Gerry Jager

Gerry Jager is an Associate Professor specializing in Sensory Science and Eating Behaviour at Wageningen University & Research. His research focuses on understanding how sensory properties of food influence eating behavior, particularly in children, with significant contributions to the fields of taste perception and dietary pattern formation.

Dr. Jager's research interests span several key areas in food science and nutrition:

• Eating Behavior - examining how people make food choices and consume food
• Sensation of Taste - investigating the sensory mechanisms behind taste perception
• Healthy Eating - developing strategies to promote better dietary habits
• Sweetness perception and its impact on food choices
• Sugar and fruit intake patterns, particularly in children
• Temporal aspects of food perception and consumption

His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on children's eating behavior, sweetness preferences, and the impact of parental guidance on dietary choices. Dr. Jager's work often employs experimental approaches to understand how repeated exposure to different tastes affects long-term food preferences, with research extending into digital tools for understanding eating behavior.

As a supervisor, Dr. Jager has guided multiple PhD candidates through their research projects, with 11 supervised works listed in his profile. His current and recent projects include:

• Innovative Digital Tools to Understand Child Eating Behaviour (active)
• The role of sweetness exposure in taste preferences and eating behaviour in children (2020-2024)
• Food and emotions (2018-2023)
• To like or not to like: on negotiating taste in children of families with lower socioeconomic status (2017-2022)
• Time to indulge in foods (2016-2020)

Dr. Jager's research has gained attention in both academic and popular media, with his work being featured in news outlets and discussed on social media platforms. His datasets, such as 'Grab-to-Eat,' contribute to the broader research community's understanding of eating behavior.