Factors Associated With Food Neophobia in Children: Systematic Review

Abstract

Objective: To identify the factors associated with food neophobia in children through a systematic review. Data sources: This research was based on the recommendations of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. The research was carried out in the PubMed, Science Direct, and Scientific Electronic Library Online databases, with the combination of health descriptors in English and Portuguese: (“Food Neophobia” OR “Feeding Behavior” OR “Food Preferences” OR “Food Selectivity”) AND Child, from 2000 to 2019. Studies that evaluated factors associated with food neophobia in children were included. The quality of the studies was assessed using the Effective Public Health Practice Project: Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies (QATQS). Data synthesis: 19 studies were included in the systematic review. The prevalence of food neophobia ranged from 12.8 to 100%. The studies used three different scales to measure the level of food neophobia. The main factors associated with food neophobia were: parental influence on children’s eating habits, children’s innate preference for sweet and savory flavors, influence of the sensory aspect of the food, parents’ pressure for the child to eat, parents’ lack of encouragement and/or affection at mealtime, childhood anxiety, and diets with low variety and low nutritional quality. Conclusions: The factors associated with food neophobia permeate several areas of the child’s life, thus, interprofessional follow-up becomes essential in the intervention process.

Feeding Problems in Typically Developing Young Children, a Population-Based Study

“…Another issue that often appeared to concern parents in the present study was food neophobia, which was severe in about 30% of the children. This finding is in accordance with most of the studies on food neophobia that report prevalence around 30% [ 59 ]. However, estimates of food neophobia prevalence vary widely in the international literature (from 12.8% to 100%) [ 59 ].…”

“…This finding is in accordance with most of the studies on food neophobia that report prevalence around 30% [ 59 ]. However, estimates of food neophobia prevalence vary widely in the international literature (from 12.8% to 100%) [ 59 ]. This high variability is due to the diversity of tools used to measure food neophobia.…”

“…This high variability is due to the diversity of tools used to measure food neophobia. Although the causes of food neophobia have not been fully elucidated, it is considered to be related to a number of biological, psychological, and environmental factors, most notably the children’s innate predisposition to sweet and savory tastes, the influence of food sensory characteristics, the time and method of introducing new foods, parental practices (e.g., coercive practices, lack of motivation), child familiarization with different tastes, and the temperament characteristics of the child (e.g., increased stress levels) [ 59 , 60 ] Although food neophobia manifests at the age of 2 to 5 years and is usually eliminated later, the severity of this behavior significantly affects the way a child eats and can affect a person’s eating habits in later life [ 60 ]. These effects are mainly related to the lack of a balanced diet and reduced important nutrient intake.…”

Food Neophobia and Consumer Choices within Vietnamese Menu in a Polish Cohort Study

“…The observations associated with smell are consistent with the observations of Raudenbush et al [ 41 ], as they stated that individuals of high FN level have been found to rate odors as less pleasant and sniff odor samples less vigorously than those of low FN level. Such situation could be related to the psychological comfort, as in the recent systematic review of Torres et al [ 8 ], authors indicated that all actions associated with the emotional support and comfortable environment can stimulate curiosity about new shapes, colors and texture in children, which may be associated with their FN level. As a consequence, psychological comfort could reduce the level of neophobic behaviors and may contribute to increased positive experiences with food.…”

“…A recent systematic review of Torres et al [ 8 ] presenting the issue of food neophobia (FN) in children, emphasized the role of this factor as one of the most significant determinants of nutritional behaviors. The FN may be studied while using the Food Neophobia Scale (FNS) by Pliner and Hobden [ 9 ], which is commonly applied, as it has been translated into various languages.…”