Visual cues, liking, and emotional responses: what combination of factors result in the willingness to eat vegetables among children with food neophobia?
Childhood nutrition is a cornerstone of long-term health, yet many children exhibit reluctance to consume healthy foods such as vegetables. This aversion can be influenced by various factors, including food neophobia and the sensory and visual appeal of the foods that are being presented. Hence, und...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
2024
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/117036/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/117036/1/117036.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848867148948045824 |
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| author | Tan, Xiaoqin Abdul Shukor, Shureen Faris Kim, Geok Soh |
| author_facet | Tan, Xiaoqin Abdul Shukor, Shureen Faris Kim, Geok Soh |
| author_sort | Tan, Xiaoqin |
| building | UPM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Childhood nutrition is a cornerstone of long-term health, yet many children exhibit reluctance to consume healthy foods such as vegetables. This aversion can be influenced by various factors, including food neophobia and the sensory and visual appeal of the foods that are being presented. Hence, understanding how visual cues affect children’s willingness to eat can provide insights into effective strategies to enhance their dietary habits. This research explores the influence of visual cues on the dietary behaviors of children aged 9 to 12, their willingness to consume and request healthy foods such as vegetables, within the context of challenges such as food neophobia. This study examines how intrinsic cues (e.g., vegetable characteristics) and extrinsic cues (e.g., the plate’s color and shape) affect children’s liking and emotional responses, impacting their willingness to eat and request purchases from parents. Conducted using a sample of 420 children, this cross-sectional study reveals that attributes such as a plate’s color and shape significantly affect food-related behaviors and emotions. A validated and reliable self-administered questionnaire was employed. Independent t-tests and ANOVA were used to test the differences between gender and food neophobia, while Spearman correlations were used for correlation analysis. Visual cues served as the independent variables, liking and emotional responses as the mediating variables, and willingness behaviors as the dependent variable. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to explore the relationships among intrinsic cues, extrinsic cues, and the mediating effect of liking and emotional responses. Findings show that boys prefer blue and triangular plates, while girls prefer pink plates, generating more positive emotions. Children with food neophobia initially experience aversion, but this can be reduced by enhancing sensory appeal and emotional engagement. The findings underscore the importance of leveraging visual cues and fostering positive emotional experiences to encourage healthier eating habits and increase children’s acceptance and purchase of nutritious foods. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T14:31:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | upm-117036 |
| institution | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T14:31:54Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | upm-1170362025-04-23T04:19:08Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/117036/ Visual cues, liking, and emotional responses: what combination of factors result in the willingness to eat vegetables among children with food neophobia? Tan, Xiaoqin Abdul Shukor, Shureen Faris Kim, Geok Soh Childhood nutrition is a cornerstone of long-term health, yet many children exhibit reluctance to consume healthy foods such as vegetables. This aversion can be influenced by various factors, including food neophobia and the sensory and visual appeal of the foods that are being presented. Hence, understanding how visual cues affect children’s willingness to eat can provide insights into effective strategies to enhance their dietary habits. This research explores the influence of visual cues on the dietary behaviors of children aged 9 to 12, their willingness to consume and request healthy foods such as vegetables, within the context of challenges such as food neophobia. This study examines how intrinsic cues (e.g., vegetable characteristics) and extrinsic cues (e.g., the plate’s color and shape) affect children’s liking and emotional responses, impacting their willingness to eat and request purchases from parents. Conducted using a sample of 420 children, this cross-sectional study reveals that attributes such as a plate’s color and shape significantly affect food-related behaviors and emotions. A validated and reliable self-administered questionnaire was employed. Independent t-tests and ANOVA were used to test the differences between gender and food neophobia, while Spearman correlations were used for correlation analysis. Visual cues served as the independent variables, liking and emotional responses as the mediating variables, and willingness behaviors as the dependent variable. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to explore the relationships among intrinsic cues, extrinsic cues, and the mediating effect of liking and emotional responses. Findings show that boys prefer blue and triangular plates, while girls prefer pink plates, generating more positive emotions. Children with food neophobia initially experience aversion, but this can be reduced by enhancing sensory appeal and emotional engagement. The findings underscore the importance of leveraging visual cues and fostering positive emotional experiences to encourage healthier eating habits and increase children’s acceptance and purchase of nutritious foods. Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) 2024 Article PeerReviewed text en cc_by_4 http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/117036/1/117036.pdf Tan, Xiaoqin and Abdul Shukor, Shureen Faris and Kim, Geok Soh (2024) Visual cues, liking, and emotional responses: what combination of factors result in the willingness to eat vegetables among children with food neophobia? Foods, 13 (20). art. no. 3294. pp. 1-21. ISSN 2304-8158 https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/13/20/3294 10.3390/foods13203294 |
| spellingShingle | Tan, Xiaoqin Abdul Shukor, Shureen Faris Kim, Geok Soh Visual cues, liking, and emotional responses: what combination of factors result in the willingness to eat vegetables among children with food neophobia? |
| title | Visual cues, liking, and emotional responses: what combination of factors result in the willingness to eat vegetables among children with food neophobia? |
| title_full | Visual cues, liking, and emotional responses: what combination of factors result in the willingness to eat vegetables among children with food neophobia? |
| title_fullStr | Visual cues, liking, and emotional responses: what combination of factors result in the willingness to eat vegetables among children with food neophobia? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Visual cues, liking, and emotional responses: what combination of factors result in the willingness to eat vegetables among children with food neophobia? |
| title_short | Visual cues, liking, and emotional responses: what combination of factors result in the willingness to eat vegetables among children with food neophobia? |
| title_sort | visual cues, liking, and emotional responses: what combination of factors result in the willingness to eat vegetables among children with food neophobia? |
| url | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/117036/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/117036/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/117036/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/117036/1/117036.pdf |