Food neophobia may increase the risk of lifestyle diseases

National Institute for Health and Welfare

eating disorders

Food neophobia, or fear of new foods, may lead to poorer dietary quality, increase the risk factors associated with chronic diseases, and thus increase the risk of developing lifestyle diseases, including cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes.

Web URL: Read the article on MedicalXpress here

FAB RESEARCH COMMENT:

'Selective', 'fussy' or 'picky' eating is common in young children, although most grow out of it.

If very restrictive eating habits persist into adulthood, however, the resulting poor quality diets increase risks for a wide range of chronic diseases, according to this large population-based study from Finland.

A fear of trying new or unfamiliar foods - known as 'neophobia' - is common in early childhood; and for some individuals, this can persist into adulthood, leading their diets to consist of only a narrow range of 'preferred' foods.

The predisposition to neophobia appears to have a strong genetic element - and highly selective and restrictive eating patterns are particularly common in children and adults with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and related conditions, although they can occur in any individual or family.

Extreme neophobia is a key characteristic of 'Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder' (ARFID) - a fairly new psychiatric diagnosis, in which anxiety and fear around food are key issues. ARFID therefore differs from Eating Disorders like anorexia, in which preoccupation with weight control and/or body image is a central issue.

Notably, the foods preferred by individuals with neophobia / highly selective eating are almost always ultra-processed foods (UPF), high in sugar, salt and other strong flavourings, and with low nutrient density and an unhealthy balance of fats.

These foods are designed to be 'hyper-palatable' for anyone, but their sensory qualities - such as texture and taste, as well as the predictability of these features in UPF - appear to be important factors for many individuals with persistent neophobia and selective eating patterns.

This new study found food neophobia in adults is associated with poorer diet quailty - and also with

unhealthy blood fatty acid profiles, and blood biomarkers of inflammation.

increased risks for many chronic health conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease - known to be associated with poor quality diets, and these biomarkers of blood fats and inflammation.

As the researchers emphasise - genetic factors may play a part in the prediposition to food neophobia (as they do for almost any physical or mental health condition).

However - genes are not destiny - and these findings indicate that efforts to increase dietary variety and improve diet quality in cgildren and adults with food neophobia could have significant long-term health benefits.

For details of this research, see:

Sarin et al 2019 - Food neophobia associates with poorer dietary quality, metabolic risk factors, and increased disease outcome risk

Food neophobia is hereditary

Food neophobia has been observed to be a strongly hereditary trait: twin studies have found that up to 78% of it may be hereditary. The trait can be easily measured using the FNS questionnaire (Food Neophobia Scale), which contains ten questions charting the respondent's eating behaviour. The FNS questionnaire was also used to measure and quantify the fear of new foods in this study.

Food neophobia is common in children and older persons, in particular. Few studies have so far been carried out on food neophobia in the adult population.

Traits similar to food neophobia, including picky and fussy eating, also occur in different age groups in the population. These eating behaviours may also have a significant impact on dietary quality and subsequently health.

As different traits associated with eating behaviours have overlapping characteristics making a clear-cut distinction between them is challenging.

Food neophobia has independent health impacts

The study found that food neophobia is linked to poorer dietary quality: for example, the intake of fibre, protein and monounsaturated fatty acids may be lower and the intake of saturated fat and salt greater in food neophobic individuals.

Additionally, a significant association was found between food neophobia and adverse fatty acid profile and increased level of inflammatory markers in blood. Subsequently, food neophobia also increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases or type 2 diabetes.

It is often thought that the impacts of eating behaviour and diet on health are mainly mediated through weight changes alone. In this study, however, the impacts of food neophobia emerged independently regardless of weight, age, socioeconomic status, gender or living area.

Your parents were right: you should always try all foods!

"The findings reinforce the idea that a versatile and healthy diet plays a key role, and even has an independent role in health. If we can intervene in deviant eating behaviours, such as food neophobia, already in childhood or youth. This will help to prevent potential future health problems early on," says Research Professor Markus Perola from the National Institute for Health and Welfare.

"Hereditary factors and our genotype only determine our predisposition to food neophobia.

Early childhood education and care and lifestyle guidance in adulthood can provide support in the development of a diverse diet."

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Food neophobia may increase the risk of lifestyle diseases

FAB RESEARCH COMMENT:

Food neophobia is hereditary

Food neophobia has independent health impacts

Your parents were right: you should always try all foods!

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