Making and breaking food habits in early childhood
Thanks to the Habeat project, a series of studies are being conducted in various European countries to determine factors and critical periods in the formation of food habits in infants and young children. Bringing together 11 European partners from 6 European countries, the project's multidisciplinary approach also seeks to determine how food habits can be changed in early childhood. Existing human cohorts from 4 countries form the basis for Habeat's epidemiological studies, which aim to identify critical periods, key learning mechanisms, most effective strategies for breaking habits, and individual reactions to the learning mechanisms. Research focused on identifying critical periods and critical factors in the development of food habits identified three main gaps in the literature. Partners have developed a specific tool to cover two of these gaps: assessment of children's sensitivity to internal cues of hunger and satiety, and parental awareness on these cues, from infancy to early childhood; and assessment of children's food preferences based on sensory characteristics of foods rather than nutritional characteristics. Infancy was classified as the first critical period and early parental feeding practices were marked as first critical factors. The outcome was pegged as fruit/vegetable intake at 2-to-4 years of age. A common analysis plan has been identified for all variables available in the four cohorts. Main study findings did not reveal specific trends across the cohorts, but analyses are ongoing. Once these are finalised, partners will produce a manuscript presenting the results. Work aimed at exploring key learning mechanisms and individual variations seeks to better understand the impact of early exposure to various fruit and vegetables on short-term liking and consumption. To encourage parents to offer a variety of fruit and vegetables, an intervention termed 'TASTE' has been developed, and is on trial in Greece, Portugal and the United Kingdom. Habeat continues to develop surveys, intervention studies and trials, and analyse the data generated. Partners aim to produce a guideline and recommendations for childcare professionals and parents from different target groups. Additionally, Habeat will propose strategies for promoting practices that ensure healthy food habits in early childhood, as well as intervention strategies for breaking unhealthy habits.
