Considering Nature and Nurture in the Etiology and Prevention of Picky Eating: A Narrative Review

Children are often categorized as picky eaters by parents and caregivers for their rejection of foods, such as vegetables, and for exhibiting other difficult mealtime behaviors. However, there are several factors that contribute to these mealtime behaviors, including early feeding practices (i.e., breastfeeding, introduction to solid food), repeated exposure to novel foods, and genetic taste sensitivity to certain compounds. Using the online database of PubMed, a review of the literature on the development of picky eating in children, its outcomes, and intervention strategies was conducted. This review groups the developmental contributors to picky eating into the categories of nature and nurture and explores the interaction between the two. This paper will also summarize the potential outcomes of picky eating and the various strategies that are currently recommended to mitigate picky eating in young children. However, there is a lack of longitudinal work targeting consistent picky eating behaviors that have the potential to impact long-term food preferences and dietary variety. Future intervention strategies should address the factors that influence the development of picky eating on an individual level.

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Association between Food Preferences, Eating Behaviors and Socio-Demographic Factors, Physical Activity among Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu12030640 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 640 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Chao Qiu ◽

Min Hou

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Children And Adolescents ◽

Eating Behaviors ◽

Food Preferences ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Picky Eating ◽

Heavy Smoking ◽

Vegetable Juice

The prevalence of overweight and obesity is a serious health issue among children and adolescents worldwide. This study aimed to investigate factors influencing weight status-associated food preferences and eating behaviors. A cross-sectional study was conducted to collect data from 2578 pairs of Chinese children and parents in five cities from December 2018 to March 2019. There was an increase in consumptions of processed seafood, nuts and dried fruit/vegetables, and fruit/vegetable juice, but a reduction of consuming puffed and processed meat products, sugar/artificially sweetened beverages and milk tea, and picky eating. These food preferences differentiate between sexes. Picky eating behavior was greatly presented in children of lower educated mothers or heavy-smoking fathers. Children of the lower educated fathers consumed less processed seafood and dairy products, and those of the heavy-smoking fathers consumed more puffed products, but less fruit/vegetable juice, and had greater snack preference. The father’s body mass index(BMI)status was also positively associated with unhealthy behaviors. Those who exercised daily longer showed better eating behaviors, and picky eating and fast-food lovers likely occurred in higher-income families. Our study provides an insight into that fathers being educated for health-conscious advice and physical activity may be the potential strategies to foster their children’s healthy eating patterns. Their efficacy needs to be further investigated.

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The Role of Dietary Experience in the Development of Eating Behavior during the First Years of Life

Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism ◽

10.1159/000465532 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 70 (3) ◽

pp. 241-245 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Sophie Nicklaus

Keyword(s):

Eating Behavior ◽

Eating Behaviors ◽

Tube Feeding ◽

Food Preferences ◽

Early Years ◽

Appetite Control ◽

Long Term Effect ◽

The Family

Infants are born equipped to ingest nutrients, but because of the transitions in the mode of feeding in the first years (from “tube” feeding in utero to eating table foods with the family), they have to learn how, what and how much to eat. Eating behavior established during early years may follow throughout childhood; therefore, it is fundamental to understand the most important drivers of the early development of eating behavior. Beyond the first flavor discoveries during the gestational and lactation periods (through the infant's exposure to flavors from foods of the mother's diet), the most important phases for learning food preferences and appetite control may be the beginning of complementary feeding (CF). Infants discover the sensory (texture, taste and flavor) and nutritional properties (energy density) of foods that will ultimately compose their adult diet. This brief review shows that several feeding practices influence the development of eating behavior: breastfeeding; repeating the presentation of a food, even if it seems initially disliked; introducing a variety of different foods rapidly in the CF process; offering foods in an appropriate way to make their sensory characteristics appealing to infants. More research is needed to understand in a combined way the effectiveness and long-term effect of these practices to promote healthy eating behaviors.

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Picky Eating in School-Aged Children: Sociodemographic Determinants and the Associations with Dietary Intake

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu13082518 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (8) ◽

pp. 2518

Author(s):

Hebah Alawi Kutbi

Keyword(s):

Dietary Intake ◽

Eating Behaviors ◽

Cardiovascular Health ◽

Food Preferences ◽

Normal Weight ◽

Dietary Behaviors ◽

Picky Eating ◽

School Aged Children ◽

Validated Questionnaire ◽

Sociodemographic Determinants

Children exhibiting picky eating behavior often demonstrate strong food preferences and rejection of particular foods or food texture, which may lead to limited dietary variety and possibly inadequate or unhealthy diet. Yet, the relationship between picky eating and nutrient intake in school-aged children has not been established previously. This study aimed to investigate the sociodemographic determinants of picky eating and the associations between picky eating and dietary intake in children. Data of 424 healthy Saudi children aged 6–12 years were collected from their mothers. A child’s picky eating habits were captured using a validated questionnaire. Sociodemographic characteristics of the children were assessed. Dietary data, including 24 h dietary recalls and frequency of fruit, vegetable, and milk consumption, were collected by dietetic professionals using phone-administered interviews. Compared to those of normal-weight mothers, children of mothers with obesity had higher odds of being in the highest tertile of picky eating (OR = 1.93; 95% CI 1.02, 3.63). Children exhibiting higher levels of picky eating consumed less fruits (B = −0.03; 95% CI −0.06, −0.01), vegetables (B = −0.05; 95% CI −0.07, −0.02), and protein (B = −0.21; 95% CI −0.33, −0.09), and had higher consumption of trans fatty acid intake (B = 1.10; 95% CI 0.06, 2.15). Children with higher levels of picky eating presented unhealthy dietary behaviors. Future studies are needed to examine the long-term effect of picky eating on cardiovascular health. Dietary behaviors of mothers with obesity must be taken into consideration when designing intervention programs aiming to improve eating behaviors of children.

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Multidisciplinary Evidence to Treat Bilingual Individuals with Aphasia

Perspectives on Communication Disorders and Sciences in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Populations ◽

10.1044/cds15.3.66 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. 66-72 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

José G. Centeno

Keyword(s):

Stroke Rehabilitation ◽

Culturally Diverse ◽

Treatment Strategies ◽

The United States ◽

Intervention Strategies ◽

Steady Increase ◽

Clinical Procedures ◽

Bilingual Speakers ◽

Aphasic Clients

Abstract The steady increase in linguistic and cultural diversity in the country, including the number of bilingual speakers, has been predicted to continue. Minorities are expected to be the majority by 2042. Strokes, the third leading cause of death and the leading cause of long-term disability in the U.S., are quite prevalent in racial and ethnic minorities, so population estimates underscore the imperative need to develop valid clinical procedures to serve the predicted increase in linguistically and culturally diverse bilingual adults with aphasia in post-stroke rehabilitation. Bilingualism is a complex phenomenon that interconnects culture, cognition, and language; thus, as aphasia is a social phenomenon, treatment of bilingual aphasic persons would benefit from conceptual frameworks that exploit the culture-cognition-language interaction in ways that maximize both linguistic and communicative improvement leading to social re-adaptation. This paper discusses a multidisciplinary evidence-based approach to develop ecologically-valid treatment strategies for bilingual aphasic individuals. Content aims to spark practitioners' interest to explore conceptually broad intervention strategies beyond strictly linguistic domains that would facilitate linguistic gains, communicative interactions, and social functioning. This paper largely emphasizes Spanish-English individuals in the United States. Practitioners, however, are advised to adapt the proposed principles to the unique backgrounds of other bilingual aphasic clients.

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Creativity in Sociocultural Systems

The Oxford Handbook of Group Creativity and Innovation ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190648077.013.16 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 269-284

Author(s):

Dean Keith Simonton

Keyword(s):

Macro Level ◽

Historical Overview ◽

Creative Activity ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Individual Level ◽

Short And Long Term ◽

The Cross ◽

Sociocultural Systems

Although psychologists typically see creativity as an individual-level event, sociologists and cultural anthropologists are more likely to view it as a sociocultural phenomenon. This phenomenon takes place at the level of relatively large and enduring collectives, such as cultures, nations, and even whole civilizations. This chapter reviews the extensive research on such macro-level creativity. The review begins with a historical overview before turning to the cross-sectional research on the creative Ortgeist, a subject that encompasses the factors that influence the relative creativity of both preliterate cultures and entire modern nations. From there the chapter turns to role of the Zeitgeist in affecting the creativity of civilizations across time—the rise and fall of creative activity. This research examines both quantitative and qualitative causes that operate both short- and long-term.

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Socially transmitted food preferences can be used to study long-term memory in rats

Animal Learning & Behavior ◽

10.3758/bf03195978 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 31 (2) ◽

pp. 160-164 ◽

Cited By ~ 39

Author(s):

Bennett G. Galef ◽

Elaine E. Whiskin

Keyword(s):

Food Preferences ◽

Long Term Memory ◽

Term Memory

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Oral Sensitivity to Flowability and Food Neophobia Drive Food Preferences and Choice

Foods ◽

10.3390/foods10051024 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 1024

Author(s):

Sharon Puleo ◽

Paolo Masi ◽

Silvana Cavella ◽

Rossella Di Monaco

Keyword(s):

Food Choice ◽

Food Preferences ◽

Food Neophobia ◽

Individual Level ◽

Choice Preference ◽

Food Liking ◽

Texture Sensitivity ◽

The Individual ◽

Oral Sensitivity

The study aimed to investigate the role of sensitivity to flowability on food liking and choice, the relationship between sensitivity to flowability and food neophobia, and its role in food liking. Five chocolate creams were prepared with different levels of flowability, and rheological measurements were performed to characterise them. One hundred seventy-six subjects filled in the Food Neophobia Scale and a food choice questionnaire (FCq). The FCq was developed to evaluate preferences within a pair of food items similar in flavour but different in texture. Secondly, the subjects evaluated their liking for creams (labelled affective magnitude (LAM) scale) and the flowability intensity (generalised labelled magnitude (gLM) scale). The subjects were clustered into three groups of sensitivity and two groups of choice preference. The effect of individual flowability sensitivity on food choice was investigated. Finally, the subjects were clustered into two groups according to their food neophobia level. The sensitivity to flowability significantly affected the liking of chocolate creams and the solid food choice. The liking of chocolate creams was also affected by the individual level of neophobia (p = 0.01), which, in turn, was not correlated to flowability sensitivity. These results confirm that texture sensitivity and food neophobia affect what a person likes and drives what a person chooses to eat.

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Public acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines: cross-national evidence on levels and individual-level predictors using observational data

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2020-048172 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. e048172

Author(s):

Marie Fly Lindholt ◽

Frederik Jørgensen ◽

Alexander Bor ◽

Michael Bang Petersen

Keyword(s):

Health Communication ◽

Herd Immunity ◽

Geographical Location ◽

Vaccine Acceptance ◽

Total N ◽

Individual Level ◽

Health Authorities ◽

Personal Consequences ◽

Western Democracies

ObjectivesThe management of the COVID-19 pandemic hinges on the approval of safe and effective vaccines but, equally importantly, on high vaccine acceptance among people. To facilitate vaccine acceptance via effective health communication, it is key to understand levels of vaccine scepticism and the demographic, psychological and political predictors. To this end, we examine the levels and predictors of acceptance of an approved COVID-19 vaccine.Design, setting and participantsWe examine the levels and predictors of acceptance of an approved COVID-19 vaccine in large online surveys from eight Western democracies that differ in terms of the severity of the pandemic and their response: Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Sweden, Italy, UK and USA (total N=18 231). Survey respondents were quota sampled to match the population margins on age, gender and geographical location for each country. The study was conducted from September 2020 to February 2021, allowing us to assess changes in acceptance and predictors as COVID-19 vaccine programmes were rolled out.Outcome measureThe outcome of the study is self-reported acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine approved and recommended by health authorities.ResultsThe data reveal large variations in vaccine acceptance that ranges from 83% in Denmark to 47% in France and Hungary. Lack of vaccine acceptance is associated with lack of trust in authorities and scientists, conspiratorial thinking and a lack of concern about COVID-19.ConclusionMost national levels of vaccine acceptance fall below estimates of the required threshold for herd immunity. The results emphasise the long-term importance of building trust in preparations for health emergencies such as the current pandemic. For health communication, the results emphasise the importance of focusing on personal consequences of infections and debunking of myths to guide communication strategies.

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Analyzing Individual-Level Secondary Data with Instrumental Variable Methods Is Useful for Studying the Effects of Air Pollution on Dementia

Journal of Alzheimer s Disease ◽

10.3233/jad-200497 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 79 (1) ◽

pp. 15-23

Author(s):

Kelly C. Bishop ◽

Sehba Husain-Krautter ◽

Jonathan D. Ketcham ◽

Nicolai V. Kuminoff ◽

Corbett Schimming

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Instrumental Variable ◽

Secondary Data ◽

Quality Data ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Individual Level ◽

Medicare Claims Data ◽

Advance Knowledge ◽

Air Quality Data

We hypothesize that analyzing individual-level secondary data with instrumental variable (IV) methods can advance knowledge of the long-term effects of air pollution on dementia. We discuss issues in measurement using secondary data and how IV estimation can overcome biases due to measurement error and unmeasured variables. We link air-quality data from the Environmental Protection Agency’s monitors with Medicare claims data to illustrate the use of secondary data to document associations. Additionally, we describe results from a previous study that uses an IV for pollution and finds that PM2.5’s effects on dementia are larger than non-causal associations.

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Does workplace social capital protect against long-term sickness absence? Linking workplace aggregated social capital to sickness absence registry data

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1177/1403494817721672 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 46 (3) ◽

pp. 290-296 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Anne-Sophie K. Hansen ◽

Ida E. H. Madsen ◽

Sannie Vester Thorsen ◽

Ole Melkevik ◽

Jakob Bue Bjørner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Capital ◽

Private Sector ◽

Sickness Absence ◽

Collective Good ◽

Standard Deviation Increase ◽

Individual Level ◽

The Individual ◽

Adjusted Model ◽

Workplace Social Capital

Aims: Most previous prospective studies have examined workplace social capital as a resource of the individual. However, literature suggests that social capital is a collective good. In the present study we examined whether a high level of workplace aggregated social capital (WASC) predicts a decreased risk of individual-level long-term sickness absence (LTSA) in Danish private sector employees. Methods: A sample of 2043 employees (aged 18–64 years, 38.5% women) from 260 Danish private-sector companies filled in a questionnaire on workplace social capital and covariates. WASC was calculated by assigning the company-averaged social capital score to all employees of each company. We derived LTSA, defined as sickness absence of more than three weeks, from a national register. We examined if WASC predicted employee LTSA using multilevel survival analyses, while excluding participants with LTSA in the three months preceding baseline. Results: We found no statistically significant association in any of the analyses. The hazard ratio for LTSA in the fully adjusted model was 0.93 (95% CI 0.77–1.13) per one standard deviation increase in WASC. When using WASC as a categorical exposure we found a statistically non-significant tendency towards a decreased risk of LTSA in employees with medium WASC (fully adjusted model: HR 0.78 (95% CI 0.48–1.27)). Post hoc analyses with workplace social capital as a resource of the individual showed similar results. Conclusions: WASC did not predict LTSA in this sample of Danish private-sector employees.

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