The effect of parents on the hedonic responses to fruits by children

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to investigate the relation between hedonic responses of families and preschool children given to fruit. Two hundred parents who had a child attending to a kindergarten in the districts of Kecioren and Mamak, in Ankara, Turkey were included in the research. The data were collected through a questionnaire. The ages of the children varied from 5 to 7. More than half of the mothers (55.5 %) were in their normal BMI (Body Mass Index), while more than half of the fathers (63.0 %) were overweight. Children and parents were found to like fruit in general sense. It was also found that as the score of liking fruit and the amount of consumed portion of parents increased, so did their children's. There was a positive relation between parents and their children (p<0.001). The score of liking fruit for girls was higher than that of boys (p=0.006). It is likely to say that girls like fruit more than boys.