Abstract
Caregivers are responsible for the type and amount of food young children are served. However, it remains unclear what considerations caregivers make when serving snacks to children. The aim of the study was to explore mothers’ decisions and portion control strategies during snack preparation in the home environment. Forty mothers of children aged 24–48 months participated in the study. Mothers prepared five snack foods for themselves and their child whilst verbalizing their actions and thoughts. Mothers were then asked about their portion size decisions in a semi-structured interview. Transcripts were imported into NVivo and analyzed thematically. Three key themes were identified: (1) portion size considerations, (2) portion control methods, and (3) awareness and use of portion size recommendations. Transient, food-related situational influences influenced mothers and disrupted planning and portion control. Food packaging and dishware size were used as visual cues for portion control; however, these vary widely in their size, thus emphasizing mothers’ uncertainty regarding appropriate portion sizes. Mothers called for portion size information to be accessible, child-centered, and simple. These findings reveal multiple considerations when deciding on the correct snack portion sizes for children. These decisions are complex and vary across situations and time, and according to the types of snacks offered.
Highlights
Young children consume larger quantities of food in the presence of larger food portion sizes, which may be attributable to social norms, visual cues, or changes in the microstructure of eating [1].This is known as the portion size effect (PSE)
According to the index of multiple deprivation, caregivers were from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds (40% residing in areas of the United Kingdom (UK) which fall below the median decile for deprivation) [29], with almost one-quarter of caregivers earning below the average household income for 2017 [30]
Detailed discussions regarding the factors that influence mothers’ portion size decisions when serving themselves and their children snack foods occurred during the think-aloud task and interviews
Summary
Young children consume larger quantities of food in the presence of larger food portion sizes, which may be attributable to social norms, visual cues, or changes in the microstructure of eating [1] This is known as the portion size effect (PSE). Portion sizes of food consumed within the home are increasing [4,5] The impact of these ongoing changes to children’s dietary intake were recorded [6,7] and suggested that children aged 1–4 years are being offered high-energy-density snacks (HED > 2.5 kcal/g as defined by reference [8]) up to three times the recommended weekly amount at one eating occasion. Frequent consumption of HED snacks is associated with a higher body mass index (BMI) in adolescents and an increased risk of associated
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