Kostecka Malgorzata, Kostecka-Jarecka Joanna, Kowal Mariola, Jackowska Izabella
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Food Science and Biotechnology, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, Poland.
Independent Public Healthcare Center in Łęczna, 21-010 Łęczna, Poland.
Children (Basel). 2021 Sep 2;8(9):774. doi: 10.3390/children8090774.
Children develop food preferences by coming into direct contact with various food products through the senses of taste, touch, sight and smell. The aim of this study was to analyze the food preferences of children aged 4 to 6 years and to determine whether age and gender influence children's food preferences and whether the preference for sweet taste changes with age. The study involved a paper questionnaire containing images of 115 different food products and dishes. The respondents expressed their preferences by choosing the appropriate emoji (happy, sad or neutral face). The study was conducted between 2018 and 2020, and it involved 684 children from 10 kindergartens. Girls chose a significantly higher number of foods and dishes they liked than boys ( = 0.002), and 4-year-olds gave a higher number of "neutral" responses than 5- and 6-year-olds ( = 0.001). Dietary diversity increased with age, and younger children were familiar with fewer foods than 6-year-olds ( = 0.002). Children had a clear preference for sweet taste, regardless of age and gender. Young children (4-year-olds) were more likely to accept healthy foods despite the fact that they were familiar with fewer products and dishes.
儿童通过味觉、触觉、视觉和嗅觉等感官直接接触各种食品来形成食物偏好。本研究的目的是分析4至6岁儿童的食物偏好，确定年龄和性别是否会影响儿童的食物偏好，以及对甜味的偏好是否会随年龄变化。该研究采用了一份纸质问卷，其中包含115种不同食品和菜肴的图片。受访者通过选择合适的表情符号（开心、悲伤或中性表情）来表达他们的偏好。该研究在2018年至2020年期间进行，涉及来自10所幼儿园的684名儿童。女孩选择她们喜欢的食物和菜肴的数量明显多于男孩（ = 0.002），4岁儿童给出的“中性”回答数量高于5岁和6岁儿童（ = 0.001）。饮食多样性随年龄增长而增加，幼儿熟悉的食物比6岁儿童少（ = 0.002）。无论年龄和性别，儿童都明显偏好甜味。尽管幼儿（4岁儿童）熟悉的产品和菜肴较少，但他们更有可能接受健康食品。
