Pilot Intervention Enhances Preschoolers' Self-Regulation and Food Liking

The goal of this study was to develop and evaluate a 5-week intervention that targeted self-regulation and healthy food liking through mindfulness and classroom-based games with exposure to fruits and vegetables.

Children (mean age, 3.6 ± 0.05 years) in 1 Head Start center received the classroom-based intervention (n = 24) and children in a second did not (n = 15). Assessments of self-regulation and liking of fruits and vegetables were administered pre- and postintervention.

Children in the intervention, but not the comparison group, experienced significant improvements in behavioral regulation (P = 0.003) and liking of fruits and vegetables (P = 0.02).

This study lays a foundation for future research that replicates findings with a larger sample using a randomized controlled design, incorporates more typical mindful eating practices, and includes additional, broader measures of food liking.