Editing Neophobia (section)

==Food neophobia==
{{further|Dietary conservatism}}

'''Food neophobia''' in humans has been described as the fear of eating new or unfamiliar foods. It is a common symptom of [[avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder]] but is not in itself a disorder. Food neophobia is particularly common in toddlers and young children. It is often related to an individual's level of [[sensation-seeking]], meaning a person's willingness to try new things and take risks. Not only do people with high food neophobia resist trying new food, they also rate new foods that they do try as lower than neophilics.<ref name=Logue>{{cite book|last=Logue|first=A.W.|title=The Psychology of Eating and Drinking|year=2004|publisher=Brunner-Routledge|location=New York|pages=90}}</ref> [[Picky eating]] has been a cause of concern for many parents of young children. This results in leaving parents feeling frustrated, and risk compounding parental anxieties. Parents tend to worry about the growth and lack of nutrient in their child. Pediatricians and family physicians are always there to teach parents and care givers different ways to feed their children effectively.

It is very typical for people to generally have a fear of new things and to prefer things that are familiar and common. Most people experience food neophobia to a certain extent, though some people are more neophobic than others. A measure of individual differences in food neophobia is the Food Neophobia Scale (FNS), which consists of a 10-item survey that requires self-reported responses on a seven-point [[Likert scale]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Pliner|first=P.|author2=K. Hobden|title=Development of a scale to measure the trait of food neophobia in humans|journal=Appetite|year=1992|volume=19|issue=2|pages=105–120|doi=10.1016/0195-6663(92)90014-w|pmid=1489209|s2cid=9530258}}</ref> There is also a separate scale geared towards children called the Food Neophobia Scale for Children (FNSC), in which the parents actually do the reporting for the survey.<ref name=Alley>{{cite book|vauthors =Alley TR, Potter KA|title=Handbook of Behavior, Food and Nutrition|year=2011|publisher=Springer|pages=707–724|chapter=Food Neophobia and Sensation Seeking}}</ref>

In animals it has been shown that food neophobia is a fear of novelty lasting only a short duration (minutes at most), which is distinct from dietary conservatism, the prolonged refusal to add a novel food to the diet, which can last many days or even years.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Marples|first1=Nicola M.|last2=Kelly|first2=David J.|last3=Thomas|first3=Robert J.|year=2005|title=Perspective: The Evolution of Warning Coloration is Not Paradoxical|journal=Evolution|language=en|volume=59|issue=5|pages=933–940|doi=10.1111/j.0014-3820.2005.tb01032.x|issn=0014-3820|pmid=16136793|s2cid=24118222|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="MarplesKelly1999">{{cite journal|last1=Marples|first1=N.M.|last2=Kelly|first2=D.J.|title=Neophobia and Dietary Conservatism:Two Distinct Processes?|journal=Evolutionary Ecology|volume=13|issue=7–8|year=1999|pages=641–653|issn=0269-7653|doi=10.1023/A:1011077731153|bibcode=1999EvEco..13..641M |s2cid=27737756}}</ref> Dietary conservatism has never yet been demonstrated in humans, although the genetically influenced behaviour of "fussy eating" in children<ref name="pmid27412445">{{cite journal | vauthors = Harris HA, Fildes A, Mallan KM, Llewellyn CH | title = Maternal feeding practices and fussy eating in toddlerhood: a discordant twin analysis | journal = Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act | volume = 13 | pages = 81 | date = July 2016 | pmid = 27412445 | pmc = 4944306 | doi = 10.1186/s12966-016-0408-4 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name="pmid27739065">{{cite journal | vauthors = Smith AD, Herle M, Fildes A, Cooke L, Steinsbekk S, Llewellyn CH | title = Food fussiness and food neophobia share a common etiology in early childhood | journal = J Child Psychol Psychiatry | volume = 58 | issue = 2 | pages = 189–196 | date = February 2017 | pmid = 27739065 | pmc = 5298015 | doi = 10.1111/jcpp.12647 }}</ref> resembles the behaviour seen in animals.

Food neophobia relates to the [[The Omnivore's Dilemma|omnivore's dilemma]], a phenomenon that explains the choice that [[omnivore]]s, and humans in particular, have between eating a new food and risking danger or avoiding it and potentially missing out on a valuable food source. Having at least some degree of food neophobia has been noted to be evolutionarily advantageous as it can help people to avoid eating potentially poisonous foods.<ref name=Dovey>{{cite book|last=Dovey|first=Terence M.|title=Eating Behaviour|year=2010|publisher=Open University Press|location=England|pages=47, 48, 55}}</ref>

=== Causes ===
Genetics seem to play a role in both food neophobia and general neophobia. Research shows that about two-thirds of the variation in food neophobia is due to genetics. A study done on twin pairs showed an even higher correlation, indicating that genetics do play a factor in food neophobia.<ref name=Alley />

Psychosocial factors can also increase a child's chances of developing food neophobia. Young children carefully watch parental food preferences, and this may produce neophobic tendencies with regard to eating if parents tend to avoid some foods.<ref name="Moyer">{{cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/the_kids/2012/12/picky_eater_kids_their_eating_habits_might_be_your_fault_but_they_ll_survive.html |title=Picky eater kids: Their eating habits might be your fault, but they'll survive. |last=Moyer|first=Melinda Wenner |date=19 December 2012 |work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]}}</ref>

Another cause includes being more sensitive than average to bitter tastes, which may be associated with a significant history of [[Otitis media|middle ear infection]] or an increased perception of bitter foods, known as a [[supertaster]].<ref name="Moyer" />

===Treatment===
Some efforts to address this situation, such as pressuring the child to eat a disliked food or threatening punishment for not eating it, tend to exacerbate the problem.<ref name="Moyer" />

Effective solutions include offering non-food rewards, such as a small sticker, for tasting a new or disliked food, and for parents to model the behavior they want to see by cheerfully eating the new or disliked foods in front of the children.<ref name="Moyer" />

Exposing someone to a new food increases the chances of liking that food item. However, it is not enough to merely look at a new food. Novel food must be repeatedly tasted in order to increase preference for eating it.<ref name=Logue /> It can take as many as 15 tries of a novel food item before a child accepts it. There also appears to be a critical period for lowering later food neophobia in children during the weaning process.  The variety of solid foods first exposed to children can lower later food refusal. Some researchers believe that even the food variety of a nursing mother and the consequent variety of flavors in her breastmilk can lead to greater acceptance of novel food items later on in life. Food neophobia does tend to naturally decrease as people age.<ref name=Dovey />