"Ugh! this is disgusting!!!"
Most parents have heard such words coming out of their children's mouths at the dinner table, and struggle with getting them to eat food that is both healthy and nutritious. Fussiness over food is not a new phenomenon in our daily lives, but research on it is a relatively new development; a project that calls for an interdisciplinary approach in the fields of nutrition, psychology and pedagogy, in addition to information technology.
By tackling fussiness it is possible to ensure a more healthy diet for children. It has been proven in various studies that a healthy diet in the first years of children's lives can be imperative staying healthy and will also benefit later in life.
Sigrún Þorsteinsdóttir, doctoral student at the University of Iceland's School of Education, has dedicated her research to training the taste buds of children and parents. The study is completely innovative and takes the form of a course for children and parents, involving a repeated introduction of all kinds of foods in a relatively short amount of time. Sigrún says that the main emphasis in the taste buds training is the choice of food, fussiness and well-being, among children and parents alike. Games and joy are the guiding light and no one is forced to taste anything. The main issue is to spark curiosity and have fun. Sigrún's supervisor in the doctoral thesis is Anna Sigríður Ólafsdóttir, professor of nutrition at the School of Education, who had the idea for the project.
"Most children and parents can use our methods but the real challenge is to get children to taste flavourful food products," says Sigrún. "The course itself is a simple and fun way to reduce food sensitivity with the emphasis on pleasure and diversity in the selection of food. The main focus is on varied diets, particularly increasing consumption of fruit and vegetables, which are the foods most lacking in children's diets in general."
Sigrún has a Master's degree in clinical child psychology from the University of Iceland and another Master's degree in health psychology from the University of Westminster.
The taste buds training thus connects in two ways to Sigrún's expertise; health psychology and dietary habits, but she has written cook books and distributed healthy recipies on social media and online with an emphasis on ecological ingredients.
Innovation - Developed an app to improve dietary habits
User-friendly service and digitalisation is an important factor in the new University Strategy UI26. Sigrún and her supervisor's approach in their study is partly influenced by this idea. They pursue information technology in their project by developing a special app to facilitate food registration for participants. Interesting innovation
"The app enables users to register their diet pictorially. As my supervisor, Anna Sigríður, and I talk relentlessly about food, children and their well-being, ideas like connected to these keep coming," says Sigrún and smiles.
Considering this project there are many things that jump out, especially the innovation, but also the latest results that are very positive and indicate that developing these methods further is the way to go to improve children's diets.
"The short version is that the course worked, the fussiness was reduced among the children and the effect continued for six months after the course which is not a given thing. There are also indications that pleasure from food was increased. The children furthermore accepted more types of foods after participating in the course, including all kinds of vegetables," says Sigrún. Three peer-reviewed scientific articles on the research results have already been published.
"Most children and parents can use our methods but the real challenge is to get children to taste flavourful food products," says Sigrún. "The course itself is a simple and fun way to reduce food sensitivity with the emphasis on pleasure and diversity in the selection of food. The main focus is on varied diets, particularly increasing consumption of fruit and vegetables, which are the foods most lacking in children's diets in general."
Can have long term positive effects on health
The bud taste training as done by Anna Sigríður and Sigrún is a novelty in Iceland. Anna Sigríður has specialised in research and teaching in the field of health promotion and the interplay of nutrition and physical activity. She is keen on increasing public knowledge on the value of nutrition and health in a wide sense and is frequently in the Icelandic media. She is currently hosting a TV series called "Nærumst og njótum" where a diverse group of people is followed as the rethink their nutrition and dietary habits in order to eat better and enjoy more.
"The results show that training the taste buds can improve dietary habits and children's feelings towards food which is vital as some children are apprehensive when it comes to food and therefore have a very limited diet," says Sigrún the doctoral student and adds that this kind of training can have a long term positive effect on society.
The palate is not solely based on taste
The scientists say that culinary interest in food can be a complex phenomenon as the taste alone is not always the deciding factor. There are some things that children absolutely will not eat even if they have never tried.
They say that sensory processing can have a great impact. "Colour, texture, odour or even sound can thus promote a very limited diet," says Anna Sigriður and adds that fussiness with food can lead to the child choosing the foods that are bland or sweet.
They both say that it takes a lot of patience to change children's taste in food and make them accustomed to new types of food and it is thus important that the whole family participate in adopting a more varied diet and a more wholesome lifestyle.
Focus on the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Children with neuro-developmental disorders, e.g. children with ADHD and autistic spectrum disorders, are often more fussy when it comes to food than other kids and well into their adult years according the scientists. They can have problems with sensory processing, they say, making it difficult to maintain a varied diet and the study made a special note of this. Mealtimes can cause pressure and make communications within the family more difficult around them and this is important to change.
"It is especially important to support a diverse diet among these children; thus promoting a healthy nutritional condition. There are few resources available for children with limited diets and neuro-developmental disorders, and often these children are excluded from research of this kind," says Anna Sigríður.
This project is in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals on sustainability; one of the main focal points of the new University Strategy, UI26.
"Here we are focusing on factors in line with health and well-being, but these can also lead to ways to reduce food waste and open up possibilities to further emphasize the ecosystem," says Sigrún who points out that what we eat not only affects us, but also the earth we live on. Sigrún says that an eco-friendly diet is to eat as little animal products as possible without entirely stopping, but this can signifcantly reduce our carbon footprint.