title: The relationship between appetite and food preferences in British and Australian children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Appetitive traits and food preferences are key determinants of children's eating patterns but it is unclear how these behaviours relate to one another. This study explores relationships between appetitive traits and preferences for fruits and vegetables, and energy dense, nutrient poor (noncore) foods in two distinct samples of Australian and British preschool children.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study reports secondary analyses of data from families participating in the British GEMINI cohort study (n = 1044) and the control arm of the Australian NOURISH RCT (n = 167). Food preferences were assessed by parent-completed questionnaire when children were aged 3-4 years and grouped into three categories; vegetables, fruits and noncore foods. Appetitive traits; enjoyment of food, food responsiveness, satiety responsiveness, slowness in eating, and food fussiness were measured using the Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire when children were 16 months (GEMINI) or 3-4 years (NOURISH). Relationships between appetitive traits and food preferences were explored using adjusted linear regression analyses that controlled for demographic and anthropometric covariates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Vegetable liking was positively associated with enjoyment of food (GEMINI; β = 0.20 ± 0.03, p < 0.001, NOURISH; β = 0.43 ± 0.07, p < 0.001) and negatively related to satiety responsiveness (GEMINI; β = -0.19 ± 0.03, p < 0.001, NOURISH; β = -0.34 ± 0.08, p < 0.001), slowness in eating (GEMINI; β = -0.10 ± 0.03, p = 0.002, NOURISH; β = -0.30 ± 0.08, p < 0.001) and food fussiness (GEMINI; β = -0.30 ± 0.03, p < 0.001, NOURISH; β = -0.60 ± 0.06, p < 0.001). Fruit liking was positively associated with enjoyment of food (GEMINI; β = 0.18 ± 0.03, p < 0.001, NOURISH; β = 0.36 ± 0.08, p < 0.001), and negatively associated with satiety responsiveness (GEMINI; β = -0.13 ± 0.03, p < 0.001, NOURISH; β = -0.24 ± 0.08, p = 0.003), food fussiness (GEMINI; β = -0.26 ± 0.03, p < 0.001, NOURISH; β = -0.51 ± 0.07, p < 0.001) and slowness in eating (GEMINI only; β = -0.09 ± 0.03, p = 0.005). Food responsiveness was unrelated to liking for fruits or vegetables in either sample but was positively associated with noncore food preference (GEMINI; β = 0.10 ± 0.03, p = 0.001, NOURISH; β = 0.21 ± 0.08, p = 0.010).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Appetitive traits linked with lower obesity risk were related to lower liking for fruits and vegetables, while food responsiveness, a trait linked with greater risk of overweight, was uniquely associated with higher liking for noncore foods.
authors.affiliation: Health Behaviour Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.|Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.|Department of Primary Care and Public Health Sciences, King's College London, Capital House, 42 Weston Street, London, SE1 3QD, UK.
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fildes
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.|School of Psychology, Australian Catholic University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Kimberley M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Mallan
authors.affiliation: Health Behaviour Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Lucy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cooke
authors.affiliation: Health Behaviour Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.|Department of Primary Care and Public Health Sciences, King's College London, Capital House, 42 Weston Street, London, SE1 3QD, UK.
authors.forename: Cornelia H M
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: van Jaarsveld
authors.affiliation: Health Behaviour Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Clare H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Llewellyn
authors.affiliation: Health Behaviour Research Centre, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: Abigail
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. l2.daniels@qut.edu.au.
authors.forename: Lynne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Daniels
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001066:Appetite / Q000502:physiology*; D001315:Australia; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000502:physiology*; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D012527:Satiation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom; D014675:Vegetables