The Environmental and Bitter Taste Endophenotype Determinants of Picky Eating in Australian School-Aged Children 7–12 years—A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study Protocol

Jani, Rati; Byrne, Rebecca; Love, Penny; Agarwal, Cathy; Peng, Fanke; Yew, Yang Wai; Panagiotakos, Demosthenes; Naumovski, Nenad

doi:10.3390/ijerph17051573

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The Environmental and Bitter Taste Endophenotype Determinants of Picky Eating in Australian School-Aged Children 7–12 years—A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study Protocol

^1,*

¹,

⁴,

⁵,

Demosthenes Panagiotakos

⁶

and

Nenad Naumovski

Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Canberra 2617, Australia

School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane 4001, Australia

School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University, Victoria 3216, Australia

⁴

Department of Arts & Communication, School of Design and the Built Environment, Faculty of Arts and Design, University of Canberra, Canberra 2617, Australia

⁵

Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia

⁶

Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science & Education, Harokopio University, 17676 Athens, Greece

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(5), 1573; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051573

Received: 28 November 2019 / Revised: 26 February 2020 / Accepted: 26 February 2020 / Published: 29 February 2020

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gene-Nutrient-Environment Interactions)

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Abstract

Caregivers’ perceptions of children’s pickiness are relatively scarce in relation to the five core food groups and their importance in providing a nutritionally balanced diet. Furthermore, there is no validated questionnaire that examines child-reported food preferences in an age-appropriate manner, and the use of terms such as a “picky eater” can be attributed to environmental and genetic factors. Despite potential links between children’s food preferences and endophenotype bitter taste, associations between bitter taste sensitivity and picky eating is relatively unexplored. The proposed cross-sectional study aims to develop and validate a parent-reported core-food Picky Eating Questionnaire (PEQ) and child-reported Food Preference Questionnaire (C-FPQ) and simultaneously investigate environmental and phenotype determinants of picky eating. The study will be conducted in three stages: Phase 1, piloting PEQ and C-FPQ questionnaires (15–20 primary caregivers and their children aged 7–12 years); Phase 2 and 3, validating the revised questionnaires and evaluating the 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) bitter taste sensitivity to examine perception to bitter taste (369 primary caregivers and their children). Study findings will generate new validated tools (PEQ, C-FPQ) for use in evidence-based practice and research and explore picky eating as a behavioural issue via the potential genetic-phenotype basis of bitter taste sensitivity. View Full-Text

Keywords: picky eating; endophenotype; 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP); bitter taste sensitivity; food preferences

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Jani, R.; Byrne, R.; Love, P.; Agarwal, C.; Peng, F.; Yew, Y.W.; Panagiotakos, D.; Naumovski, N. The Environmental and Bitter Taste Endophenotype Determinants of Picky Eating in Australian School-Aged Children 7–12 years—A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study Protocol. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 1573. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051573

AMA Style

Jani R, Byrne R, Love P, Agarwal C, Peng F, Yew YW, Panagiotakos D, Naumovski N. The Environmental and Bitter Taste Endophenotype Determinants of Picky Eating in Australian School-Aged Children 7–12 years—A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study Protocol. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17(5):1573. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051573

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jani, Rati, Rebecca Byrne, Penny Love, Cathy Agarwal, Fanke Peng, Yang W. Yew, Demosthenes Panagiotakos, and Nenad Naumovski. 2020. "The Environmental and Bitter Taste Endophenotype Determinants of Picky Eating in Australian School-Aged Children 7–12 years—A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study Protocol" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 5: 1573. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051573

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The Environmental and Bitter Taste Endophenotype Determinants of Picky Eating in Australian School-Aged Children 7–12 years—A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study Protocol

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