Neophobia

Neophobia is the fear of anything new, ranging in humans from a mild reluctance to try unfamiliar things or depart from routine to a more pronounced avoidance response. In children it is most often discussed as food neophobia, a tendency to reject unknown or novel foods that is a recognized concern in pediatric psychology; on its own it is not classed as a disorder, though it is a common symptom of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder. Neophobia also appears widely across animal species, where researchers study the brain regions and cellular and molecular factors that shape an animal's willingness to sample new foods; ecologically it works both ways, protecting wild animals from unfamiliar hazards while sometimes limiting their access to beneficial new resources. The word comes from the Greek neos, new, and phobos, fear, and the condition can manifest physically, psychologically and behaviorally.