Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Health Behaviour Research Centre, University College London, London, UK.
J Hum Nutr Diet. 2013 Oct;26(5):415-20. doi: 10.1111/jhn.12028. Epub 2012 Dec 17.
In a recent study, we showed that nonfood incentives combined with taste exposure increase children's acceptance of vegetables. However, the impact of children's previous experience of receiving food rewards is unknown. The present study investigated whether the experience of food rewards affects responses to an exposure-plus-reward intervention.
One hundred and thirty-seven parents of 4-6-year-old children taking part in an exposure-based intervention study completed an instrumental feeding (IF) questionnaire aiming to assess their use of food rewards. Based on these scores, children were categorised as frequently or rarely instrumentally-fed. Intervention groups were given 12 daily tastes of a target vegetable combined with no reward, a tangible reward, (sticker) or a verbal reward (praise). A no-treatment control group received no tastings. Liking and intake of a target vegetable were measured at baseline and post-intervention.
Irrespective of experience of IF, children in all intervention groups increased liking compared to controls (all P < 0.001) and both reward groups increased intake compared to controls (both P < 0.05). However, in the nonrewarded exposure group, only children with a limited experience with food rewards increased consumption (P < 0.05).
Experience of IF may limit the benefits of 'mere exposure'. However, exposure with nonfood rewards can increase the acceptance of vegetables, regardless of previous experience.
在最近的一项研究中，我们发现非食物奖励与味觉暴露相结合可以提高儿童对蔬菜的接受度。然而，儿童之前接受食物奖励的经验的影响尚不清楚。本研究调查了食物奖励的经验是否会影响暴露加奖励干预的反应。
137 名 4-6 岁儿童的家长参与了一项基于暴露的干预研究，他们完成了一项工具喂养（IF）问卷，旨在评估他们使用食物奖励的情况。根据这些分数，儿童被分为经常或很少接受工具喂养。干预组每天接受 12 次目标蔬菜的味觉体验，同时不给予奖励、给予有形奖励（贴纸）或口头奖励（表扬）。对照组不进行味觉体验。在基线和干预后测量对目标蔬菜的喜爱程度和摄入量。
无论是否有 IF 经验，所有干预组的儿童与对照组相比，喜爱程度都有所增加（均 P < 0.001），奖励组的摄入量均高于对照组（均 P < 0.05）。然而，在无奖励的暴露组中，只有那些有有限食物奖励经验的儿童增加了消费（P < 0.05）。
IF 经验可能会限制“单纯暴露”的益处。然而，即使没有食物奖励，暴露也可以增加对蔬菜的接受度，而不受之前经验的影响。
