I like it: Comparing children’s ratings of their own and others’ food acceptance

Abstract

This study explores children’s food acceptance, liking of single foods, with a focus on whether children expect that people share similar food likes considering the evolutionary, biological, and social underpinnings of this domain. In this study, 41 children (M_age = 8.26 years; 37 % female, 56 % male, 7 % nonbinary; 85.4 % White, 7.2 % Bi/Multiracial, 4.8 % Asian, 2.4 % Black) were asked about their own liking and to predict others’ liking of two food product categories: ice cream and broccoli. The results reveal that children report stronger food liking for themselves than others (Cohen’s d’s > 0.50), but only for ice cream, not broccoli (Cohen’s d’s > 0.40). These results begin to suggest that children recognize that their food acceptance can vary from others’, which has potential implications across diverse fields (e.g., psychology, consumer science, education, and dietetics). For example, the findings can inform food product development by enabling tailored designs for children’s distinct food likes. Moreover, understanding children’s food likes can be used to promote healthful eating and influence food purchases as children become consumers.