Toddler Tastes Study

NCT06877468 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: 000085951UM1TR005296
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 41
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this study is to determine the feasibility and acceptability of two food preference learning approaches for toddlers that could serve as alternatives to mere repeated exposure to new or previously disliked foods. The target population is toddlers who score higher on food fussiness. The study is a two-group randomized controlled trial. Families will be randomized to 1 of 2 study groups: associative conditioning, or the child tasting vegetables alongside a palatable dip, or modeling, in which the child and parent taste vegetables together. Both groups will attend two laboratory visits, one before and one after a 4-week exposure period, and will be asked to complete 8 vegetable tastings in accordance with their assigned condition across the 4 intervention weeks. Key questions to be addressed are:

• summarizing the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention strategies
• assessing whether children's liking and intake of the target food increase from baseline to post-intervention

Conditions

Dietary Behavior

Keywords

food preferences; toddlers; associative conditioning; modeling; food fussiness; vegetable acceptance; dietary intake

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Feasibility of the food preference learning approaches

  Parents/guardians (here forward parents) will report on whether target food tastings were implemented as assigned. A percentage of assigned tastings that were implemented will be calculated (number of completed tastings divided by 8).

  Intervention (Weeks 1-4 after baseline assessment)

• Acceptability of the food preference interventions

  Themes from parent interviews will be summarized to inform how acceptable the study sample found each intervention.

  Intervention (Weeks 1-4 after baseline assessment)

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Change in vegetable liking

  Baseline, post-intervention (Week 5)

• Change in vegetable intake

  Baseline, post-intervention (Week 5)

Study Arms (2)

Associative conditioning (Veggie and Dip tastings)

EXPERIMENTAL

Child is offered a vegetable to taste with a palatable dip, over 8 occasions. Tastings occur at home with the parent serving the vegetable and following standard scripting.

Behavioral: Associative conditioning

Modeling (Parent and Me tastings)

EXPERIMENTAL

Child is offered a vegetable to taste while their parent/caregiver also tastes it and models enjoying it, over 8 occasions. Tastings occur at home with the parent serving and tasting the vegetable following standard scripting.

Behavioral: Modeling

Interventions

Modeling BEHAVIORAL

Child is offered a vegetable to taste while their parent/caregiver also tastes it and models enjoying it, over 8 occasions. Vegetable is served at home with parent/caregiver following standard scripting.

Modeling (Parent and Me tastings)

Associative conditioning BEHAVIORAL

Child is offered a vegetable to taste with a palatable dip, over 8 occasions. Vegetable is served at home by parent/caregiver following standard script.

Associative conditioning (Veggie and Dip tastings)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Months+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Child is 18-36 months old
• Parent/guardian is 18 years of age or older
• Parent/guardian participating is the primary caregiver of the child
• Child is not diagnosed with a physical or mental health condition (e.g., allergies to study foods, ARFID or autism diagnosis) that would impact safe or feasible participation
• Participants are English speakers
• Child is high on food fussiness, defined as a 2.5 or above on the food fussiness scale of the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire for toddlers

You may not qualify if:

• The child is outside the age range of 18-36 months at enrollment, as verified by birth date
• Child is diagnosed with a physical or mental health condition that precludes safe or feasible participation
• The parent/guardian is less than 18 years old
• The parent/guardian participating is not the primary caregiver of the child
• Participants are not English speakers
• Child is low on food fussiness, defined as below a 2.5 on the food fussiness scale of the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire for toddlers

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS): collaborator
• State University of New York at Buffalo: lead

Study Sites (1)

Child Health and Behavior Lab at the University at Buffalo

Buffalo, New York, 14214, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Food Preferences; Food Fussiness

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Feeding Behavior; Behavior

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Masking Details: Masking is not possible in this study, as participants will know which intervention they are experiencing, as will the staff member conducting outcome assessments. Randomization will not occur until after baseline measurements are collected, and a staff member who will not have any other role in the study determined the randomization scheme.
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 4, 2025
• First Posted: March 14, 2025
• Study Start: March 19, 2025
• Primary Completion: July 29, 2025
• Study Completion: July 29, 2025
• Last Updated: January 5, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-01

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)