Aim
To compare taste exposure, nutrition education and taste exposure plus nutrition education together on intake of an unfamiliar vegetable (mooli/daikon radish) in preschool-aged children.
Objectives
The primary hypothesis was that children would increase intake of an unfamiliar vegetable following intervention relative to control and that taste exposure with nutrition education would enhance intake of the vegetable more than either intervention alone relative to a control.
Summary
Preschools were randomly assigned to one of 4 groups: (1) taste exposure, (2) nutrition education, (3) taste exposure plus nutrition education, or (4) control group (no intervention). The target vegetable was mooli white radish. The intervention was delivered by preschool staff. For taste exposure, the mooli radish was offered in 40g portions for each child, during usual snack time once per week, every week for 10 weeks. For nutrition education, preschool staff were trained to deliver an existing nutrition education program (www.phunkyfoods.com), which promotes learning through purposeful play using classroom play activities, practical food handling/preparation activities, educational classroom displays and parent involvement. For this study, staff were instructed to deliver the Eat Well and Strive for 5! components of the program as often as possible.
Journal article: https://jandonline.org/article/S2212-2672(19)30413-7/fulltext