Staff feeding practices, food neophobia, and educational level in early education and care settings: A cross-sectional study

The study investigates mealtime practices among kindergarten staff responsible for the youngest children, their level of food neophobia – fear of tasting new food – and participation in joint mealtimes. The study aims to uncover whether the employees’ way of serving food is related to their education, participation in joint mealtimes and the degree of food neophobia.

The study shows that kindergarten staff are good at using modelling and encouragement to promote a balanced and varied diet. Using food as a reward or to regulate the children’s emotions is less common. Employees with higher education use the positive methods more often and the negative methods less often. More than half of the employees eat lunch together with the children daily. They often use positive methods, but also several health restrictions. Employees with lower education often have higher levels of food neophobia, which is linked to less use of emotion regulation and health restrictions. The study concludes that kindergarten mealtime practices should be improved, especially among employees with low levels of education, through updated guidelines and better implementation.

The data come from two Norwegian dietary intervention studies focused on promoting healthy diets and reducing food neophobia among children aged 1 and 2 years. Data were collected via questionnaires from kindergarten staff about mealtime practices, food neophobia and joint mealtimes. Study 1 included 75 educators from 16 kindergartens in Southern Norway, while Study 2 included 55 educators from 46 kindergartens in Telemark, Oppland, Sør-Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal, in both urban and rural areas.

Helland, S. H., Bjørkkjær, T., Grasaas, E., & Øverby, N. C. (2023). Staff feeding practices, food neophobia, and educational level in early education and care settings: A cross-sectional study. Appetite, 180, 106379.

Online year: 2022

Issue year: 2023

Review year: 2022