Hand motor skills affect the intake of finger foods in toddlers (12–18 months)

Food oral processing and eating behavior from infancy to childhood: evidence on the role of food texture in the development of healthy eating behavior

Eating behaviors develop in early life and refine during childhood, shaping long-term food choice and dietary habits, which underpin optimum growth and health. The development of Food Oral Processing (FOP) is of major importance in the establishment of eating behaviors at two scale levels: for the initial acceptance of food texture and for the longer-term development of eating behaviors associated to food intake. To date, both processes have been studied as independent topics and the current review proposes a parallel vision on their development from the onset of complementary feeding to later childhood. Individual factors affecting these FOP-related behaviors as they relate to food texture acceptance are discussed, alongside examples of interventions aiming at modifying them. Opportunity to better consider food textures when designing foods for children is addressed. Altogether, the review demonstrates the critical role of food texture in the development of a child's FOP skills, eating habits, and dietary patterns. These scientific knowledges need to be considered for the development of healthier eating behavior. We identify research gaps that need to be addressed and highlight the need to design foods that can support the development of healthy oral processing and eating behaviors among infants and children.

A review on children's oral texture perception and preferences in foods

Texture properties of foods are particular drivers for food acceptance and rejection in children. The texture preferences follow the developmental progression of the child and these changes modulate the present and future food habits. This paper reviews the development and factors influencing texture preferences in children and the methods in food texture research with children. The child's acceptance of more complex food textures is age-dependent. The progression is indorsed by the development of oral processing skills at an early age and bolstered by repeated exposures to foods with varying textures. Children generally reject foods containing pieces or bits (i.e., geometrical textural properties); however, the impact of mechanical textural properties on food acceptance is less clear. Child characteristics such as food neophobia, picky eating, and tactile over-responsivity, negatively affect the acceptance of more diverse food textures. Depending on the child's age, the prevailing methods of characterizing food texture preferences in children include observational techniques and self-reported questionnaires. Despite knowledge of children's development of masticatory skills, learning, and cognitive abilities, the relationships of these changes to food texture acceptance and the recommended test methodology for evaluating product texture acceptance in this period of life are still limited.

Does social modeling increase infants' willingness to accept unfamiliar foods?

Despite a rich knowledge base about infants' social learning and studies observing social referencing in other species in food contexts, we know surprisingly little about social learning about food among human infants. This gap in the literature is particularly surprising considering that feeding unfamiliar foods to infants is a very common experience as infants begin to eat solid foods. The present study examines whether parental social modeling influences infants' willingness to accept unfamiliar foods. In two Zoom sessions, parents will be asked to feed unfamiliar foods to their 6- to 24-month-old infants (different unfamiliar foods in each session). In both sessions, infants' food acceptance and rejection will be measured. In the first session, parents will be asked to do what they would typically do; spontaneous social modeling will be recorded. In the second session, parents will be instructed to model eating the unfamiliar food. We will examine associations between infants' willingness to eat unfamiliar foods, parent social modeling, and extant parent and infant characteristics.

Factors Associated With Food Texture Acceptance in 4- to 36-Month-Old French Children: Findings From a Survey Study

Food texture plays an important role in food acceptance by young children, especially during the complementary feeding period. The factors driving infant acceptance of a variety of food textures are not well-known. This study summarizes maternal reports of children's ability to eat foods of different textures (here: acceptance) and associated factors. Mothers of 4- to 36-month-old children (n = 2,999) answered an online survey listing 188 food-texture combinations representing three texture levels: purees (T1), soft small pieces (T2), hard/large pieces, and double textures (T3). For each offered combination, they reported whether it was spat out or eaten with or without difficulty by the child. A global food texture acceptance score (TextAcc) was calculated for each child as an indicator of their ability to eat the offered textured foods. The results were computed by age class from 4-5 to 30-36 months. The ability to eat foods without difficulty increased with age and was ranked as follows: T1> T2 > T3 at all ages. TextAcc was positively associated with exposure to T2 (in the age classes between 6 and 18 months old) and T3 (6-29 months) and negatively associated with exposure to T1 (9-36 months). Children's developmental characteristics, as well as maternal feeding practices and feelings with regard to the introduction of solids, were associated with texture acceptance either directly or indirectly by modulating exposure. Children's ability to eat with their fingers, gagging frequency, and to a lesser extent, dentition as well as maternal feelings with regard to the introduction of solids were the major factors associated with acceptance. This survey provides a detailed description of the development of food texture acceptance over the complementary feeding period, confirms the importance of exposure to a variety of textures and identifies a number of additional person-related associated factors.

Fostering infant food texture acceptance: A pilot intervention promoting food texture introduction between 8 and 15 months

Healthy infant feeding practices form the basis of healthy eating behaviour later in life. The effect of providing parents with recommendations on textured food introduction between 8 and 15 months on children's experience with and acceptance of textured foods was studied. Sixty parent/child dyads were randomly assigned to a control group (CG) receiving current French recommendations and an intervention group (IG) receiving a brochure with supplementary advice, tips and monthly counselling on food texture introduction. After the intervention, parents completed self-report measures about the introduction of 188 food items, including purees, soft/small pieces, hard/large pieces and double textures. Children's acceptance of eight textured foods was assessed in a laboratory setting. Parents in the IG introduced more soft/small food pieces (P = 0.004) but not more complex textures (P = 0.15). There was no group difference in children acceptance for any of the textured foods offered in the laboratory. Independent of their study group, children's exposure to texture was associated with birth order, self-feeding with fingers, low gagging frequency and seldom use of commercial baby foods. Higher acceptance was associated with higher exposure to food pieces but not to pureed foods (either smooth or rough) and with children's eating behavioural traits (high food enjoyment, high food responsiveness and low food fussiness). This pilot intervention demonstrated that providing information can be effective in promoting the introduction of small and soft food pieces, but the most effective way to influence the introduction of more challenging textures (hard pieces and double texture) is uncertain. Further research should focus on the identification of barriers to complex texture introduction and on how building on this knowledge for a population-based public health intervention.