Influences on Early Childhood Dietary Preferences

Dietary preferences begin to form before birth and continue to evolve throughout infancy and early childhood under the influence of biological, behavioural and environmental factors. Innate predispositions, such as a preference for sweet tastes and aversion to bitter flavours, interact with prenatal flavour exposure via amniotic fluid and breast milk. The timing and pattern of complementary feeding introduce new tastes and textures during sensitive periods when learning is especially efficient. Repeated exposure and variety in early solid foods can overcome neophobic tendencies and foster acceptance of fruits and vegetables. Parental feeding style, including responsive feeding and modelling of healthy choices, shapes children’s willingness to try novel foods. Socioeconomic status, cultural food norms and marketing of high-energy discretionary foods further modulate preference trajectories. Early dietary experiences track into later childhood and adolescence, with implications for diet quality, growth and long-term cardiometabolic health. Translating this knowledge into targeted interventions offers a route to optimise dietary habits from an early age.

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Influences on Early Childhood Dietary Preferences publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in influences on early childhood dietary preferences across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Appetitive traits: Individual differences in food approach (desire for food) and food avoidance (reluctance to eat) that influence responsiveness to feeding.
Complementary feeding: The phase when solid and semi-solid foods are introduced alongside breast milk or formula, typically between four and six months of age.
Food neophobia: A developmental tendency to reject or hesitate when encountering unfamiliar foods.
Healthy Eating Index: A quantitative measure of diet quality based on adherence to defined dietary guidelines.
Discretionary foods: Items high in added sugars, salt or saturated fats that are not essential to nutrient requirements.

References

1. Prospective associations of infant food exposures and appetitive traits with early childhood diet quality. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (2024).
2. Breastfeeding Is Associated with Higher Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet in a Spanish Population of Preschoolers: The SENDO Project. Nutrients (2023).
3. Early Taste Experiences and Later Food Choices. Nutrients (2017).