Children's fear of trying new foods

Neophobia is an unconscious and terrible fear of everything new, a seemingly logical and unjustified fear that has an adaptive and protective ancestral base. Its most common form of manifestation occurs in food when young children refuse to eat any type of food they have not tried or seen before. Wh

Neophobia is an unconscious and terrible fear of everything new, a seemingly logical and unjustified fear that has an adaptive and protective ancestral base. Its most common form of manifestation occurs in food when young children refuse to eat any type of food they have not tried or seen before.

What is food neophobia in children?

Food neophobia refers to the persistent and repeated refusal to eat and / or avoid trying new foods, especially those that visually for children look bad, being one of the causes most frequent of inappetence in children. This behavior occurs, generally, from the weaning, moment in which new flavors, textures and colors are incorporated into the feeding of the baby. Given a very important increase between 2 and 5 years.

As in any stage of development, some children are extremely rigid and resist to try any food that does not attract them visually

. Fortunately, neophobia usually decreases when the child approaches 6 years of age. For some, that fear can last until adulthood, especially for those children who have not been offered adequate exposure to new foods.Causes of food neophobia in childhoodAccording to recent studies, the causes of neophobia would be basically two:

genetic and environmental

. In the first case it has been seen that food neophobia in children is highly hereditary. However, it is also considered that a quarter of the causes would be attributable to environmental factors. For some researchers, food neophobia would be a 'survival mechanism' since neophobia would prevent children from tasting poisonous foods. Anyway, a child who refuses to eathas nutritional and emotional consequences

, not only in the child but also in the family environment. Obviously,food neophobia

has dietary consequences for children. Normally the main food groups that most children reject because of this fear are vegetables and fruits. However, do not worry too much. There are other foods that can provide the child all the vitamins that do not eat vegetables or fruits for this type of aversion.