Jennifer Burns Katafigiotis

“Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.”

These words by Hippocrates have shaped Jennifer’s career and have become her mantra.

While pursuing a graduate degree in Nutrition Education and Food Science from Montclair State University, Jennifer took her first course with Dr. Doreen Liou, Ed. D. It was during this class that Jennifer was exposed to two issues that gave focus to her role in nutrition education.

The first was a statement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
“Children born after the year 2000 will be the first generation of Americans projected to die at an earlier age than their parents if the epidemic of overweight and obesity among this age group is left unchecked.”

The second issue was revealed shortly thereafter in the required text Nutrition Education: Linking Research, Theory and Practice by Isobel R. Contento, Ph.D. The idea of neophobia in children – the fear of new foods and the need to expose children to the new foods 12-15 times - intrigued Jennifer. She knew that the two areas needed to be addressed, and that Hippocrates words would lead the way.

A nutrition research project and presentation led to the creation of Miss Cebidae Spider Monkey, the soon to be released children’s book. This story is at the center of the Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey Brownie Journey program entitled, “Global Goodies” and was recently featured on CBS 2 News in a segment on the topic of neophobia.

Jennifer Burns Katafigiots, featured on CBS 2 News

The story is about Cebidae, a young Costa Rican spider monkey that helps her older brother Geoffroyi with his neophobia. Geoffroyi exhibits many of the traits associated with neophobia and Cebidae helps him realize successful resolution of the problem. Children that read the story will be able to model the characters behavior and begin to build self confidence in their own ability to choose a new food, prepare it in a creative way and engage others in tasting it. Repeated exposure to new foods, modeling behaviors, and self-efficacy are all instrumental in the journey from neophobia to neophilia – the liking of new foods.

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And remember … try it, you might just like it! If not this time, maybe next time.