Eating or not eating, that's the question: gender differences on food neophobia

Abstract

Feeding neophobia represents a cautious behavior towards unknown food. Although men and women show behavioral differences, relating feeding neophobia data on neophobic response are controversial. In this study, in order to investigating gender differences, 266 individuals were tested on a two food choosing task between a familiar and an unfamiliar food items, and also were required to fill in a food neophobia scale. Results indicate that women are more neophobic than men confirming previous research data on feeding behavior. This might be related to females' role to selecting and preparing food in the family context.

Food neophobia; Feeding behavior; Gender differences