Stability of food preferences during weight control. A study with 8- to 12-year-old children and their parents.
Reinforcement contingency by itself did not budge food preferences in obese children, but later studies show the same principle works when you boost reinforcer value, control hunger, or add prompting.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers asked a simple question. Can we make obese kids like low-calorie foods more by giving the foods only after good behavior?
They worked with twenty-two 8- to young learners and their parents. Kids got fun activities or praise right after they tasted or ate a new low-calorie food.
The team tracked how much kids said they liked each food before and after the program. They also watched which foods kids chose when they could pick anything.
What they found
Nothing moved the needle. Kids kept saying the new foods tasted "just okay" and still reached for the old favorites.
Even when children ate the low-calorie snacks to earn rewards, their preference ratings stayed flat across four weeks.
How this fits with other research
Silbaugh et al. (2018) saw the same roadblock. Reinforcement alone failed for three preschoolers with autism, but adding gentle physical guidance—hand-over-hand bite placement—jumped acceptance to a large share. The 1987 study stopped at reinforcement; Silbaugh shows the next step.
Gabriels et al. (2001) got kids with developmental disabilities to eat new foods using reinforcement plus a smart twist. They held back preferred snacks for 30-60 minutes before meals so hunger boosted the value of new bites. H et al. never controlled hunger, likely why their contingency fell flat.
Pubylski-Yanofchick et al. (2022) later proved reinforcement can work for food selectivity—if you pick the right reinforcer. An adult with autism accepted fruits when each bite produced a highly preferred video. The 1987 team used mild praise; the 2022 team used potent videos. Same principle, stronger payoff.
Why it matters
If you run a feeding program, don’t expect praise alone to flip food likes. First check the value of your reinforcer—make it bigger or fresher if needed. Second, control the environment: limit access to favorite foods 30 minutes before meals and use tiny bite requirements to start. Finally, if reinforcement still fails, layer in evidence-based add-ons like physical guidance or escape extinction rather than abandoning the plan.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Previous research has shown that the preference for foods used to reinforce behavior change will increase in young children. This study was designed to assess whether this principle could be used to change the food preferences of older, obese children. Obese children were randomly assigned to one of two groups, a treatment group in which novel low-calorie foods were presented contingent upon the behavior changes required for weight loss, whereas in the control group the novel low-calorie foods were given for a daily snack and not contingent upon behavior change. Food preferences were tested twice before treatment began to establish the stability of the food preference, and at 8 weeks (end of treatment) and 6 months after treatment began. Food preferences were stable before treatment began, and remained stable throughout the treatment and follow-up. Children in both groups lost significant amounts of weight after treatment. Preferences were greater for familiar than unfamiliar foods, and greater for fruits than vegetables. No systematic relationships between parent and child food preference were observed.
Behavior modification, 1987 · doi:10.1177/01454455870111007