Oral Sensitivity to Flowability and Food Neophobia Drive Food Preferences and Choice

Food Texture Acceptance, Sensory Sensitivity, and Food Neophobia in Children and Their Parents

This study aims to explore whether children's food texture preferences are associated with different levels of sensory sensitivity and food neophobia, as well as with other variables, such as parental texture preferences. An online questionnaire was completed by 70 children aged 6-13 years old, alongside one of their parents. Generic texture preferences of children and parents were investigated with the Child Food Texture Preference Questionnaire (CFTPQ). Parents provided background information about their children by completing the Food Neophobia Scale (FNS), the Short Sensory Profile (SSP) and a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). The results showed that children who differed in their texture-liker status also differed in their levels of food neophobia and sensory information processing: children who preferred softer and non-particulate versions of foods were found to be more neophobic and sensory sensitive across all sensory domains. No relationship was found between parental and children's texture preferences.

Development and application of specific questions to classify a child as food texture sensitive

Understanding food texture sensitivity in children is important in guiding food selection. The objective of this work was to develop a short questionnaire that could be completed by parents in nonclinical settings to provide a categorization for food texture sensitivity in children. This study evaluated the distribution of children as texture sensitive (TS) or non-texture sensitive (NTS) and the predictive validity of these questions to explain rejection of specific food textures. Three sets of survey data were examined, including data from a home-use test (HUT) in children with and without Down syndrome (DS), and lingual tactile sensitivity measured by grating orientation task (GOT). From three parent-completed surveys, the use of the questionnaire yielded a similar distribution of children in the TS category (16-22%) as previously reported. TS children (4-36 months) were more likely to reject specific food textures, including chewy, hard, lumpy, and "tough meat" (p < .05). A higher percentage of children with a diagnosis of DS were TS (36.9%). Children who were TS showed increased negative behaviors to foods and ate less than NTS children. In older children (5-12 years), TS children were fussier than NTS children (p < .001). Lingual tactile sensitivity was not significantly different by TS/NTS categorization (p = .458). This study demonstrated that the use of these five questions specific to food texture provides a useful tool in categorizing a child as TS/NTS, with this information being useful in selecting preferred food textures. Future studies involving these TS questions should perform psychometric assessments and measures of criterion validity using other questionnaires.