(P10-036-24) Associations Between Toddlers’ Eating Behaviors and Their Liking and Consumption of Protein-Rich Foods

Objectives: Establishing healthy eating patterns early in life sets the foundation for greater diet diversity and quality. This study builds upon a large ongoing RCT that assesses the effects of protein-rich complementary diets on child growth via controlled feeding. This project aims to understand the extent to which toddlers’ eating behaviors and food exposure are associated with parents’ perceptions of toddlers’ liking of protein-rich foods.

Methods: Parents of toddlers between of 18 – 24 months who participated in a dietary intervention from 5 to 12 months completed a survey that asked about their child’s frequency of exposure to, and liking of (using a 100 pt scale that ranged from extreme dislike to extreme like) protein-rich foods (yogurt, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, turkey, ham, beef, black beans, lentils) as well as the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire for Toddlers. Preliminary analyses involved Pearson correlations and Analyses of Variance.

Results: Of the 28 parents surveyed (85% mothers), 82% were married or partnered, 67% were employed, and 70% had an annual income exceeding $100,000. The toddlers (52% female) had a mean age of 21.7 months (SD = 2.7), and 89% had been breastfed. More than 92% of parents reported that toddlers had been exposed to each of the foods, with the exception of cottage cheese (79%), ham (75%), and lentils (75%). Toddlers’ perceived liking (p < .001) and frequency of consumption (p < .001) of yogurt, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese was higher than that of turkey, ham, beef, black beans, and lentils. Liking was associated with consumption for turkey, ham, and beef (p < 0.001) but not yogurt, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, or black beans and lentils. Toddlers’ food responsiveness was positively associated with liking for yogurt, cheddar cheese, and cottage cheese (p < 0.005), while food fussiness was negatively associated with liking (p < 0.002) and consumption (p < .04) of turkey, ham, and beef.

Conclusions: Toddlers’ liking and consumption of yogurt, cheddar cheese, and cottage cheese was higher than that of other foods and did not appear to be associated with food fussiness. These findings suggest that yogurt, cheddar cheese, and cottage cheese may be more readily accepted by toddlers relative to other protein-rich foods.

Funding Sources: NIDDK, ESSENTIK SIRES, National Dairy Council