The Influence of Social-affective Context on the Formation of Children's Food Preferences.

The effects of several social-affective presentation contexts on the formation of preschool children's food preferences were investigated. The children's preferences for a set of snack foods were initially assessed and a neutral food, neither highly preferred nor nonpreferred, was selected for each child. This snack food was then presented to the child in one of four social-affective contexts: (1) as a reward; (2) noncontingently, paired with adult attention; (3) in a nonsocial context; (4) at snack time. 16 children participated in each condition. Half of the children in each condition received a sweet snack food, half a nonsweet snack food. Results indicated that presenting foods as rewards or presenting them noncontingently paired with adult attention produced significant increases in preference, and the effects persisted for at least 6 weeks following termination of the presentations. In contrast, no consistent changes in preference were noted when the foods were presented in a nonsocial context or at snack time. The results suggest that the social-affective context in which foods are presented is extremely important in the formation of young children's food preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Child Development is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)