Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Sep 17;12(2):301-309.
doi: 10.1007/s40617-018-00277-7. eCollection 2019 Jun.

An Evaluation of Sequential Meal Presentation with Picky Eaters

Affiliations

An Evaluation of Sequential Meal Presentation with Picky Eaters

Colleen M Whelan et al. Behav Anal Pract. .

Abstract

Results of previous research evaluating sequential presentation of nonpreferred (NP) and high-preferred (HP) foods have been mixed, and little is known about how preferences for foods and the manner in which they are presented impact consumption. In many households, NP and HP foods are presented together on the same plate (total meal presentation). This was true for the participants included in this study; thus, total meal presentation served as a baseline against which to compare the effects of an appetizer presentation method and subsequently sequential presentation (differential reinforcement). Results demonstrated that presenting NP foods as an appetizer was not successful in increasing consumption. Consumption only increased after HP foods were made contingent on consumption of the NP food.

Keywords: Differential reinforcement; Food selectivity; Sequential presentation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of InterestThe first author declares that she has no conflict of interest. The second author declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Graph depicting the portion of servings Lars consumed during total meal presentation, appetizer presentation, and contingent presentation across two different foods: cucumber depicted in the top panel, and corn depicted in the bottom panel
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Graph depicting the portion of servings Marshall consumed during total meal presentation, appetizer presentation, and contingent presentation plus volume fading (VF) across two different foods: cucumber depicted in the top panel, and corn depicted in the bottom panel
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Percentage of trials with consumption for Lars during the pre- and posttreatment preference assessments, depicted by the black and gray bars, respectively
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Percentage of trials with consumption for Marshall during the pre- and posttreatment preference assessments, depicted by the black and gray bars, respectively

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Carruth BR, Skinner JD. Revisiting the picky eater phenomenon: Neophobic behaviors of young children. Journal of the American College of Nutrition. 2000;19(6):771–780. doi: 10.1080/07315724.2000.10718077. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Carruth BR, Ziegler PJ, Gordon A, Barr SI. Prevalence of picky eaters among infants and toddlers and their caregivers’ decisions about offering a new food. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 2004;104:s57–s64. doi: 10.1016/j.jada.2003.10.024. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cathey M, Gaylord N. Picky eating: A toddler’s approach to mealtime. Pediatric Nursing. 2004;30:101–109. - PubMed
    1. Ekstein S, Laniado D, Glick B. Does picky eating affect weight-for-length measurements in young children? Clinical Pediatrics. 2010;49(3):217–220. doi: 10.1177/0009922809337331. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fisher W, Piazza CC, Bowman LG, Hagopian LP, Owens JC, Slevin I. A comparison of two approaches for identifying reinforcers for persons with severe and profound disabilities. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 1992;25:491–498. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1992.25-491. - DOI - PMC - PubMed