Institute of Psychological Sciences

Human Nutrition research group

The HabEat project

The HabEat project brings together 11 European beneficiaries from 6 European countries applying a multidisciplinary approach (psychology, epidemiology, behavioural science, nutrition, and sensory science) to enhance our understanding of how food habits are formed and can also be changed, in infants and young children.

Recent research has shown that children across the EU fail to eat enough vegetables in order to benefit from their positive health effects. Quite often older children report that they do not like vegetables due to their taste, texture and their appearance. In contrast, newly weaned infants are very willing to consume most vegetables offered to them; however, with time this willingness decreases.

Here at the University of Leeds our role in the HabEat project is to investigate the key learning mechanisms involved in the liking and acceptance of vegetables in infants and young children aged 18 months to 3 years. This work is in collaboration with colleagues in France (INRA, Dijon), Denmark (University of Copenhagen) and the Netherlands (Wageningen University) this part of the project is lead by Professor Marion Hetherington (University of Leeds, UK) and the Postdoctoral Fellow is Dr Sam Caton. Our aim is to develop effective strategies for promoting vegetable intake and liking in infants and young children.

Further information on all aspects of the HabEat project can be found at www.habeat.eu