title: 'Why don't you try it again?' A comparison of parent led, home based interventions aimed at increasing children's consumption of a disliked vegetable.
abstract: Previous research suggests that the use of modelling and non-food rewards may be effective at increasing tasting, and consequential liking and acceptance, of a previously disliked food. Although successful school-based interventions have been developed, there is a lack of research into home-based interventions using these methods. This study aimed to develop and investigate the efficacy of a parent led home-based intervention for increasing children's acceptance of a disliked vegetable. A total of 115 children aged 2-4 years were allocated to one of four intervention groups or to a no-treatment control. The four intervention conditions were: repeated exposure; modelling and repeated exposure; rewards and repeated exposure; or modelling, rewards and repeated exposure. Children in all of the intervention conditions were exposed by a parent to daily offerings of a disliked vegetable for 14 days. Liking and consumption of the vegetable were measured pre and post-intervention. Significant increases in post-intervention consumption were seen in the modelling, rewards and repeated exposure condition and the rewards and repeated exposure condition, compared to the control group. Significant post-intervention differences in liking were also found between the experimental groups. Liking was highest (>60%) in the modelling, rewards and repeated exposure group and the rewards and repeated exposure group, intermediate (>26%) in the modelling and repeated exposure and repeated exposure groups, and lowest in the control group (10%). Parent led interventions based around modelling and offering incentives may present cost efficient ways to increase children's vegetable consumption.
authors.affiliation: Loughborough University, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, UK.
authors.forename: Clare E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Holley
authors.affiliation: Loughborough University, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, UK.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Haycraft
authors.affiliation: Aston University, Birmingham, B4 7ET, UK. Electronic address: c.farrow@aston.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Farrow
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002755:Choice Behavior; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005518:Food Preferences; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016487:Parenting; D010290:Parents; D012201:Reward; D013649:Taste; D014675:Vegetables
keywords: Intervention; Non-food rewards; Parent led; Repeated exposure; Role modelling; Vegetable