Food Standards Agency multidisciplinary workshop: children's food choice in the family setting

Abstract

Summary There has been relatively little research on public health nutrition interventions for families and children, compared with, for example, work in schools. In Spring 2007, the UK Food Standards Agency held a multidisciplinary workshop on food choice in families and children, bringing together researchers from psychology, social sciences, public health and nutrition. The objectives of the workshop were to form an up‐to‐date view of the influences on children's and young people's food choice within the family, and identify future research needs. The participants identified six key areas for future research: multidisciplinary collaboration; using mixed research methods; developing new research methods; identifying family‐related diversity and tailoring interventions towards this; understanding the effects of different parenting styles and the relevance of these to implementing interventions; and developing a more sophisticated understanding of barriers and motivators to food‐related change in families.