INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ON FOOD NEOPHOBIA IN CHILDREN AGED 6 TO 10 YEARS OLD

Abstract

Food neophobia describes the reluctance to taste an unfamiliar food, or a familiar food but presented in a new form. It appears to be a normal phase of development, frequently encountered in children. In Algeria, this type of study is rare, which justifies our commitment to study this subject. Our survey was carried out on a sample of 746 schoolchildren, aged 6 to 10 years old, from the M'sila region, including 360 girls and 386 boys to estimate the rate and level of food neophobia among these children and to define the influence of their surroundings on this food behavior by answering two basic questionnaires. The results of the statistical analyses show that 12.06 % of the children in the population were neophobic and no significant difference appeared in the level of food neophobia according to gender, however, food neophobia evolves progressively with age. Multiple correspondence factor analysis (MCFA) indicates that the media influences the choice of neophobic children.

Keywords

• food neophobia
• food
• schoolchildren