The effectiveness of using food fun facts to increase acceptance of new menu items among children attending a childcare center: a pilot study

dc.contributor.authorGuthrie, Grace Gibson
dc.date.accessioned2022-11-09T19:51:59Z
dc.date.available2022-11-09T19:51:59Z
dc.date.graduationmonthDecember
dc.date.issued2022
dc.description.abstractBackground: Childhood is a time when healthy habits can be created, but it is also a time when picky eating or unwillingness to try new foods can be a challenge. Exposure to new foods plays an important role in acceptance, and childcare centers have a unique opportunity to provide children with new food experiences. Objective: To test the effectiveness of using exposure in the form of food fun facts to increase acceptance of new menu items among children attending a childcare center. Methods: Fun facts were created to accompany two new childcare center menu items. A randomized crossover design was used to assign eight childcare classrooms to either receive or not receive pre-meal fun facts. Forty-four children were enrolled in the study, and each new menu item was served four times yielding a total of eight observation days. Researchers recorded whether or not the new food was tried during each individual meal observed (N = 289). Analysis: Chi squared analysis was used to compare the rate of food trying between observations that were preceded by the fun facts and those that were not. Results: The rate of food trying was higher (p = .015) among observations preceded by the fun facts (74.4%) compared to the observations that were not preceded by the fun facts (60.8%). Conclusion: Presenting fun facts before introducing news foods led to a higher rate of trying the foods. This finding suggests that fun facts may be a relatively easy and low-cost way of improving new food acceptance.
dc.description.advisorJennifer Hanson
dc.description.degreeMaster of Science
dc.description.departmentDepartment of Food, Nutrition, Dietetics and Health
dc.description.levelMasters
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2097/42824
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherKansas State University
dc.rights.uri© the author. This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
dc.subjectPicky eating
dc.subjectEarly childhood
dc.subjectNutrition
dc.subjectChildcare center
dc.subjectDietary diversity
dc.subjectFun facts
dc.titleThe effectiveness of using food fun facts to increase acceptance of new menu items among children attending a childcare center: a pilot study
dc.typeThesis

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