Predictors of children’s food selection: The role of children’s perceptions of the health and taste of foods

• We investigated children’s food selection.
• By 4 years, a food’s taste is a strong predictor of food selection.
• Taste is a stronger predictor beyond a participant’s age and a food’s health.
• These results contribute to our understanding of the importance of taste in food selection.

Food selection, decisions about which foods to eat, is a ubiquitous part of our everyday lives. The aim of this research was to investigate the role of taste versus health perceptions in 4- and 6-year-old children’s food selection. In this study, children and young adults were asked to rate the health and presumed taste of foods. Participants were also asked to indicate whether they would eat these foods in a food selection task. Overall, the results showed that taste was a strong predictor of individuals’ food selection above and beyond the variance associated with age, health ratings, and interactions between age and presumed taste ratings as well as age and health ratings. These results contribute to our understanding of children’s food selection, and the relative importance of a food’s taste versus health in the development of these decisions.