Mere exposure and flavour-flavour learning increase 2 to 3 year-old children's acceptance of a novel vegetable.

03 April 2012

Vegetable consumption is low among many children. The study compares the efficiency of different learning strategies on consumption of a novel vegetable among children 2 to 3 years.

A group of 32 children had to taste an unmodified artichoke puree (10 times), a second group of 33 children tested a sweetened puree and a third  of 39 children  tested a puree with added fat and therefore more calories (580 kj/100g against 200 kj/100g in the other 2 groups). Puree nature was reproposed at post-testing, 3 and 6 months later.

The first 2 groups of children consumed more unmodified puree in the post tests while consumption of the third group remained unchanged.

The first group was the one that has most increased its consumption of unmodified puree. Although almost 30 to 40% of children have been resistant to acceptance changes, the results of this study show that the best learning strategy for a novel vegetable passes through the unmodified or slightly sweetened exposure.