They took it but didn't eat it: Elementary school students rejection of cafeteria food

摘要

Deciding what to eat is a significant part of the daily lives of children who have opportunities to engage in this decision-making process at home as well as outside the home. Children's food choices are part of a dynamic process influenced by a variety of factors. The development of food preferences and eating behaviors involves the interaction between genetics, biological taste biases and social experiences such as parental and peer influences, previous food experiences, food marketing and cultural influences (Birch, 1999; DeCosta, Moller, Frost, & Olsen, 2017; Freedman, 2016; Hass et al., 2018; Houldcroft, Haycraft, & Farrow, 2014; Johnson, Gerson, Porter, & Petrillo, 2015; Jones, Steer, Rogers, & Emmett, 2010; Lehto et al., 2015; Rasmussen et al., 2006; Russell, Worsley, & Liem, 2015; Wardle & Cooke, 2008). Food preferences, largely learned in early childhood, can track into adolescence and adulthood (Batsell, Brown, Ansfield, & Paschall, 2002; Nicklaus, Boggio, Chabanet, & Issanchou, 2004; Skinner, Carruth, Bounds, & Ziegler, 2002; Unusan, 2005). Additionally, research has found that children's food preferences differ between genders (Jones et al., 2010; Kimura, 2014). Specifically, Jones et al. found girls had a higher median daily consumption than boys and Kimura et al. found fat energy content and saturated fatty acid score were significantly higher in boys than in girls in both the 7-9- and 10-12-year-old age groups.