The prevalence and determinants of food neophobia among adolescents and young adults in Zimbabwe

• The online cross-sectional survey was conducted using a modified food neophobia scale questionnaire. • The study observed low food neophobia scores among adolescents and young adults, implying that they are open to trying out new foods. • Low insect knowledge score was the only significant determinant of food neophobia in this population. This highlights the need to promote widely the consumption of diverse nutritious foods. • Further studies at the national level are warranted to provide more conclusive results to ground context-specific interventions in the context of climate change and food system transformation. Food neophobia is defined as the fear of trying new foods. Food systems in Sub-Saharan Africa are changing requiring a shift back to promoting the consumption of traditional or underutilized food species “novel foods”. Unfortunately, neophobia is a key barrier to their adoption in most settings. This study aimed to (1) investigate the prevalence of food neophobia and the willingness to consume edible insects and insect-based food (2) to explore the determinants of food neophobia and willingness to consume insects and insect-based foods among adolescents and young adults in Zimbabwe. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted via the Google Forms platform from April to November 2023 targeted at adolescents (10–19 years) and young adults (20–25 years). The survey comprised a demographic section followed by a standard Food Neophobia Scale (FNS) questionnaire and a standard willingness to eat questionnaire. The sample size was 537 participants with the majority being females (63 %). A greater proportion of the respondents had attained tertiary education (64.8 %). The prevalence of neophobia was 14.4 % while the prevalence for willingness to consume insects and insect-based foods was 39.5 %. The Pearson's chi-squared test results showed some association between neophobia and religion ( p = 0.021) with those of the Apostolic sect being more likely to be neophobic. However, binary logistic regression results showed no significant associations between food neophobia and socio-economic and demographic variables ( p < 0.05). The study population had low neophobia, implying that they are receptive to novel foods. The willingness to consume insects and insect-based foods was fair implying the age group is entomophagous. Further studies at national level and/or longitudinal studies are required to explore the predictors of neophobia and willingness to consume insects and insect-based food including comparing the rural and urban differences in this age group. This will be useful information to food manufacturers, programme managers and policy makers.