Children's Food Behaviors Research Articles

Barriers and enablers to a healthy food environment in Australian childcare services: Exploring directors' perspectives.

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings are ideal environments to optimise nutrition and positively influence children's food behaviours. However, recent research has identified the need to improve nutrition policies, food provision, and mealtime environments in Australian ECEC settings. This study explored the perceptions of ECEC directors regarding barriers and enablers to a health-promoting food environment within ECEC services. Eleven directors from ECEC services in Nerang, Queensland, and surrounding areas, participated in qualitative interviews between March and May 2021. Transcripts were analysed using qualitative content analysis that followed a deductive-inductive approach employing nutrition-related domains from the Wellness Child Care Assessment Tool, these being: (i) nutrition policy; (ii) nutrition education; (iii) food provision; and (iv) mealtimes. Transcripts were coded independently by two researchers in NVivo and consensus for barriers and enablers was achieved through discussion. Barriers and enablers were reported across four domains (nutrition policy, nutrition education, food provision, and mealtimes). Comprehensive nutrition-related policies were an enabler to a healthy nutrition environment but were sometimes described as lacking detail or customisation to the service. Nutrition education for children was described as competing with other activities for time and resources in an already-crowded curriculum. Financial and time pressures faced by families were a barrier to healthy food provision in services where families provided food for children. The ability of staff to sit with children and engage in conversation during mealtimes was an enabler; however, competing demands on time and the unavailability of food for staff were cited as barriers to health-promoting mealtimes. Directors in ECEC services report both barriers and enablers to a healthy food environment. Nutrition policies were an enabler when comprehensive and relevant but a barrier when vague and not tailored to the service environment. ECEC services should be supported to develop and implement service-specific nutrition policies and practices by engaging with parents and staff. SO WHAT?: The barriers and enablers reported in this study should be considered when designing and implementing future evidence-based interventions to improve the nutrition environment in ECEC services.

Is it ethical to advertise unhealthy foods to children?

The marketing of foods and non-alcoholic beverages (hereafter: food) high in fats, salt and/or sugar (HFSS) has been strongly implicated in the rising levels of childhood obesity worldwide. Multiple ethical concerns arise from the practice of exposing children to such marketing and efforts to monitor and restrict it through regulatory policies. There is considerable evidence that exposure to powerful food marketing messages affects children's food behaviours in ways that are detrimental to good dietary health. Children are particularly vulnerable to being exploited and deceived by food marketing messages based on their cognitive and developmental immaturity. HFSS food marketing also affects numerous child rights enshrined within the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (of which the UK is a signatory) including the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health. The debate has become somewhat polarised between the public health community's evidence-based assertion that all marketing is inherently exploitative and the rebuttal from food and marketing industry stakeholders that provided the marketing is 'accurate and truthful' and there is no ethical need to regulate. This polarisation is reflected in the complexity of policymaking decisions regarding the rationale for mandatory government-led policies or industry self-regulation. There are also ethical considerations inherent in the monitoring of children's food marketing exposure, particularly in the digital sphere, by researchers for the purposes of informing policy design, scope and implementation. This review paper will explore the latest evidence on these issues and consider the implications for public health research, policy, and practice.

Development of an intervention program to prevent childhood obesity targeted to Mexican mothers of school-aged children using intervention mapping and social cognitive theory

In Mexico, data from the last National Health and Nutrition Survey (2016) described the increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in school-aged children (33.2%). Obesity prevention strategies have not been effective, and currently, Mexico has one of the highest prevalence of childhood obesity. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop strategies that can prevent childhood obesity and also to avoid these children to remain overweight/obese through adulthood. The objective of this study was to provide a step-by-step description of the design, implementation and evaluation of an intervention plan for Mexican mothers of school aged children to promote healthy eating and to prevent childhood obesity. The program Niño Sano Adulto Sano was developed using the Intervention Mapping Approach and the Social Cognitive Theory frameworks to provide Mexican mothers with knowledge and skills to positively modify their children's food behavior, thus preventing future weight gain. The program was developed, piloted and delivered to the target population with positive results on the mothers’ nutrition knowledge and children’s BMI. Intervention Mapping and Social Cognitive Theory are useful models to design and deliver an intervention that provides a holistic approach to promote healthy eating.

Parental influences on children's food behaviours: challenges and opportunities from studying culturally diverse samples.

Parental influences on children's food behaviours: challenges and opportunities from studying culturally diverse samples.

Child Centered Nutrition Phrases: Messaging Increases Young Children's Consumption of Healthful Foods

Communication strategies that promote young children's healthful eating have received limited empirical study, particularly in early childhood education (ECE) settings. This study examines the effect of developmentally appropriate nutrition phrases on young children's food behavior. Eighty-seven children aged 3-6 years attending two ECE programs participated in a within-subject experiment. For the six-week taste activity intervention, each child was randomly assigned a repeated exposure (RE) and a child-centered nutrition phrase (CCNP) food (quinoa, lentils, tomato, or bell pepper). A consumption trial measured individual intake pre- and post-treatment and at one month post-treatment. Grams consumed data were log-transformed then submitted to a 2-level random effects model with time of assessment, phrase condition, their interaction, pre-preference for the foods, and pre-exposure to the foods at level 1; and site, child age, income, parent education level, and parent nutrition knowledge at level 2. Consumption of the CCNP food across the sample increased more than foods using RE alone. Children exposed to the CCNPs consumed 8.95g more of their target food post-treatment and 17.9g more at the one month post-assessment. A site effect was detected. Children from one ECE program accounted for the increased consumption of the CCNP food within the sample. Children attending the second site consumed less of the CCNP food than the RE food. Strategic use of developmentally appropriate nutrition messaging in ECE programs may be an effective strategy for increasing food consumption, but further research is needed to better understand contextual factors.

Behavioural measures of child's eating temperament and their link with BMI

Rothbart's model of temperament, defined as individual differences in reactivity and self-regulation, has a strong heuristic value with applications in a wide variety of children's outcomes. Our objective was to test Rothbart's model applied to children's food behaviours and BMI outcome through behavioural measures. Our hypotheses, according to Rothbart's model, were as follows: (i) self-regulation in eating modulates appetite reactivity; (ii) appetite reactivity increases the risk of excess BMI, whereas self-regulation in eating limits this risk. One hundred and four children aged between 7 and 12 years completed four behavioural tasks to assess scores for two components of appetite reactivity (i.e. appetite arousal and appetite persistence) and two components of self-regulation in eating (i.e. self-regulation in eating without hunger and self-regulation in eating speed). Their heights and weights were measured in order to calculate their BMI-for-age. T-tests and regression analysis were used to verify our hypotheses. None of the scores of self-regulation in eating was directly associated with BMI but we observed a significant impact of self-regulation in eating without hunger on appetite arousal (p-value = 0.04), together with a modest but significant association between appetite persistence and BMI (p-value = 0.02). We can thus conclude that our behavioural measures could be used for the determination of the child's eating temperament. Further studies are needed to investigate how to use these measures to improve the treatment of overweight in children.

Is the Balanced School Day truly balanced? A review of the impacts on children, families, and school food environments.

The Balanced School Day (BSD) is a scheduling policy that has the potential to impact children's food behaviors because students are provided with two 20-minute eating opportunities versus the traditional 20-minute lunch. We aim to raise awareness of this grassroots academic policy and its potential consequences to inform future decision making and minimize potential unintended negative health consequences. While there is limited research on this schedule, it has been shown that there is less time lost in transition from classroom to recess. Perception surveys have shown that principals and custodians are the most satisfied, followed by parents, teachers, and secretaries, with students being the least satisfied. The BSD is also perceived to improve organization of instructional time, playground cleanliness, and student concentration. Despite these purported benefits, there is limited data on the impact of the BSD on children's eating habits, physical activity, and body mass index (BMI). While 1 study reported fewer pedometer-measured step counts during breaks in the BSD, more research is needed on the impact of this alternative schedule on children's food intake and BMI. School and public health professionals must advocate for "health impact assessments" to assess the health effects of this policy.

모(母)의 로하스(LOHAS) 라이프스타일이 자녀의 식습관, 식행동 및 건강생활습관에 미치는 영향 연구

This study was conducted to examine the effect of children's dietary quality, dietary habits, food behavior and health-related lifestyles according to the mother's lifestyles of health and sustainability (LOHAS). The subjects were 580 children. Mother's LOHAS attitude index was 66.85 points and 100 points was a perfect score. The mother's high LOHAS attitude items that children perceived were "My mother often communicates with the family"(3.99 points) and "My mother thinks that the family's health is more important than her health"(3.93 points). In contrast, the LOHAS attitude items for "My mother does community service activity on weekends"(2.78 points), and "My mother participates in environmental protection service activity for the local community"(2.78 points) were very low. The high LOHAS behavior index of mothers was "resource saving", whereas "social welfare" scored low. When self-perceived health status and monthly income of children was high, the mother's LOHAS score was high. The LOHAS attitude index of mothers had a meaningful impact on the children's dietary quality, dietary habits, food behavior and health-related lifestyles. The most frequent food behavior variables were "high skipping rate", "frequency of snacks is 2~4 times per week", "speed of eating is rapid", and 'meals' amount is sufficient. The highest daily life habits item was "I try to maintain a pleasant and enjoyable life style"(3.42 points). The highest nutrient intake attitude score was "I tend to eat rice everyday."(3.41 points). They were highly recognized with "moderate physical activity", "high exercise preference", "positive posture exercise", "exercise <2 days per week", and "over 30 minutes exercise time per day" for the exercise performance status items. It was verified that the higher mother's LOHAS lifestyle score is, the higher children's food behavior, daily life habits, nutrient intake, exercise performance state score are.

Mothers' perceptions of children's food behaviors: use of focus group interview study

Children's food behaviors have been expressed in a various ways because of recent changes in their family environment. Thus, this study was performed to investigate in-depth qualitative research on the mother's perception on children's food behaviors by focused group interview. This study was designed in four steps of planning, collection of participants, process, and analysis. Participants for the focus group interview were recruited and sampled from households with elementary school students in the Seoul and Gyeonggido areas. Groups were divided by total income and education expense levels. 1) High income household: It is better to improve currently existing web sites for nutrition education. 2) Mid income household: Easy, practical, and inexpensive off-line cooking class/nutrition education classes for mothers are needed. Nutrition programs for children should be developed through mass media and be promoted in the broadcasting circle. 3) Low income household: Motivation is required for mothers' education and the serious nutritional problems of children should be informed through mass media and home correspondence from school. And interesting educational materials should be developed for children to read whenever they want.

Food behaviors of young children: Cognitive and attitudinal factors

Young children's diets are determined to a large degree by their mothers’ nutritional knowledge and food attitudes. The primary purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of mothers’ nutritional knowledge and food attitudes on their children's nutritional knowledge and food behavior. The subjects were 159 children. They ranged in ages from 7 to 9 years old. Their mothers also participated in the study. Bivariate relationships between pairs of variables were tested using the Pearson product‐moment correlation. The major findings were: (1) Children's nutritional knowledge was related to their mothers’ nutritional knowledge and attitudes of sociability. (2) Mothers’ nutritional knowledge was related to their attitudes of sociability and frugality. Nutritional knowledge was negatively correlated with mother's attitudes toward health and social status. (3) Children's food behavior was related to their nutritional knowledge and their mothers’ nutritional knowledge.

Children’s food patterns—a review: II. Family and group behavior

Several themes have been presented in this review of research on children's food habits. Even though each of these themes helps advance the study of children's food behavior, how are the findings related and how does the nutritionist apply the findings in education programs? A theoretical model is needed that can be used with families anywhere in the world--those that have problems feeding children, as well as those that do not. The model should also provide solutions for many problems of food behavior and help nutritionists decide on alternatives for nutrition education programs. Such a model would adapt the themes presented in this article into conceptual abstractions with cross-cultural utility in explaining how food habits change. For example, many of the themes in this article could represent family solidarity (e.g., cooperation, communication, cohesiveness, and organization) (32, 70, 77, 126). Familiarity, adult and peer models, positive reinforcement, discipline, parent-child stimulation, family organization, and parental relationships suggest different ways to measure the family situation. In other words, each of these themes illustrates ways to develop cultural specific measure of one concept--family solidarity (32). In the information-processing model, family solidarity is considered the influencing variable to explain food habits (32). By this model, just presenting information does not guarantee its use. Rather, the use of nutrition information depends on the family situation. If family members share information and decide to use it, then food problems will be solved.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Children’s food patterns—a review: I. Food preferences and feeding problems

Many studies of children's food preferences and feeding problems are limited by cultural definition of food preferences, feeding problems, and parental management (32, 40, 51, 59, 90). In general, most samples have been white middle class families with children in nursery school; nutritional adequacy has not been considered; food preferences and feeding problems have not been well defined; and poorly documented observations have been generalized to other or all populations. The results at this level of abstraction do not offer solutions to children's food behavior or begin to unravel the mystery of the role of preferences and problems in predicting food behavior and nutritional status. Although results of studies may vary because of methodology, the greatest problem is the level of abstraction. Some research is beginning to identify more rigorously attributes, dimensions, or factors involved in the formation of children's food patterns, using a broader theoretical framework (29, 33, 34, 47, 63, 64, 66, 68-70). Part II of this article examines food preferences by using a family point of view.

Food behavior of elementary school students after receiving nutrition education

A nine-week nutrition education program for kindergarten through sixth grade was implemented and its influence on children's food behavior assessed using a pretest/post-test design involving children who were and were not exposed to the program. The food behavior response was mixed. Consumption of some food items, at post-test time, was higher among pupils exposed to the program, but that of other items was lower, and consumption of some items was unaffected. Responses to questionnaires by parents indicated that they perceived a favorable effect of the nutrition education program on their children's food behavior.