Development of Food Preference during Early Childhood: Investigation of Age Differences in Food Texture Preferences

Abstract

Issues in children’s food mastication or preference, such as those who “do not chew,” “do not swallow,” or “do not follow a balanced diet,” are recently causing concerns, and the problem of children with insufficient masticatory behavior demands immediate attention.

Children who cannot chew properly are becoming a problem; at the same time, food texture preferences of children in terms of food hardness have not been elucidated yet, such as whether they prefer hard or soft foods. In this study, 363 preschool children participated in individual selection task experiments regarding food texture preferences. The results indicated no significant differences in texture selection according to the children’s age, suggesting that they did not necessarily prefer food with a mushy texture. Regarding the choice among biscuits of three different hardness levels, the result showed significant differences in children’s ages, suggesting that the perception of food texture preferences, such as the preference for the hardness of biscuits, would be differentiated during the preschool period of children.