Liking and consumption of high-fiber snacks in preschool-age children

Increased consumption of fiber has been associated with better diet quality and lower risk for chronic diseases. Most preschool-age children in the US do not meet the recommended intake level of fiber, however, many daycare administrators struggle with the decision to provide high-fiber foods because children may not eat them. This study was a prospective community-based trial designed to explore whether children would like and eat high-fiber snacks that were served at daycare. We provided novel high-fiber snack foods to 2–5 year olds participating in two day-care centers (n = 41). Overall liking ratings were obtained using a three-level age-appropriate likert-scale. Snack consumption was measured using the plate-waste method. Results showed that children consumed normal amounts of energy from snacks. There was no association between mean energy consumed from snacks in the groups of children who liked and those who were neutral or did not like the snack, indicating that liking did not influence consumption or that intakes did not vary enough between the two groups to detect a significant difference. The implication of our study is that fiber intake in young children could potentially be increased by serving high-fiber snacks at daycare centers.

Research highlights
► Children consumed normal levels of high-fiber snacks, independent of self-rated liking of the food.
► Children increased dietary fiber intake by consuming high-fiber snacks.
► Serving high-fiber snack foods at daycare could improve preschooler’s diet quality.