A visual exposure strategy to facilitate the introduction of fruit and vegetables into the diets of toddlers

The study explored whether parents’ efforts to introduce their toddlers to disliked or unfamiliar fruits and vegetables at home are facilitated by a prior period of visual familiarisation to foods through shared picture books. Parents identified two target foods – 1 fruit and 1 vegetable – that they wanted their child to eat. In a randomised controlled trial design, families were allocated to one of three groups: a vegetable book, fruit book, or control (no book) group. Families looked at a book about one of their child’s target foods (except controls) for two weeks, before all families engaged in a 2-week taste exposure phase to both target foods. Two datasets are available for this project.