Staff PhD

Step-by-step change of children’s preferences towards healthier foods

Heidi Kildegaard

Background

Healthier food products developed specifically for children may offer part of a solution to the problem of rising levels of obesity, diabetes and other lifestyle-related diseases that challenge the health of current and future generations of consumers. However, to promote the intake of new healthy foods, it is very important that the products match the children’s preferences and meet their psychological and social needs. Children must like the products or else they don’t eat them. Therefore changing children’s food habits in a healthy direction requires that the new products are developed with an offset in their present food preferences and that the preferences are changed toward healthier food products. Previous work has demonstrated that it is possible to change children’s preferences for food gradually.

Aim

The aim of the ph.d. project is 1) to develop healthier food products through step-by-step changes in healthiness and sensory quality 2) to generate knowledge on children´s preferences for healthy food products through step-by step changes of products with altered sensory quality and chemical composition. 3) Furthermore there will be a determination of the effect of healthier food products on children´s nutrition and level of physical activity.

Research Outline

Investigations of children’s preferences for foods and step-by-step changed foods.

We will investigate the effect of appearance on food desires by designing a PC-questionnaire including visual cases. The PC-questionnaire will be used for interviewing 9-14 years old children.

Following the children´s preferences when eating the products (yoghurt, juice, fruit and bread) are recorded for a selection of products changed over e.g. 5 steps (e.g. gradual reduction of sugar, fat, fruit or fibre content).

These points will provide information about the importance of appearance for food desires and give knowledge regarding the shift in preferences related to chemical composition and sensory perception. The effect of exposure to a specific sensory stimulus on preference for the stimulus will be investigated.

Relation between preferences, sensory quality and chemical composition of step-by-step changed foods.

Step-by-step changed products in 5 versions will be tested in preference test with children and in concert with sensory and chemical tests this should give a better understanding on how much products can be changed without loss in preferences. This will make basis for further changes in food composition and product development.

Furthermore the effect of sensory masking on children´s preferences for step-by-step changed products will be investigated. Changes in sensory attributes can be masked by changing other sensory attributes by e.g. manipulating the chemical or rheological characteristics. Various sensory interactions will be investigated in model experiments towards development of healthier products by use of different raw materials with high contents of healthy components and low energy density. The product will be tested for preference by children.

Effect of eating step-by-step changes products on children´s nutritional status and physical activity level.

The effect of eating healthier foods will be determined by analysis of nutrition factors, e.g. fatty acid composition (LDL, HDL, and cholesterol), vitamins and glucose determined in blood samples by medicines. The progression in the nutrition factors will be followed in children´s blood after intake of step-by-step changed products and in combination with this the physical activity level will be determined by questionnaires.