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Individual differences in food preference and energy intake among preschool girls
Author(s) -
Rollins Brandi,
Birch Leann
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a318-c
Subject(s) - neophobia , preference , food preference , consumption (sociology) , psychology , demography , environmental health , developmental psychology , medicine , food science , mathematics , biology , statistics , social science , sociology
Limited prior research has revealed that food preferences strongly predict young children's consumption. However, individual differences in the relation between preference and consumption have not been studied. To do this, preference and consumption data were collected from non‐Hispanic white 193 girls, aged 4.6 to 6.4 years. Following a standard lunch, a preference rank‐order assessment was obtained from each child for 10 snack items and energy intake was recorded after girls were allowed free access to the snack foods. Results revealed a positive relation between preference and energy intake, r = .26, indicating that girls tended to eat more of their more preferred foods. Correlations between preference rank and energy intake for individuals ranged from r = −.56 to r = .73. Thus, the girls differed in how strongly preference influenced intake. Differences in personal characteristics such as BMI, pickiness, neophobia, and weight concerns will be assessed to yield further understandin g of the diversity in consumption patterns. Supported by NIH HD32973‐09 and the National Dairy Council.