Food neophobia and intervention of university students in China

Abstract

Food neophobia defined as "unwillingness to eat and/or avoid new foods" by Pliner and Hobden (1992) is considered to be a biological mechanism, which can protect individuals from eating potentially toxic foods (Cifci et al., 2020). It is a personality trait that affects people's daily food choices (Jaeger et al., 2021). Food neophobia is related to, but theoretically distinct from picky eating (fussy eating, pickiness, finickiness) (Knaapila et al., 2015), which denotes reluctance to eat familiar foods that are not liked (Cinar et al., 2021).Food neophobia is also different from food neophobia technology.The former is afraid of unfamiliar food, while the latter is afraid of

Does Food Neophobia Affect Mediterranean Diet Adherence and Eating Disorders in University Students?

“…The average score of food neophobia varies from society to society. For example, Lebanon 36.4 ± 9.8 [29]; Southern India 37.7 ± 8.8 (vegetarian), 38.9 ± 8.3 (ovo-vegetarian), 37.3 ± 8.6 (nonvegetarian) [30]; China 36.27 ± 7.61 [17] higher than that reported in developed countries, such as United Kingdom 29.51 (26.67-30.30) [31]; The United States 29.80 ± 11.70 [29]; Spain 31.74 ± 10.98 [32]; Finnish youth 32.3 ± 10.5 [22]; South Korea 33.50 ± 9.0 [33]; highest score that reported in Turkiye 41,3 ± 10,93 [34] and in this study was a mean ± SD of 40.1 ± 9.9. In summary, the food neophobia score decreases as the development level of the country increases.…”

“…Understanding food neophobia in this demographic is especially important as, overall, their eating habits are considered unhealthy because they consume too much fat, sugar, and salt and too little fruit, vegetables, and ber. Despite the fact that there are numerous studies on food neophobia in children, there is little data available for university students [17]. There is not any study that is about food neophobia, mediterranean diet adherence and eating disorders.…”

Food neophobia and its association with sociodemographic factors and food preferences among Bangladeshi university students: Evidence from a cross-sectional study

“…For instance, the original item "I liked foods from different countries" was changed to "I liked foods from different cultures/districts" in item number 4 ("countries" replaced by "cultures/districts"). All adjustments were made in light of a previous study that had been carried out among university students in China [ 32 ]. Participants respond on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from “strongly disagree” (1 point) to “strongly agree” (7 points).…”

“…The content validity and reliability of the questionnaire were checked by a translation back-translation approach, pilot testing, and measuring internal consistency, respectively. The English version of the FNS was retrieved from the previous literature [ 7 , 32 ] and translated into Bengali (i.e., the national language of Bangladesh) by a registered translator (Bengali, English), which was cross-checked by the investigators of this study. Any disagreements with the meanings of the words was discussed with an independent Bengali literature expert to confirm the usability and applicability of the words.…”

“…In recent years, investigating students’ food neophobia has increased due to their higher vulnerability to maintaining healthy dietary habits. Several studies have been conducted on food neophobia among students in different countries such as southern India [ 31 ], China [ 32 ], Lebanon and the United States [ 33 ], Malaysia [ 34 ], and southern Chile [ 35 ]. However, in Bangladesh, no previous research has been conducted to observe the rates of food neophobia amongst university students.…”