Were children at centres offering sensory-based food education more willing to choose and eat vegetables and fruit?

Details

Researchers studied children aged 3–5 in Finland, comparing six early childhood education and care centres offering sensory-based food education with three comparison centres. A snack buffet with eleven different vegetables, berries and fruit assessed children's willingness to choose and eat these foods. Parents also answered a questionnaire about their children's reluctance to try unfamiliar foods.

Sensory-based food education was linked to greater willingness to choose and eat the buffet foods. This association was stronger among children whose mothers had lower levels of education. Individually, children who were more reluctant to try unfamiliar foods were less willing to choose and eat them. At the group level, greater average reluctance was linked to less willingness to choose the foods, but this pattern was not observed in groups receiving sensory-based food education.

This was a snapshot observational comparison, not a trial testing the effects of introducing the education. The findings suggest a promising approach, but do not establish that the education caused the differences, changed children's everyday diets or produced lasting effects.