Breastfeeding and experience with a variety of vegetables increases hedonic responses to new flavours in infants
A.S. Maier*1,2,3, P. Leathwood1, B. Schaal2, C. Chabanet3, S. Issanchou3
1) Nestlé NRC, Switzerland,
2) CNRS-CESG,
3) INRA-UMR-FLAVIC, Dijon, France; andrea.maier@rdls.nestle.com
The amount of food consumed and infants’ facial expressions are used by caregivers to assess acceptance of that food. To better understand the roles of each in evaluation of acceptance of new foods, we measured intake, obtained liking ratings (by the mother and by an independent observer) and analysed infants’ facial expressions. In addition, the observer rated the infant’s liking for each spoon of food during one meal.
For all liking ratings, we used a 9-point category scale. These observations were made in the context of a study in two nearby European regions (France and Germany) to evaluate effects of experience with variety, and of breast- feeding on acceptance of new foods. At weaning, 75 German and 72 French infants were given one of three different food variety regimens:
(a) no variety (carrot purée for 9 days),
(b) variety with daily change (artichoke, green beans, pumpkin for 9 days), and
(c) variety with change every three days (artichoke 3 days, green beans 3 days, pumpkin 3 days).
After the exposure period we evaluated acceptance of new vegetables (zucchini-tomato and peas). Infants were videotaped during the feeding sessions.
Our results showed that breastfeeding and variety of vegetables increased both intake and liking scores. Furthermore, the effect of frequency of flavour change was more important than that of number of vegetables. Good agreement was found between ratings by mothers and the observer, although mothers tended to rate their infant’s liking higher than did the observer. Spoon-by-spoon analyses revealed that, on average, liking scores increased over the first few spoons of the meal, reached a plateau and, at the end of the meal, tended to fall. The significance of these results in terms of temporal patterns of liking, wanting and satiety will be discussed including facial expression analyses.