Mother’s feeding practices may influence children’s reluctance to try new foods: NIN study

A mother’s knowledge, attitude and feeding practices can significantly influence a child’s willingness to try new foods, which highlights the need for stronger nutrition counselling for caregivers during early childhood, according to a new study by researchers at the ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (NIN).

The study, published in the Journal of Nutritional Science, examined food neophobia, a condition in which children are reluctant to try unfamiliar or diverse foods. Such behaviour can limit dietary variety and potentially affect nutritional health during crucial years of growth.

Researchers assessed 150 mother-child pairs from Addagutta in Hyderabad between August and October 2025 focusing on children aged two- seven years and explored how maternal feeding practices were associated with food neophobia and children’s nutritional status.

The findings revealed that nearly 77% of children showed moderate levels of food neophobia, while 11.3% displayed high levels and 12% had low levels. Boys recorded slightly higher food neophobia scores than girls, although the differences were not statistically significant.

The study also found a link between nutritional status and food acceptance. Children suffering from wasting were more likely to exhibit higher food neophobia scores than those with normal nutritional status, suggesting that reluctance to try new foods may be associated with poorer dietary outcomes.

Researchers observed that maternal knowledge, attitudes and practices played an important role. Children whose mothers demonstrated moderate levels of nutrition-related knowledge and positive feeding practices had lower food neophobia scores than those whose mothers had lower scores.

Karthikeyan Ramanujam, Scientist-C at ICMR-NIN and lead author of the study, said the findings underscore the importance of everyday feeding behaviours. He suggested that caregivers should repeatedly offer a variety of foods without pressure, create positive mealtime experiences and respond supportively when children reject unfamiliar foods.

ICMR-NIN Director Bharati Kulkarni said the findings offer an opportunity to strengthen behavioural feeding counselling through existing government programmes such as the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and POSHAN Abhiyaan.

Researchers cautioned that the study was limited to a single urban low-income community and a relatively small sample size. They noted that, as a cross-sectional study, it identifies associations but cannot establish direct cause-and-effect relationships, as per a press release.