Sensitive Periods in Human Flavor Learning

Monell Chemical Senses Center

Status: Completed

Conditions: Development

Treatments: Other: Timing of Diet and Flavor Experience

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01667549

HD37119

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goals of the proposed research are to specify the timing and consequences of the sensitive period for flavor learning in infants who are being breastfed or formula fed. The investigators will conduct a randomized within- and between-subject study of women and their infants during a 15-month window.

Full description

This is a randomized clinical trial on both breastfeeding and formula feeding infants to determine the effects of the timing of flavor experiences on subsequent food acceptance in both members of the dyad.

Enrollment: 97 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 2 to 3 weeks old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Healthy, term infants and their mothers
• Infants 2 wks (+/- 2 wk of age)
• Mothers and infants exclusively breastfeeding or exclusively feeding a cows-milk based formula
• Mothers must be older than 18 years of age

Exclusion criteria

• Infants who were preterm or have medical conditions that interfere with feeding or eating
• Mothers who had gestational diabetes or are diagnosed with a major illness requiring treatment or surgery
• Mothers who will be going back to work full-time before the infant is 4 months old
• Mothers who are allergic to any vegetables
• Subjects will not be excluded because of economic status, gender, race or ethnicity.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Triple Blind

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97 participants in 4 patient groups

1M0.5

Experimental group

Description:

Mothers will receive the intervention for 1 month beginning when their infant is 0.5 months old. Intervention: Timing of Diet and Flavor Experience

Treatment:

Other: Timing of Diet and Flavor Experience

1M1.5

Experimental group

Description:

Mothers will receive the intervention for 1 month beginning when their infant is 1.5 months old. Intervention: Timing of Diet and Flavor Experience

Treatment:

Other: Timing of Diet and Flavor Experience

3M0.5

Experimental group

Description:

Mothers will receive the intervention for 3 months beginning when their infant is 0.5 months old. Intervention: Timing of Diet and Flavor Experience

Treatment:

Other: Timing of Diet and Flavor Experience

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

Mothers will not receive the intervention.