Exploring food preference learning methods for toddlers

Developing Tailored Clinical Resources for Promoting Children's Healthy Food Preferences

This study is testing two fun ways to help picky toddlers learn to like vegetables better by either tasting them with a tasty dip or trying them together with their parents.

Quick facts

• Phase: NA
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 40 (estimated)
• Ages: 18 Months and up
• Sex: All
• Sponsor: State University of New York at Buffalo (other)
• Locations: 1 site (Buffalo, New York)
• Trial ID: NCT06877468 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What this trial studies

This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of two innovative food preference learning approaches for toddlers who are particularly fussy eaters. Families will be randomly assigned to either an associative conditioning group, where children taste vegetables with a palatable dip, or a modeling group, where children and parents taste vegetables together. Over a four-week period, participants will attend two laboratory visits and complete eight vegetable tastings to assess changes in children's liking and intake of the target foods. The study seeks to identify effective strategies for helping toddlers accept vegetables beyond traditional repeated exposure methods.

Who should consider this trial

Good fit: Ideal candidates for this study are toddlers aged 18-36 months who exhibit high levels of food fussiness.

Not a fit: Patients who may not benefit from this study include those with diagnosed physical or mental health conditions that affect their ability to participate safely.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this study could provide effective strategies for improving vegetable acceptance in toddlers, potentially leading to healthier eating habits.

How similar studies have performed: While the approach of using associative conditioning and modeling is innovative, there is limited literature on its effectiveness specifically for toddlers with high food fussiness, making this study a novel exploration.

Eligibility criteria

Note: Age limits above reflect parents and children combined. Maximum age for children is 36 months as indicated below, and minimum age for parents/guardians is 18 years.

Inclusion Criteria:

* Child is 18-36 months old
* Parent/guardian is 18 years of age or older
* Parent/guardian participating is the primary caregiver of the child
* Child is not diagnosed with a physical or mental health condition (e.g., allergies to study foods, ARFID or autism diagnosis) that would impact safe or feasible participation
* Participants are English speakers
* Child is high on food fussiness, defined as a 2.5 or above on the food fussiness scale of the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire for toddlers

Exclusion Criteria:

* The child is outside the age range of 18-36 months at enrollment, as verified by birth date
* Child is diagnosed with a physical or mental health condition that precludes safe or feasible participation
* The parent/guardian is less than 18 years old
* The parent/guardian participating is not the primary caregiver of the child
* Participants are not English speakers
* Child is low on food fussiness, defined as below a 2.5 on the food fussiness scale of the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire for toddlers

Where this trial is running

Buffalo, New York

• Child Health and Behavior Lab at the University at Buffalo — Buffalo, New York, United States (RECRUITING)

Study contacts

• Study coordinator: Rachel Fan, BS

Conditions: Dietary Behavior, food preferences, toddlers, associative conditioning, modeling, food fussiness, vegetable acceptance, dietary intake