To examine whether four pre-selected front-of-pack nutrition labels improve food purchases in real-life grocery shopping settings, we put 1.9 million labels on 1266 food products in four categories in 60 supermarkets and analyzed the nutritional quality of 1,668,301 purchases using the FSA nutrient profiling score. Effect sizes were 17 times smaller on average than those found in comparable laboratory studies. The most effective nutrition label, Nutri-Score, increased the purchases of foods in the top third of their category nutrition-wise by 14%, but had no impact on the purchases of foods with medium, low, or unlabeled nutrition quality. Therefore, Nutri-Score only improved the nutritional quality of the basket of labeled foods purchased by 2.5% (−0.142 FSA points). Nutri-Score's performance improved with the variance (but not the mean) of the nutritional quality of the category. In-store surveys suggest that Nutri-Score's ability to attract attention and help shoppers rank products by nutritional quality may explain its performance.

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We reviewed tools developed to measure parental feeding practices and eating behavior and food intake or preferences of children aged 0 to 5 years. Two electronic literature databases (Medline and Psycinfo) were used to search for both observational and experimental studies in human beings. The articles selected for review were those presenting tools with data on internal consistency and/or test-retest reliability and/or construct validity. A total of 3,445 articles were retrieved, and further searching of reference lists and contact with experts produced an additional 18 articles. We identified three tools on the qualitative dimension of children's eating behavior, two tools on food intake or preferences, and one tool on parental feeding practices with rigorous testing of internal consistency, construct validity, and test-retest reliability. All other tools presented in this review need further evaluation of their validity or reliability. Because major gaps exist, we highlight the need for more tools on parental attention to children's hunger and satiety cues, and the need to evaluate the degree of control allowed to children younger than age 2 years in feeding events. Food avoidance (ie, behaviors or strategies to take away and to reject food) and food approach (ie, attractiveness for food stimuli) have not been assessed in children aged 12 to 24 months. Food preference tests based on sensory aspects rather than nutritional quality may be worth investigating. We identified a need for further evaluation of quality, especially test-retest reliability and construct validity, for most tools developed for use in studying children aged 0 to 5 years.

Previous studies in humans have shown that short to middle-term pre-exposure to multiple foods can reduce the negative response to novel foods (neophobia). In order to explore the effects of a long-term exposure to varied foods on food neophobia, we studied a population of obese adolescents observed in a longitudinal protocol in which the multiple food experiences are induced by a residential weight reduction program (WRP) that encourages the consumption of a wide variety of foods. Seventy-two massively obese adolescents (22 boys) filled the food neophobia scale (FNS, [Pliner, P., & Hobden, K. (1992). Development of a scale to measure the trait of food neophobia in humans. Appetite 19, 105-120]) and an ad hoc food familiarity and liking questionnaire at the beginning and at the end of the program (mean duration: 8.9 months). Their scores were compared to those of a control group of 51 adolescents (14 boys) tested within a similar period. FNS results show a decrease of food neophobia, without significant difference between the control group and the WRP subjects, although only WRP have encountered new foods experiences as attested by the familiarity and liking results. Methodological considerations, concerning the characteristics of the participants, the nature of the multiple food exposure and the food neophobia measurements, will be proposed to explain differences among studies.

BackgroundIdentifying the determinants of child’s liking for different foods may help to prevent future choices of unhealthy food.ObjectiveTo study early-life food-related characteristics associated with child’s liking for different foods at 5y with a longitudinal study.Design1142 5y- old children completed a liking test for “fruit and vegetables”, “meat, fish and eggs”, desserts and cheese. Data related to maternal food intake before pregnancy, infant feeding during the first year of life, maternal feeding practices at 2y, child’s food intake at 3y, and child’s food neophobia from 1 to 4y were collected prospectively from the mother. The associations between these factors and child‘s liking for each category of foods were analyzed using structural equation modelling.ResultsHigh food neophobia at 4 y was related to lower child’s liking for all food groups. Maternal feeding practices at 2y were associated with liking for dessert: negatively for the practices allowing child to control his/her own food intake, positively for restriction of child’s food intake for weight reasons. Moreover, child’s food intake at 3y was positively associated with child’s liking for “fruit and vegetables” as well as for cheese. Finally, adherence to the infant feeding pattern “long breastfeeding, later introduction of main meal components and use of home-made products” was positively associated with child’s liking for meat/fish/eggs.ConclusionsFor all food groups, food neophobia was a common determinant of child’s liking for food at 5y, whereas other factors were associated with food liking for specific food groups.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12966-016-0342-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.