Children's expectations about how others share food preferences and health-related information

Abstract

Young children exhibit a negativity bias in food-related learning, showing heightened attention to and memory for negative information. This bias may be especially adaptive if children not only attend more to negative information but also generalize it broadly across people, helping them avoid potentially harmful foods. However, little is known about how children generalize others' positive and negative food-related information, depending on the valence (positive vs. negative) and type (preferences vs. health effects) of the information. Two experiments were conducted to investigate how young Japanese children expect others' positive and negative food-related information to be shared among people. In Experiment 1, children aged 3–5 years (N = 33, M = 51.33 months, SD = 5.64 months) expected food dislikes to be shared among people more than food preferences were. In Experiment 2, children aged 4–6 years (N = 34, M = 71.68 months, SD = 5.17 months) expected negative health effects of food to be shared among people more than positive health effects. These results suggest that children generalize negative food-related information—both aversions and negative health effects—more broadly than positive information. Viewing others' negative reactions to food as widely applicable may serve as a protective strategy, helping children avoid potential dietary dangers as they navigate their early food environments. This study may inform caregivers and educators about how to communicate health messages in ways that align with children's cognitive bias, ultimately supporting the development of healthy eating habits.