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Cited by 60Child Nutrition and Feeding IssuesNutrition, Health and Food BehaviorSensory Analysis and Statistical Methods

Taste the feeling or feel the tasting: Tactile exposure to food texture promotes food acceptance

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Nederkoorn, Chantal, Theiβen, Julia, Tummers, Michelle, Roefs, Anne·2018·Appetite
DOI 10.1016/j.appet.2017.09.010
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Abstract

The texture of food can be a reason why children reject it: It matters if food is crispy, slimy, smooth or has pips and bits in it. In general, mere exposure is the best method to increase acceptance of food: becoming more familiar with a food by repeated exposure increases liking for it. However, exposure to texture can be difficult, as children can be reluctant to try tasting it. In the current study, it is tested if acceptance of a food with a specific texture is improved after exposure to the feel of it, with hands only. Sixty-six children (between 3 and 10 years old) were randomly assigned to either the exposure or control condition. In the exposure condition, children played with an colourless and odourless jelly with their hands and in the control group, children played a board game. Afterwards, children were asked to taste 3 desserts (in balanced order): smooth strawberry yoghurt, strawberry yoghurt with pieces and strawberry jelly. Results showed that the children in the exposure condition ate specifically more of the jelly dessert - the texture of which they had been pre-exposed to - compared to the children in control condition. No group differences were found for the other two desserts. The results imply that feeling the texture of a food with hands increases the acceptance of food with the same texture. Playing with food with hands seems therefore be a first step in getting familiar with food and might help to increase variety of food intake.

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  • Approaches used to target food neophobia (sensory education, exposure, modelling, prompting) have all shown some effectiveness in improving children's willingness to try new foods.

    “These approaches have all shown some effectiveness in improving children's willingness to try new foods.”

    From Children overcoming picky eating (COPE) - A cluster randomised controlled trial. (2020) · cites this paper as Nederkoorn, Theißen, Tummers, & Roefs, 2018

    The paper’s abstract and discussion report that exposure to food and its sensory properties can increase children’s acceptance or willingness to taste it; its own experiment found greater intake after tactile exposure. The passages do not establish that modelling or prompting are effective, so they do not support the claim that all the listed approaches have shown effectiveness. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • The effectiveness of interventions targeting food neophobia is often limited by individual differences in food approach and avoidance behaviours and by difficulties in encouraging children to experience and tolerate sensory properties of new foods.

    “Nevertheless, the effectiveness of these interventions is often limited by individual differences in food approach and avoidance behaviours and by difficulties in encouraging children to experience and tolerate sensory properties of new foods (Blissett et al., 2016; Nederkoorn et al., 2018).”

    From Children overcoming picky eating (COPE) - A cluster randomised controlled trial. (2020) · cites this paper as Nederkoorn et al., 2018

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  • The exposure effect could explain the finding that food-related mindfulness increased anticipated liking.

    “This finding could be explained by the exposure effect, which has been shown to positively impact on food neophobia (Mustonen, Oerlemans, & Tuorila, 2012; Nederkoorn et al., 2018).”

    From Children overcoming picky eating (COPE) - A cluster randomised controlled trial. (2020) · cites this paper as Nederkoorn et al., 2018

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Authors
Nederkoorn, C., Theiβen, J., Tummers, M., & Roefs, A.
Affiliations
Maastricht University (NL)
Corresponding author
Nederkoorn, Chantal
ORCID
Venue
Appetite
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2018-01
Volume
120
Pages
297-301
ISSN
0195-6663 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.appet.2017.09.010
OpenAlex
W2755717270
Cited by
60
References
33
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 4
FWCI
4.52
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Appetite (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Publications (Maastricht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Sensory Analysis and Statistical Methods
Keywords
food texture, food acceptance, children's eating behavior, food refusal, food familiarity, dietary diversity
MeSH terms
Child, Child Behavior, Child, Preschool, Eating, Female, Food Preferences, Humans, Male, Taste, Taste Perception, Touch Perception

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