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Yonezawa Y, Okame T, Tobiishi N, Tetsuno Y, Sakurai M, Suzuki S, Wada Y. Clusters in Infant Environmental Factors Influence School-Age Children's Vegetable Preferences in Japan. Nutrients 2024; 16:1080. [PMID: 38613112 PMCID: PMC11013265 DOI: 10.3390/nu16071080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2024] [Revised: 03/28/2024] [Accepted: 04/04/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
It remains unclear how the various environmental factors are combined in practice to influence vegetable preferences in school-aged children. This study aimed to clarify the environmental factors during infancy and their association with vegetable preference in school-aged children. To find clusters of early childhood environmental factors, we conducted a factor analysis on 58 items related to early childhood environmental factors and a k-means cluster analysis using the factors obtained. The association of the extracted factors and clusters with vegetable preferences was assessed by multiple regression analysis. Twelve factors relating to vegetable eating, cooking and harvesting experience, and parental attitudes were extracted by factor analysis. Three clusters, "low awareness of experiences", "high awareness" and "low positive encouragement", were then extracted. In the multiple regression analysis, all 12 factors were found to be associated with vegetable preferences. Furthermore, it was found that the "high awareness" group had a significantly higher score for vegetable preference than the "low awareness of experiences" group (β = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.37-0.74). Thus, the study found that environmental factors during infancy, in isolation and combination, influenced vegetable preferences in school-aged children. Assessing the combination of various environmental factors during infancy may contribute to a better understanding of future vegetable preferences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yudai Yonezawa
- Diet & Well-Being Research Institute, KAGOME Co., Ltd., 17 Nishitomiyama, Nasushiobara 329-2762, Japan (S.S.)
| | - Tomoka Okame
- Diet & Well-Being Research Institute, KAGOME Co., Ltd., 17 Nishitomiyama, Nasushiobara 329-2762, Japan (S.S.)
| | - Nozomi Tobiishi
- Tokyo Head Office, KAGOME Co., Ltd., 3 Chome-21-1 Nihonbashihamacho, Tokyo 103-0007, Japan
| | - Yume Tetsuno
- College of Gastronomy Management, Ritsumeikan University, 1 Chome-1-1 Nojihigashi, Kusatsu 525-0058, Japan (Y.W.)
| | - Miho Sakurai
- Graduate School of Gastronomy Management, Ritsumeikan University, 1 Chome-1-1 Nojihigashi, Kusatsu 525-0058, Japan
| | - Shigenori Suzuki
- Diet & Well-Being Research Institute, KAGOME Co., Ltd., 17 Nishitomiyama, Nasushiobara 329-2762, Japan (S.S.)
| | - Yuji Wada
- College of Gastronomy Management, Ritsumeikan University, 1 Chome-1-1 Nojihigashi, Kusatsu 525-0058, Japan (Y.W.)
- Graduate School of Gastronomy Management, Ritsumeikan University, 1 Chome-1-1 Nojihigashi, Kusatsu 525-0058, Japan
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Ilić A, Rumbak I, Brečić R, Colić Barić I, Bituh M. Three-Year School-Based Multicomponent Intervention May Change Fruit and Vegetable Preferences in Primary School Children-A Quasi-Randomized Trial. Nutrients 2023; 15:3505. [PMID: 37630695 PMCID: PMC10457900 DOI: 10.3390/nu15163505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Revised: 08/03/2023] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Preference could be the trigger for fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption in children and could be modified by appropriate intervention to increase the acceptance of FVs. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the effects of the three-year school-based multicomponent intervention "Nutri-školica" on the FV preferences of primary school children. It also aimed to explore whether a positive change in FV preferences could lead to an increase in actual FV consumption. The study was conducted in 14 primary schools from the city of Zagreb on 193 children (52.3% boys; age, 7.7 ± 0.4 years; n = 85 in the control group and n = 108 in the intervention group) who completed a preference questionnaire before and after the intervention with a 5-point hedonic smiley-face scale, where 5 means "I like it a lot." The per-protocol approach was used for data analysis (28.3% of children from the study sample). After the intervention, children in the intervention group (before: 3.1 ± 0.8; after: 3.5 ± 0.8) increased their FV preferences significantly more than children in the control group (before: 3.2 ± 0.8; after: 3.3 ± 0.7). Children's FV preferences changed most toward the varieties for which they had the least preferences at the beginning of the study. Participation in the intervention had a stronger effect on changing FV intake than change in FV preferences among primary school children. In summary, the present study highlighted that a targeted intervention can increase children's FV preferences, but that participation in the intervention is substantial for increasing FV intake.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Ilić
- Department of Food Quality Control, Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, University of Zagreb, Pijerottijeva 6, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; (A.I.); (I.C.B.); (M.B.)
| | - Ivana Rumbak
- Department of Food Quality Control, Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, University of Zagreb, Pijerottijeva 6, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; (A.I.); (I.C.B.); (M.B.)
| | - Ružica Brečić
- Department of Marketing, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, Trg J.F. Kennedy 6, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia;
| | - Irena Colić Barić
- Department of Food Quality Control, Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, University of Zagreb, Pijerottijeva 6, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; (A.I.); (I.C.B.); (M.B.)
| | - Martina Bituh
- Department of Food Quality Control, Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, University of Zagreb, Pijerottijeva 6, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia; (A.I.); (I.C.B.); (M.B.)
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