20.500.12556/RUL-180961 Age, food neophobia, and whole-grain acceptance in Slovenian adolescents in the context of organized school meals: insights from the national “whole grain” project Background: Childhood and adolescence represent a critical period for shaping long term dietary habits, including whole grain consumption, which remains low despite well documentedhealthbenefits. Objective: Thiscross-sectionalstudy(November–December2024) examined Slovenian adolescents’ attitudes toward whole-grain foods in the context of or ganized school meals. Methods: Participants aged 10–12 years and 14–19 years (N = 501; meanage15.6 ± 2.6) completed an online questionnaire assessing knowledge, self-reported consumption frequency, preferences, motivational factors, and food neophobia using the translated Italian Child Food Neophobia Scale (ICFNS). Based on ICFNS scores, partic ipants were classified as low (≤17), medium (18–24), or high (≥25) in food neophobia. Results: Older adolescents demonstrated better knowledge of whole-grain health benefits; however, greater knowledge was not associated with higher self-reported consumption. Food neophobia was strongly associated with lower consumption frequency and reduced willingness to try whole-grain foods, including whole-grain bread, oatmeal, buckwheat porridge and brown rice. Across all groups, taste was the most consistent motivator for trying whole-grain foods. Older adolescents prioritized health and appearance as key reasons for eating more whole grain foods. Conclusions: Findings suggest that improving taste, increasing exposure, and leveraging institutional settings such as schools, where availability, preparation, and social cues can be managed, may be effective in promoting whole-grain food consumption. whole grain school meals eating habits adolescents acceptance polnozrnata živila šolski obroki mladi potrošniki prehranske navade prehranska neofobija true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2026-03-20 13:01:08 2026-03-20 13:01:15 2026-03-23 03:53:20 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 17 str. iss. 6, art. 896 Vol. 18 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno apc 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2026-01-01 664.661:613.2-053.5/.6 2072-6643 doi.org/10.3390/nu18060896 271570691 cad_nutrients-18-00896-1.pdf cad_nutrients-18-00896-1.pdf 1 97CB5CD0138665F3AC1C30B9835699F7 bb30278d98e7f2181d9130cf1e1b0eec6e8232c50226398b0543eb3037a42525 910417ca-2454-11f1-b0ab-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=230996 https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/18/6/896 1 691739ed-2454-11f1-b0ab-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=230995 Biotehniška fakulteta 0 0 0