Abstract
How can teachers encourage children to accept new fruits and vegetables? A quasi-experimental study with 64 preschool children (32 boys, 32 girls) compared the effectiveness of five teacher actions to encourage children's acceptance of four new fruits and vegetables presented during three preschool lunches. The five teacher actions included reward (special dessert), modeling, insisting children try one bite, choice-offering (“Do you want any of this?”), and a control condition of simple exposure.
In factorial analyses of variance (two genders × five teacher actions), the five teacher actions produced differences in number of foods sampled (p<.001), number of meals during which foods were sampled (p<.004), and total number of bites (p<.002). Paired comparisons revealed that reward, insisting, and choice-offering were more effective than simple exposure to encourage number of foods, number of meals, and number of bites. Dessert reward and choice-offering were equally effective for all three measures of new food acceptance, but insisting produced fewer bites than did choice-offering. Under the present conditions, teacher modeling was ineffective compared to simple exposure. No gender differences were found in new food acceptance or in interactions with the five teacher actions to encourage new food acceptance.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Brozek J (ed):Malnutrition and Human Behavior: Experimental, Clinical, and Community Studies. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1985.
Conners CK:Feeding the Brain: How Foods Affect Children. New York: Plenum. 1989.
Pipes PL (ed).Nutrition in Infancy and Childhood. St. Louis, MO: Times Mirror/Mosby, 1989.
National Research Council:Diet and Health. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences Press, 1989.
United States Department of Health and Human Services:Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives. Washington, DC: Public Health Service, 1991.
Cashdan E: A sensitive period for learning about food.Human Nature. 1994,5:279–291.
Illingworth RS, Lister J: The critical or sensitive period, with special reference to certain feeding problems in infants and children.Journal of Pediatrics. 1964,65:839–848.
Achterberg CA: A perspective on nutrition education research and practice.Journal of Nutrition Education. 1988,20:240–243.
Hayghe H: Employers and child care: What roles do they play?Monthly Labor Review. 1988,111:38–42.
Wright DE, Radcliffe JD: Parents' perceptions of influences on food behavior development of children attending day care facilities.Journal of Nutrition Education. 1992,24:198–201.
Birch LL, McPhee L, Shoba BC, Steinberg L, Krehbiel R: “Clean up your plate”: Effects of child feeding practices on the development of intake regulation.Learning and Motivation. 1987,18:301–317.
Iannotti RJ, Bush PJ: The development of autonomy in children's health behaviors. In Susman EJ, Feagans LV, Ray WJ (eds),Emotion, Cognition, Health and Development in Children and Adolescents. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1992, 53–74.
Bandura A:Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1986.
Bandura A:Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company, 1997.
Deci EL: The relation of interest to the motivation of behavior: A self-determination theory perspective. In Renninger KA, Hidi S, Krapp A (eds),The Role of Interest in Learning and Development. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1992, 43–70.
Deci EL, Ryan RM:Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior. New York: Plenum, 1985.
Highberger R, Carothers L: Modification of eating behavior of toddlers in a day care setting.Home Economics Research Journal. 1977,6:48–51.
Ireton CL, Guthrie HA: Modification of vegetable eating behavior in preschool children.Journal of Nutritional Education. 1972,4:100–103.
Stark LJ, Collins Jr. FL, Osnes PG, Stokes TF: Using reinforcement and cueing to increase healthy snack food choices in preschoolers.Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 1986,19:367–380.
Thompson Jr. RJ, Palmer S: Treatment of feeding problems: A behavioral approach.Journal of Nutritional Education. 1974,6: 63–66.
Birch LL, Birch D, Marlin D, Kramer L: Effects of instrumental eating on children's food preferences.Appetite. 1982,3:125–134.
Birch LL, Marlin DW, Rotter J: Eating as the “means” activity in a contingency: Effects on young children's food preferences.Child Development. 1984,55:431–439.
Newman J, Taylor A: Effect of a means-end contingency on young children's food preferences.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 1992,64:200–216.
Close SM, Sabry J: An experiment to influence vegetable acceptance of nursery school children.Journal of Canadian Dietetic Association. 1978,39:221–225.
Rolls BJ, Rolls ET, Rowe EA: The influence of variety on human food selection and intake. In Barker LM (ed),The Psychobiology of Human Food Selection. Westport, CT: AVI, 1982 101–122.
Boggiano AK, Main DS: Enhancing children's interest in activities used as rewards: The bonus effect.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1986,51:1116–1126.
Dickenson AM: The detrimental effects of extrinsic reinforcement on “intrinsic motivation.”Behavior Analyst. 1989,12:1–15.
Lepper MR: Social control processes and the internalization of social values: An attributional perspective. In Higgins ET, Ruble DN, Hartup WW (ed),Social Cognition and Social Development: A Sociocultural Perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1982, 294–330.
Newman J, Layton BD: Overjustification: A self-perception perspective.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 1984,10:419–425.
Birch LL, McPhee L, Shoba BC, Pirok E, Steinberg L: What kind of exposure reduces children's food neophobia?Appetite. 1987,9:171–178.
Pliner P: The effects of mere exposure on liking for edible substances.Appetite. 1982,3:283–290.
Bernstein IL, Meachum CL: Food aversion learning: Its impact on appetite. In Capaldi ED, Powley TL (eds),Taste, Experience, and Feeding. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1990, 170–178.
Birch LL, Zimmerman SI, Hind H: The influence of social-affective context on the formation of children's food preferences.Child Development. 1980,54:856–861.
Fallon AE, Rozin P, Pliner P: The child's conception of food: The development of food rejections with special reference to disgust and contamination sensitivity.Child Development. 1984,55:566–575.
Logue AW, Ophir I, Strauss KE: The acquisition of taste aversions in humans.Behavior Research and Therapy. 1981,19:319–333.
Rozin P, Fallon AE: A perspective on disgust.Psychological Review. 1987,94:23–41.
Sanders MR, Patel RK, Grice BL, Shepherd RW: Children with persistent feeding difficulties: An observational analysis of the feeding interactions of problem and non-problem eaters.Health Psychology. 1993,12:64–73.
Dolan B, Gitzinger I (eds):Why Women? Gender Issues and Eating Disorders. London: Athlone Press, 1994.
Garner DM, Garfinkel PE, Schwartz D, Thompson M: Cultural expectations of thinness in women.Psychological Reports. 1988,47:483–491.
Hsu LK: The gender gap in eating disorders: Why are the eating disorders more common among women?Clinical Psychology Review. 1989,9:393–407.
Rolls BJ, Fedoroff IC, Guthrie JF: Gender differences in eating behavior and body weight regulation.Health Psychology. 1991,10:133–142.
Reau NR, Senturia YD, Lebailly SA, Christoffel KK: Infant and toddler feeding patterns and problems: Normative data and a new direction.Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. 17:149–153.
McGrew WC:An Ethological Study of Children's Behavior. New York: Academic Press, 1972.
Birch LL: The control of food intake by young children: The role of learning. In Capaldi ED, Powley TL (eds),Taste, Experience, and Feeding. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1990, 116–135.
Eisenberger R, Cameron J: Detrimental effects of reward.American Psychologist. 1996,51:1153–1166.
Schunk DH: Peer models and children's behavioral change.Review of Educational Research. 198757:149–174.
Stellar E, Shrager EE: Chews and swallows and the microstructure of eating.American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1985,42:973–982.
Hanna E, Meltzoff AN: Peer imitation by toddlers in laboratory, home, and day-care contexts: Implications for social learning and memory.Developmental Psychology. 1992,29:701–710.
Abramovitch R, Grusec JE: Peer imitation in a natural setting.Child Development. 1978,49:60–65.
Birch LL, Billman J: Preschool children's food-sharing with friends and acquaintances.Child Development. 1986,57:387–395.
Striegel-Moore RH, Silberstein LR, Rodin J: Toward an understanding of risk factors for bulimia.American Psychologist. 1986,41:246–263.
Thelen MH, Lawrence CM, Powell AL: Body image, weight control, and eating disorders among children. In Crowther JH, Tennenbaum DL, Hobfoll SE, Stepens MAP (eds),The Etiology of Bulimia Nervosa: The Individual and Familial Context. Washington, DC: Hemisphere, 1992, 81–101.
Krasnegor NA, Epstein L, Johsnson SB, Yaffe SJ (eds):Developmental Aspects of Health Compliance Behavior. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1993.
Harper KU, Sanders KM: The effect of adults' eating on young children's acceptance of unfamiliar foods.Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 1975,20:206–214.
Agras WS, Berkowitz RI, Hammer LC, Kraemer HC: Relationships between the eating behaviors of parents and their eighteen-month-old children: A laboratory study.International Journal of Eating Disorders. 1988,7:461–468.
Contento IR, Basch C, Shea S, et al: Relationship of mother's food choice criteria to food intake of preschool children: Identification of family subgroups.Health Education Quarterly. 1993,20:243–259.
Tinsley BJ: Multiple influences on the acquisition and socialization of children's health attitudes and behavior: An integrative review.Child Development. 1992,63:1043–1069.
Falciglia GA, Norton PA: Evidence for a genetic influence on preference for some foods.Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 1994,94:154–158.
LaDu Jr. BN: The role of genetics in idiosyncratic reactions or adverse reactions to foods. In Simopoulos AP, Childs B (eds),Genetic Variation and Nutrition (Volume 63): World Review of Nutrition and Diet. Basel, Switzerland: Karger, 1990, 209–219.
Rowe DC:The Limits of Family Influence—Genes, Experience, and Behavior. New York: Guilford, 1994.
Davis C: Results of the self-selection of diets by young children.Canadian Medical Association Journal. 1939,41:257–261.
Klesges RC, Coates TJ, Brown G, et al: Parental influences on children's eating behavior and relative weight.Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 1983,16:371–378.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Preparation of this manuscript was supported in part by Small Grants and the Research Assistant Program of Penn State Schuylkill.
Dorothy Franks and Lynn Measel from Schuylkill Child Development, PA, assisted with participant recruitment. Robin Cresswell, Helen Frehafer, Margaret Greco, Kathy Hunter, Rebecca Keen, Brook Koch, Sheree Minnich, Danille Sauerwine, and Jennifer Thomas served as observers. Mandy Fitzpatrick, Charles Foster, and Janett Naylor helped with food preparation. Bryan Raudenbush provided critical commentary on the manuscript. Thanks are also given to the children, teachers, and staff of the preschools of Schuylkill Child Development, PA.
About this article
Cite this article
Hendy, H.M. Comparison of five teacher actions to encourage children's new food acceptance. ann. behav. med. 21, 20–26 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02895029
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02895029