit and vegetable feeding practices in the United Kingdom

Coulthard

Harris

Emmett

2010

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: To describe fruit and vegetable (FV) feeding practices at 6 months, and to examine whether these practices predict children's FV intake at 7 years of age. Design: A prospective, longitudinal design was adopted. The mothers completed self-reported questionnaires at 6 months and 7 years postpartum, containing questions about their child's FV intake. Setting: The study was carried out on a geographically representative population of infants born in Avon, UK, from 1991 to 1992, as part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Subjects: Information was collected from 7866 mothers of infants. Results: Hierarchical linear regressions were used to predict FV consumption at 7 years from the early feeding variables. Children who were given home-cooked fruit or vegetables more often at 6 months were more likely to be eating a higher proportion of FV at 7 years, than those who were given home-cooked FV less often. There was no positive difference found in consumption of FV at 7 years according to how often ready-prepared fruits or vegetables were given at 6 months.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term consequences of early fruit and vegetable feeding practices in the United Kingdom

Coulthard

Harris

Emmett

2010

Public Health Nutr.

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“…For instance, exposure to a variety of flavours in the familial environment enhances food acceptance in children (Gerrish and Mennella, 2001), whereas children who rarely have the opportunity to try new food, perhaps because of rigid control by parents of the food environment of their infant, are more likely to be neophobic in the future (Hursti and Sjö dé n, 1997).…”

Section: Characteristics and Development Of Preferences And Aversionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This social facilitation phenomenon is also encountered in humans: observing people eating may influence children's food preferences, thanks to the tendency of children to imitate their peers' behaviour, especially in the home environment (Hursti and Sjö dé n, 1997;Wardle and Cooke, 2008). Moreover, food diversity allows for better food intake in humans (Gerrish and Mennella, 2001). When a choice of diets is offered to pigs during growth, pig performance (i.e.…”

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confidence: 99%

Food preferences and aversions in human health and nutrition: how can pigs help the biomedical research?

Clouard

Meunier-Salaün

Val‐Laillet

2012

Animal

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The establishment of food preferences and aversions determines the modulation of eating behaviour and the optimization of food intake. These phenomena rely on the learning and memory abilities of the organism and depend on different psychobiological mechanisms such as associative conditionings and sociocultural influences. After summarizing the various behavioural and environmental determinants of the establishment of food preferences and aversions, this paper describes several issues encountered in human nutrition when preferences and aversions become detrimental to health: development of eating disorders and obesity, aversions and anorexia in chemotherapy-treated or elderly patients and poor palatability of medical substances and drugs. Most of the relevant biomedical research has been performed in rodent models, although this approach has severe limitations, especially in the nutritional field. Consequently, the final aim of this paper is to discuss the use of the pig model to investigate the behavioural and neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the establishment of food preferences and aversions by reviewing the literature supporting analogies at multiple levels (general physiology and anatomy, sensory sensitivity, digestive function, cognitive abilities, brain features) between pigs and humans.Keywords: pig, conditioned learning, eating behaviour, animal model, biomedical applications ImplicationsInvestigation of the behavioural and neurophysiological mechanisms of the establishment of food preferences and aversions can lead to important developments in the context of human nutrition and health. Because the rodent models are not always adequate in this field, there is a need to develop alternative experimental models. Pigs have numerous similarities with humans in terms of the physiology, anatomy, sensory sensitivity, cognitive abilities and brain functions. The aim of this paper is to promote the use of pigs for biomedical research in human nutrition. IntroductionFeeding is a complex behaviour, which can be described as 'the research and consumption of food and drink to maintain vital functions ' (Bellisle, 1999) and to 'fulfil the metabolic needs of the organism ' (Ferreira, 2004). Today, it is also well acknowledged that a high proportion of human food consumption in developed countries appears to be driven by pleasure (for a review, see Lowe and Butryn, 2007) and sociocultural influences. Food consumption is also involved in fundamental metabolic homeostasis regulation, as it controls the supply of energy and nutrients in the organism (Bellisle, 1999). According to Ferreira (2004), feeding behaviour implies that animals learn to consume high-energy foods and to avoid toxic foods. Establishment of food selection implies that, during its first experience with food, the organism memorizes the sensorial characteristics of the food (e.g. taste, odour, texture and visual cues) and the postingestive consequences of its ingestion, and associates these food characteristics with these consequences (Garcia et ...

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“…One type of experience entailed repeated dietary exposure to a particular vegetable for at least 8 days. Like children [8], infants ate significantly more carrots [9] and green beans [10,11] after repeated exposure to that particular vegetable. Merely looking at the food does not appear to be sufficient since children have to taste the food to learn to like it [11,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Infants who were repeatedly exposed to a different starchy vegetable each day ate as much carrots after the exposure as did infants who were repeatedly exposed to carrots [9]. Similarly, infants who had more exposure to a variety of fruits were more accepting of carrots when compared to those with no fruit experience [9]. Whether experience with a variety of fruits or vegetables would increase acceptance of a green vegetable or fruits is not yet known.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variety is the spice of life: Strategies for promoting fruit and vegetable acceptance during infancy

Mennella

Nicklaus

Jagolino

et al. 2008

Physiology & Behavior

219

138

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The present manuscript describes two experimental studies that were conducted to explore the effects of an 8-day exposure to a particular food or a variety of foods between and/or within meals on fruit and vegetable acceptance in 74 infants. Whether the dietary experience modified acceptance depended on the flavors of foods experienced, whether the experience occurred between or within meals or both, and whether the target food was a fruit or vegetable. In the first study, we found that 8 days of dietary exposure to pears or a variety of fruits between meals (not including pears) resulted in greater consumption of pears by the infants but this increased acceptance did not generalize to green beans. In the second study, we found that 8 days of vegetable variety both between and within meals led to increased acceptance of green beans, carrots and spinach. Those infants who experienced green beans alone or a variety of vegetables between meals also tended to eat more green beans after the exposure. These findings suggest that not only can infants clearly discriminate flavors but repeated opportunities to taste a particular or a varietyof foods may promote willingness to eat fruits and vegetables, the consumption of which is generally low in the pediatric population and the acceptance of which is difficult to enhance beyond toddlerhood.

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Flavor variety enhances food acceptance in formula-fed infants

Abstract: These findings are the first experimental evidence to indicate that exposure to a variety of flavors enhances acceptance of novel foods in human infants.

Cited by 261 publications

References 20 publications

Long-term consequences of early fruit and vegetable feeding practices in the United Kingdom

Long-term consequences of early fruit and vegetable feeding practices in the United Kingdom

Food preferences and aversions in human health and nutrition: how can pigs help the biomedical research?

Variety is the spice of life: Strategies for promoting fruit and vegetable acceptance during infancy

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