From Carrots to Peas and Parsnips: Programming Flexibility through Guided Multisensory Exploration in an Early Childhood Environment

Early childhood interventions that include food tasting have assessed factors affecting food preferences. In the U.S., Cooperative Extension programs teach children through sensory experiences. However such interventions have not been empirically tested. The aim of Massachusetts Farm Fresh was to assess the feasibility of a multisensory‐based research approach to vegetable familiarization with 3–5 year old children in an early childhood education environment. Outcome measures quantified the shifts from baseline to follow‐up in children's (1) willingness‐to‐explore (WTE) scores, determined with a 5‐category rating scale (0–4; 0=no engagement, examined, smelled, licked, 4=swallowed 1≥ bites), (2) willingness‐to‐try rating scale, WRS (examined, licked only, spit out), and (3) consumption in grams (gm). Ten classrooms across 6 Head Start sites were selected for the 7‐week study. Four classrooms were assigned to a puppet‐guided (PG) intervention (n=90 children) and six comprised the facilitator‐guided (FG) counterpart (n=94 children). Eight vegetables were chosen for their diverse sensory qualities and pairings were created based on similarities in shape, texture, and growth pattern: [green bean‐sugar snap pea (pods), broccoli‐cauliflower (tree), beet‐radish (root), and carrot‐parsnip (long root)]. Using the USDA Nutrient Database (NDB) criteria (≥4.0g of sugar/100 gm) “sweet” tasting vegetables included carrots, parsnip, beets and snap peas. Grounded in the Social Cognitive Theory and incorporating the play approach, during 4 weekly PG sessions, two farm animal puppets together explored one vegetable (e.g. green beans) with their senses. Immediately following, one puppet guided the children through sensory exploration of the other vegetable in that pair (e.g. peas). In the weekly FG sessions, trained facilitators introduced the same lesson plans as in the PG sessions. At baseline and follow‐up, vegetables were offered raw (56.0 g serving; 7.0 g/vegetable). Pre‐post WTE, WRS, and consumption data were collected and analyzed using SAS, with descriptive statistics, paired‐t tests and ANCOVA. Among those with complete pre‐post data (n=60 PG; n=50 FG), PG children increased intakes (gm) for peas (1.32±0.26 vs. 2.03±0.36; p=0.04), and parsnips (1.31±0.24 vs. 2.06±0.35; p=0.04). FG children increased intake for carrots (pre: 2.45+0.39 vs. post: 3.49+0.43; p=0.013) and radishes (0.90+0.22 vs. 1.45+0.29; p=0.023). At follow‐up, both PG and FG children improved from 0 to 1 on the WTE scale (PG: p=0.031; FG: p=0.027), with more FG children receiving the highest exploration rating of 4 (48% vs. 54%; p=0.042). Compared to PG, the FG children had higher intakes from the sweet‐taste category (pre 7.41±0.82 vs. post 9.75 ±1.14; p=0.02 vs. PG: pre 3.47±0.17 vs. 6.43±0.23; p=0.009). Children from both groups showed interest in exploring those vegetables which they initially were hesitant to explore/try. PG children showed greater flexibility in willingness to consume distinct taxonomical types evidenced by increased consumption from “pods” and “roots”. FG children showed increases but were limited from within one taxonomical type (root). A multisensory‐based approach to vegetable familiarization is feasible in an early childhood environment. Such interventions should optimize flexibility by incorporating taxonomically diverse vegetables and visually engaging children with a wide range of “shapes”. Support or Funding Information This work was funded by USDA‐NIFA HATCH GRANT MAS009.