Food neophobia and nutritional profile in preschoolers who attend the Health Center

Flores Avila Y.M.; Palomino Quispe L.P.; Flores Luna J.M.; Miranda Bailón D.I. · Nutricion Clinica y Dietetica Hospitalaria (2023) · DOI: 10.12873/434flores

Resumen

Introduction. Food neophobia is the rejection or refusal to try new or unknown foods and leads to bad eating habits. Objective. To determine the association between food neophobia and nutritional profile in preschoolers who attend a Health Center in Lima-Peru. Materials and methods. Quantitative approach research, observational, cross-sectional, descriptive cross-association design, the final sample consisted of 87 preschool children from 36 to 71 months of age attended at the “Max Arias Schreiber” Health Center, during the period April - May of 2023. Child food neophobia was determined through a validated questionnaire applied to the permanent caregiver in charge of feeding the preschool; the nutritional profile was evaluated through the anthropometric technique and the hemoglobin level was obtained from the clinical history record. To analyze the association of variables, the Chi-square statistical test of independence was applied. Results. 50.6% of the evaluated preschoolers presented food neophobia, neophobia to the consumption of fruits and vegetables was 64.5%; 59.8% presented neophobia to different types of meat, 4.6% presented short stature and 66.7% a normal nutritional status. 20.7% presented mild anemia, 8% moderate and 71.3% with normal hemoglobin value. When evaluating the association between food neophobia and nutritional status, a p>0.05 was obtained; however, when evaluating the association between food neophobia and hemoglobin level, a p<0.05 was obtained. Conclusions. Food neophobia to the types of meat consumed is associated with the hemoglobin level in preschoolers.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos