Consumer Liking of Turnip Cooked by Different Methods: The Influence of Sensory Profile and Consumer Bitter Taste Genotype.

Brassica vegetables are bitter, predominantly because they contain bitter-tasting glucosinolates. Individuals with high bitter taste sensitivity are reported to have lower consumption of bitter vegetables. Studies reported that cooking methods can alter the sensory characteristics of vegetables, increasing acceptability. This study investigated consumer liking of turnip cooked by four methods (boiled-pureed, roasted, steamed-pureed and stir-fried) and related this to sensory characteristics. Additionally, this study examined the effect of the bitter taste genotype on taste perception and liking of the cooked turnip samples. Participants (n = 74) were recruited and the TAS2R38 genotype was measured. Liking, consumption intent, perception of bitterness and sweetness of turnip were evaluated. A sensory profile of the cooked turnip variants was also determined by a trained sensory panel. There were significant differences in the overall (p = 0.001) and taste (p = 0.002) liking between cooking methods. Turnip liking was increased when preparation led to sweeter taste profiles. The TAS2R38 genotype had a significant effect on bitter perception (p = 0.02) but did not significantly affect taste liking. In conclusion, the cooking method affected turnip liking, and the bitter perception in turnip was influenced by the TAS2R38 genotype. However, taste sensitivity did not predict turnip liking in this UK adult cohort.

See and Eat! The impact of repeated exposure to vegetable ebooks on young children's vegetable acceptance.

Vegetable consumption in young children in the UK is well below the recommended five child-sized portions per day. Effective and practical strategies are therefore needed to encourage vegetable consumption in young children. In this exploratory study, we examine the effects of visual familiarization to foods via See & Eat ebooks, which show vegetables on their journey from 'field to fork'. As part of a larger study, in which 242 British families completed a range of measures about their family's eating habits, child's food preferences and potential parent and child predictors of these (Masento et al., 2022), parents were invited to download a See & Eat ebook about a vegetable their child did not eat. Thirty-six families participated in the intervention, looking at the ebook with their child for two weeks and reporting on their child's willingness to taste, intake and liking of the vegetable targeted by the ebook and a matched control vegetable before and after the intervention period. Results showed significant increases in parental ratings of children's acceptance of the target vegetable. Willingness to taste and intake ratings improved for the target vegetable, but not the control vegetable, while liking was reported to increase for both vegetables. These results corroborate previous research demonstrating the benefits of familiarising children with vegetables before they are offered at mealtimes and suggest that ebooks can be added to the set of tools parents can use to support children's vegetable consumption.

Parent, child, and environmental predictors of vegetable consumption in Italian, Polish, and British preschoolers.

This study compared the vegetable intake of preschool children from three European countries [Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom (UK)] and explored the parent, child, and environmental factors that predicted intake in each country. A total of 408 parents of preschoolers (Italy: N = 61, Poland: N = 124, and UK: N = 225; child mean age = 32.2 months, SD = 9.47) completed an online survey comprising a set of standardised questionnaires. For all three countries, the questionnaires included measures of children's vegetable intake (VegFFQ), child eating behaviour (CEBQ-FF), parents' mealtime goals (FMGs), and sociodemographic questions about family background and environment. In the UK and Italy, additional questionnaires were used to assess child temperament (EAS-T) and parents' feeding practices (CFPQ). The results showed that the number of child-sized portions of vegetables consumed per day varied significantly across countries; Polish children consumed the most (∼3 portions) and Italian children the least (∼1.5 portions). Between-country differences were seen in parents' goals for family mealtimes; compared to Italian parents, Polish and UK parents were more motivated to minimise mealtime stress, increase family involvement in meal preparation, and share the same foods with family members. British and Italian parents also adopted different feeding practices; parents in the UK reported more use of healthy modelling behaviours and more use of foods to support their child's emotion regulation. In terms of child factors, Italian children were reported to be more emotional and more sociable than British children. Analyses of the relationships between the parent, child, and environmental factors and children's vegetable intake revealed both similarities and differences between countries. Negative predictors of vegetable intake included child food fussiness in the UK and Poland, child temperament (especially, shyness) in Italy, and the use of food as a reward and child emotionality in the UK. Positive predictors included the parental mealtime goal of 'family involvement' in the UK. These results highlight differences in the extent to which European preschoolers achieve recommended levels of vegetable intake, and in the factors that influence whether they do. The results suggest a need to develop healthy eating interventions that are adopted to meet the specific needs of the countries in which they are implemented.

VeggieSense: A non-taste multisensory exposure technique for increasing vegetable acceptance in young children.

Vegetable consumption falls well below recommended levels for children in the UK. Previous research has found that repeated non-taste sensory exposure over the course of several days increases young children's willingness to touch and taste vegetables. The current study examined the impact of a one-off multisensory non-taste exposure intervention that took place on a single day on children's willingness to taste and intake of the exposed vegetables. Children (N = 110) aged 3- to 4-years-old were assigned to one of three intervention groups or to a control group. Children in all groups participated individually in a single activity session delivered in their nursery. Children in the intervention conditions took part in fun activities that provided either (a) visual exposure, (b) smell and visual exposure, or (c) smell, touch and visual exposure to six raw and prepared vegetables. Children in the control group engaged in a visual exposure activity with non-food items. After the exposure activities, all children were offered the prepared vegetables to eat; their willingness to taste and intake of the vegetables were measured. Results confirmed previous findings of sensory exposure activities increasing children's willingness to taste and intake of vegetables and revealed linear trends in both measures of acceptance with the number of senses engaged; children who took part in smell, touch and visual activities showed the highest level of acceptance. Findings suggest that multisensory exposures are effective in increasing consumption of vegetables in young children and that the effect of sensory exposure to healthy foods may be cumulative, with the more senses engaged prior to offering a food, the better.

Corrigendum: See & Eat! Using E-books to Promote Vegetable Eating Among Preschoolers: Findings From an Italian Sample.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.712416.].

See & Eat! Using E-books to Promote Vegetable Eating Among Preschoolers: Findings From an Italian Sample.

Different strategies have been developed to help parents with introducing new or disliked vegetables. Nonetheless, many parents of preschoolers struggle against children's refusal to eat vegetables. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of e-books in promoting positive attitudes toward vegetables through repeated visual exposures. A total of 61 families with preschoolers joined the See & Eat study and received an e-book about one of two vegetables chosen from a list of 24. Parents provided ratings of children's willingness to taste, intake, and liking of the chosen vegetables before and after reading the e-book; parents also evaluated their children's food fussiness and their agreement with respect to three mealtime goals of the family. Using a 2 (vegetable: target or non-target) × 2 (time: pre-test or post-test) within-subjects analysis, results from 53 families revealed a significant increase in children's willingness to taste, intake, and liking at post-test of both target and non-target vegetables. Following a two-week parent-child e-book reading intervention, children's food fussiness and parents' endorsement of positive mealtime goals slightly but significantly increased. Results suggest that e-books are effective in encouraging healthy eating among preschoolers and that the positive effect of e-book reading can generalize to other vegetables.

The effects of taste sensitivity and repeated taste exposure on children's intake and liking of turnip (Brassica rapa subsp. rapa); a bitter Brassica vegetable.

Low consumption of vegetables in children is a concern around the world, hence approaches aimed at increasing intake are highly relevant. Previous studies have shown that repeated taste exposure is an effective strategy to increase vegetable acceptance. However, few studies have examined the effect of repeated taste exposure on children varying in bitter taste sensitivity. This study investigated the influence of taste genotypes and phenotypes on the effects of repeated taste exposure to a Brassica vegetable. 172 preschool children aged 3-5 years were recruited into this study. Turnip was selected as the target vegetable and parents completed a questionnaire to ensure unfamiliarity. During the intervention, children were exposed to steamed-pureed turnip for 10 days (once/day). Intake and liking were measured before, during and after the intervention, and a follow-up was done 3 months post-intervention. Taste genotypes (TAS2R38 and gustin (CA6) genotypes) and taste phenotypes (PROP taster status and fungiform papillae density) were determined. There was a significant effect of exposure shown by significant increases in intake (p < 0.001) and liking (p = 0.008) post-intervention; however, there were no significant effects of taste genotypes or phenotypes on intake and liking. In summary, repeated taste exposure is confirmed to be a good strategy to increase vegetable acceptance in children, regardless of bitter taste sensitivity.

The Relationship between Glucosinolates and the Sensory Characteristics of Steamed-Pureed Turnip (Brassica Rapa subsp. Rapa L.).

Glucosinolates (GSLs) are phytochemical compounds that can be found in Brassica vegetables. Seven separate batches of steamed-pureed turnip were assessed for GSL content using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and for sensory attributes by sensory profiling (carried out by a trained sensory panel). Twelve individual GSLs, which included 7 aliphatic, 4 indole and 1 arylaliphatic GSL, were identified across all batches. There were significant differences in individual GSL content between batches, with gluconasturtiin as the most abundant GSL. The total GSL content ranged from 16.07 to 44.74 µmol g-1 dry weight (DW). Sensory profiling concluded there were positive correlations between GSLs and bitter taste and negative correlations between GSLs (except glucobrassicanapin) and sweet taste. The batches, which had been purchased across different seasons, all led to cooked turnip that contained substantial levels of GSLs which were subsequently all rated as bitter.

Do Infants With Down Syndrome Show an Early Receptive Language Advantage?

Purpose The study explored longitudinally the course of vocabulary and general language development in a group of infants with Down syndrome (DS) compared to a group of typically developing (TD) infants matched on nonverbal mental ability (NVMA). Method We compared the vocabulary and general language trajectories of the two groups in two ways: (a) at three time points during a 12-month period and (b) at two time points when the groups had made equal progress in NVMA (a period of 6 months for the TD infants vs. 12 months for the infants with DS). Results The TD group had overtaken the DS group on all general language and vocabulary measures by the end of the 12-month period. However, expressive communication and expressive vocabulary were developing at the same rate and level in the two groups when examined over a period in which the two groups were matched in gains in NVMA. Furthermore, the infants with DS showed a receptive language advantage over the TD group; this group's auditory comprehension and receptive vocabulary scores were superior to those of the TD group at both time points when NVMA was accounted for. Conclusion The results shed light on the widely reported discrepancy between expressive and receptive language in individuals with DS. Although infants with DS appear to be developing language skills more slowly than chronological age TD peers, when NVMA is taken into account, infants with DS do not have expressive language delays, and they seem to show a receptive language advantage.

Healthy eating interventions delivered in the family home: A systematic review.

Unhealthy eating habits have long term health implications and can begin at a young age when children still consume the majority of their meals at home. As parents are the principal agents of change in children's eating behaviours, the home environment is the logical location for the delivery of interventions targeting healthy family eating. Despite the recent proliferation of published studies of behaviour-change interventions delivered in the home, there has been little attempt to evaluate what makes such interventions successful. This review provides a systematic evaluation of all healthy eating interventions delivered to families in the home environment to date and seeks to identify the successful elements of these interventions and make recommendations for future work. Thirty nine studies are described, evaluated and synthesised. Results show that evidence- and theory-based interventions tended to be more successful than those that did not report detailed formative or evaluative work although details of theory application were often lacking. Careful analysis of the results did not show any further systematic similarities shared by successful interventions. Recommendations include the need for more clearly theoretically driven interventions, consistent approaches to measuring outcomes and clarity regarding target populations and desired outcomes.

Development of a Parental Feeding Goal Measure: The Family Mealtime Goals Questionnaire.

It is well established that parents' feeding practices predict children's eating behaviors. However, there has been little research into parents' mealtime goals-their desired outcomes for family mealtimes. These goals, and potential conflicts between them, may be important both in explaining parents' feeding practices and improving children's eating behaviors, as health behavior change is more likely to be achieved by programmes and interventions that are aligned with an individual's goals. The objectives of this study were to develop a reliable and valid measure that captures parental mealtime goals, and to describe parents' endorsement of these goals. Online questionnaire methods were used to design and test the Family Mealtime Goals Questionnaire with 1,140 parents and carers of at least one child aged from 1 to 16 years. Exploratory qualitative analysis, Principal Components Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and test-retest analysis (using intraclass correlations) were conducted to establish the psychometric properties of the instrument. An 18-item questionnaire was produced with seven dimensions: stress/conflict avoidance, homemade food, shared family food, family involvement in mealtimes, price, occasional treats, and high/low fat regulation. Some differences were found in the goal structure of parents of children of different ages but stress/conflict avoidance was the most strongly endorsed mealtime goal for all age groups. The Family Mealtime Goals Questionnaire provides a useful measure of parents' feeding motivations. It will facilitate large-scale research into the relationships between parents' feeding goals and practices and could inform the design of more effective healthy eating interventions that target specific feeding goals.

Peas, please! Food familiarization through picture books helps parents introduce vegetables into preschoolers' diets.

Repeated taste exposure is an established means of increasing children's liking and intake of fruit and vegetables. However, parents find it difficult to offer children disliked foods repeatedly, often giving up after a few attempts. Studies show that familiarizing children to fruit and vegetables through picture books can increase their interest in tasting targeted foods. This study explored whether looking at picture books before providing foods to taste improved the outcomes of a home-delivered taste exposure regime. Parents of 127 toddlers (aged 21-24 months) identified two 'target' foods they wanted their child to eat (1 fruit, 1 vegetable). Families were randomly assigned to one of three groups. Parents and children in two experimental groups looked at books about either the target fruit or vegetable every day for two weeks; the control group did not receive a book. Parents in all three groups were then asked to offer their child both target foods every day during a 2-week taste-exposure phase. Parental ratings of children's liking and consumption of the foods were collected at baseline, immediately following taste-exposure (post-intervention), and 3 months later (follow-up). In all groups, liking of both foods increased following taste exposure and remained above baseline at follow-up (all ps < .001). In addition, compared to the control group who experienced only taste exposure, looking at vegetable books enhanced children's liking of their target vegetable post-intervention (p < .001) and at follow-up (p < .05), and increased consumption of the vegetable at follow-up (p < .01). Exposure to vegetable books was also associated with smaller increases in neophobia and food fussiness over the period of the study compared to controls (ps < .01), suggesting that picture books may have positive, long-term impacts on children's attitudes towards new foods.

Longitudinal predictors of early language in infants with Down syndrome: A preliminary study.

PURPOSE: Children with Down syndrome (DS) typically have marked delays in language development relative to their general cognitive development, with particular difficulties in expressive compared to receptive language. Although early social communication skills, including gestures and joint attention, have been shown to be related to later language outcomes in DS, knowledge is limited as to whether these factors exclusively predict outcomes, or whether other factors (e.g. perceptual and non-verbal skills) are involved. This study addressed this question. METHOD: Longitudinal data for a group of infants with DS (n = 14) and a group of typically-developing (TD) infants (n = 35) were collected on measures that have been shown to predict language in TD infants and/or those with developmental delays. These included: non-verbal mental ability, speech segmentation skills, and early social communication skills (initiating and responding to joint attention, initiating behavioural requests). RESULTS: Linear regression analyses showed that speech segmentation and initiating joint attention were the strongest predictors of later language in the TD group, whereas non-verbal mental ability and responding to joint attention were the strongest predictors of later language for infants with DS. CONCLUSIONS: Speech segmentation ability may not determine language outcomes in DS, and language acquisition may be more constrained by social communication and general cognitive skills.

Listening while reading promotes word learning from stories.

Reading and listening to stories fosters vocabulary development. Studies of single word learning suggest that new words are more likely to be learned when both their oral and written forms are provided, compared with when only one form is given. This study explored children's learning of phonological, orthographic, and semantic information about words encountered in a story context. A total of 71 children (8- and 9-year-olds) were exposed to a story containing novel words in one of three conditions: (a) listening, (b) reading, or (c) simultaneous listening and reading ("combined" condition). Half of the novel words were presented with a definition, and half were presented without a definition. Both phonological and orthographic learning were assessed through recognition tasks. Semantic learning was measured using three tasks assessing recognition of each word's category, subcategory, and definition. Phonological learning was observed in all conditions, showing that phonological recoding supported the acquisition of phonological forms when children were not exposed to phonology (the reading condition). In contrast, children showed orthographic learning of the novel words only when they were exposed to orthographic forms, indicating that exposure to phonological forms alone did not prompt the establishment of orthographic representations. Semantic learning was greater in the combined condition than in the listening and reading conditions. The presence of the definition was associated with better performance on the semantic subcategory and definition posttests but not on the phonological, orthographic, or category posttests. Findings are discussed in relation to the lexical quality hypothesis and the availability of attentional resources.

How Infants and Young Children Learn About Food: A Systematic Review.

Early childhood is a critical time for establishing food preferences and dietary habits. In order for appropriate advice to be available to parents and healthcare professionals it is essential for researchers to understand the ways in which children learn about foods. This review summarizes the literature relating to the role played by known developmental learning processes in the establishment of early eating behavior, food preferences and general knowledge about food, and identifies gaps in our knowledge that remain to be explored. A systematic literature search identified 48 papers exploring how young children learn about food from the start of complementary feeding to 36 months of age. The majority of the papers focus on evaluative components of children's learning about food, such as their food preferences, liking and acceptance. A smaller number of papers focus on other aspects of what and how children learn about food, such as a food's origins or appropriate eating contexts. The review identified papers relating to four developmental learning processes: (1) Familiarization to a food through repeated exposure to its taste, texture or appearance. This was found to be an effective technique for learning about foods, especially for children at the younger end of our age range. (2) Observational learning of food choice. Imitation of others' eating behavior was also found to play an important role in the first years of life. (3) Associative learning through flavor-nutrient and flavor-flavor learning (FFL). Although the subject of much investigation, conditioning techniques were not found to play a major role in shaping the food preferences of infants in the post-weaning and toddler periods. (4) Categorization of foods. The direct effects of the ability to categorize foods have been little studied in this age group. However, the literature suggests that what infants are willing to consume depends on their ability to recognize items on their plate as familiar exemplars of that food type.

Exposure to foods' non-taste sensory properties. A nursery intervention to increase children's willingness to try fruit and vegetables.

Activities that engage young children with the sensory properties of foods are popular with nursery schools, despite the lack of evidence for their efficacy in increasing children's consumption of healthy foods. This study provides the first empirical exploration of the effectiveness of a non-taste sensory activity program in a nursery school setting. Ninety-two children aged between 12 and 36 months were allocated either to an intervention group, who took part in looking, listening, feeling and smelling activities with unusual fruits and vegetables every day for 4 weeks, or to a non-intervention control group. In a subsequent mealtime taste test, children touched and tasted more of the vegetables to which they had been familiarized in their playtime activities than of a matched set of non-exposed foods. The results demonstrate that hands-on activities with unfamiliar fruits and vegetables can enhance children's willingness to taste these foods, and confirm the potential for such activities to support healthy eating initiatives.

Effects of action observation on corticospinal excitability: Muscle specificity, direction, and timing of the mirror response.

Many human behaviours and pathologies have been attributed to the putative mirror neuron system, a neural system that is active during both the observation and execution of actions. While there are now a very large number of papers on the mirror neuron system, variations in the methods and analyses employed by researchers mean that the basic characteristics of the mirror response are not clear. This review focuses on three important aspects of the mirror response, as measured by modulations in corticospinal excitability: (1) muscle specificity; (2) direction; and (3) timing of modulation. We focus mainly on electromyographic (EMG) data gathered following single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), because this method provides precise information regarding these three aspects of the response. Data from paired-pulse TMS paradigms and peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) are also considered when we discuss the possible mechanisms underlying the mirror response. In this systematic review of the literature, we examine the findings of 85 TMS and PNS studies of the human mirror response, and consider the limitations and advantages of the different methodological approaches these have adopted in relation to discrepancies between their findings. We conclude by proposing a testable model of how action observation modulates corticospinal excitability in humans. Specifically, we propose that action observation elicits an early, non-specific facilitation of corticospinal excitability (at around 90ms from action onset), followed by a later modulation of activity specific to the muscles involved in the observed action (from around 200ms). Testing this model will greatly advance our understanding of the mirror mechanism and provide a more stable grounding on which to base inferences about its role in human behaviour.

Let's look at leeks! Picture books increase toddlers' willingness to look at, taste and consume unfamiliar vegetables.

Repeatedly looking at picture books about fruits and vegetables with parents enhances young children's visual preferences toward the foods in the book (Houston-Price et al., 2009a) and influences their willingness to taste these foods (Houston-Price et al., 2009b). This article explores whether the effects of picture book exposure are affected by infants' initial familiarity with and liking for the foods presented. In two experiments parents of 19- to 26-month-old toddlers were asked to read a picture book about a liked, disliked or unfamiliar fruit or vegetable with their child every day for 2 weeks. The impact of the intervention on both infants' visual preferences and their eating behavior was determined by the initial status of the target food, with the strongest effects for foods that were initially unfamiliar. Most strikingly, toddlers consumed more of the unfamiliar vegetable they had seen in their picture book than of a matched control vegetable. Results confirm the potential for picture books to play a positive role in encouraging healthy eating in young children.

Once upon a time, there was a fabulous funambulist : what children learn about the "high-level" vocabulary they encounter while listening to stories.

Previous research has shown that listening to stories supports vocabulary growth in preschool and school-aged children and that lexical entries for even very difficult or rare words can be established if these are defined when they are first introduced. However, little is known about the nature of the lexical representations children form for the words they encounter while listening to stories, or whether these are sufficiently robust to support the child's own use of such "high-level" vocabulary. This study explored these questions by administering multiple assessments of children's knowledge about a set of newly-acquired vocabulary. Four- and six-year-old children were introduced to nine difficult new words (including nouns, verbs and adjectives) through three exposures to a story read by their class teacher. The story included a definition of each new word at its first encounter. Learning of the target vocabulary was assessed by means of two tests of semantic understanding-a forced choice picture-selection task and a definition production task-and a grammaticality judgment task, which asked children to choose between a syntactically-appropriate and syntactically-inappropriate usage of the word. Children in both age groups selected the correct pictorial representation and provided an appropriate definition for the target words in all three word classes significantly more often than they did for a matched set of non-exposed control words. However, only the older group was able to identify the syntactically-appropriate sentence frames in the grammaticality judgment task. Further analyses elucidate some of the components of the lexical representations children lay down when they hear difficult new vocabulary in stories and how different tests of word knowledge might overlap in their assessment of these components.