Healthy Food Preferences Research Articles

Maternal Feeding Practices and Feeding Behaviors of Australian Children Aged 12–36 Months

To explore parents' perceptions of the eating behaviors and related feeding practices of their young children. Mothers (N=740) of children aged 12-36 months and born in South Australia were randomly selected by birth date in four 6-month age bands from a centralized statewide database and invited to complete a postal questionnaire. Valid completed questionnaires were returned for 374 children (51% response rate; 54% female). Although mothers generally reported being confident and happy in feeding their children, 23% often worried that they gave their child the right amount of food. Based on a checklist of 36 specified items, 15% of children consumed no vegetables in the previous 24 h, 11% no fruit and for a further 8% juice was the only fruit. Of 12 specified high fat/sugar foods and drinks, 11% of children consumed none, 20% one, 26% two, and 43% three or more. Six of eight child-feeding practices that promote healthy eating behaviors were undertaken by 75% parents 'often' or 'all of the time'. However, 8 of 11 practices that do not promote healthy eating were undertaken by a third of mothers at least 'sometimes'. In this representative sample, dietary quality issues emerge early and inappropriate feeding practices are prevalent thus identifying the need for very early interventions that promote healthy food preferences and positive feeding practices. Such programs should focus not just on the 'what', but also the 'how' of early feeding, including the feeding relationship and processes appropriate to developmental stage.

The development of childhood dietary preferences and their implications for later adult health

SummaryThe food fed to infants and young children not only determines their health in childhood but also predicts the foods that they eat in later life. Because adult dietary preferences are partially formed in childhood, the childhood diet inevitably contributes to the long‐term health of the individual. We are all aware of preferences that have endured since childhood, and that our dietary habits only change if we have reason to adapt them, perhaps for a healthier lifestyle. Adopting a healthy diet in adulthood is likely to be considerably easier if we have developed healthy food preferences during our childhood.Current information shows that toddlers are fed diets high in fat, sugar and salt and that mothers are confused about what toddlers should be eating.A healthy diet for toddlers combines foods from all the five food groups. This combination involves mixing high‐calorie and low‐calorie foods. Healthy food options should be introduced from weaning, and offered repeatedly through the infant and toddler years. Furthermore, the whole family should model a healthy eating lifestyle in order to foster the acceptance of foods that constitute a well‐balanced diet.

농.어촌지역 65세 이상 노인들의 주관적 건강평가에 따른 건강관련행동 및 음식섭취빈도

This study attempted to analyze the general and physical characteristics, the status of physical function, the type and number of current diagnosis and self-reported symptoms, healthy life mode and food preference according to self-rated health (SRH) of older adults (135 men and 270 women). It also attempted to assess the factors affecting the SRH standards in agricultural and fishery areas located in southwestern Korea. The subjects considered themselves as being 'good'(57.6%), 'normal'(29.6%) or 'poor'(12.85) SRH, meaning positive self-rating of health and it was found that the correlation between factors such as the gender, current marriage status, monthly wage, the reception of the government's livelihood subsidy and subjective economical status and the SRH were significant. Regardless of the categories of obesity, a large number of the participants rated themselves as 'healthy', but not statistically significant. The subjects who reported poor ADL and IADL capacities, indicators of the status of physical function, were significantly more classified to the 'poor' health category and vice versa (P<0.001). The reported chronic diseases in this study that have lasted more than three months, were lumbago, sciatica, arthritis, high blood pressure and peptic ulcer. The current ratios of smoking, drinking and exercise were 85.3, 39.0 and 18.6%, respectively. The less drinking and exercising there was, the higher the 'good' SRH categories obtained (P<0.05). The respondents who had less chance of eating sour and hot foods estimated their health status as being better.

The NOURISH randomised control trial: Positive feeding practices and food preferences in early childhood - a primary prevention program for childhood obesity

BackgroundPrimary prevention of childhood overweight is an international priority. In Australia 20-25% of 2-8 year olds are already overweight. These children are at substantially increased the risk of becoming overweight adults, with attendant increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Early feeding practices determine infant exposure to food (type, amount, frequency) and include responses (eg coercion) to infant feeding behaviour (eg. food refusal). There is correlational evidence linking parenting style and early feeding practices to child eating behaviour and weight status. A focus on early feeding is consistent with the national focus on early childhood as the foundation for life-long health and well being. The NOURISH trial aims to implement and evaluate a community-based intervention to promote early feeding practices that will foster healthy food preferences and intake and preserve the innate capacity to self-regulate food intake in young children.Methods/DesignThis randomised controlled trial (RCT) aims to recruit 820 first-time mothers and their healthy term infants. A consecutive sample of eligible mothers will be approached postnatally at major maternity hospitals in Brisbane and Adelaide. Initial consent will be for re-contact for full enrolment when the infants are 4-7 months old. Individual mother- infant dyads will be randomised to usual care or the intervention. The intervention will provide anticipatory guidance via two modules of six fortnightly parent education and peer support group sessions, each followed by six months of regular maintenance contact. The modules will commence when the infants are aged 4-7 and 13-16 months to coincide with establishment of solid feeding, and autonomy and independence, respectively. Outcome measures will be assessed at baseline, with follow up at nine and 18 months. These will include infant intake (type and amount of foods), food preferences, feeding behaviour and growth and self-reported maternal feeding practices and parenting practices and efficacy. Covariates will include sociodemographics, infant feeding mode and temperament, maternal weight status and weight concern and child care exposure.DiscussionDespite the strong rationale to focus on parents' early feeding practices as a key determinant of child food preferences, intake and self-regulatory capacity, prospective longitudinal and intervention studies are rare. This trial will be amongst to provide Level II evidence regarding the impact of an intervention (commencing prior to age 12 months) on children's eating patterns and behaviours.Trial RegistrationACTRN12608000056392

Improving the nutritional status of food-insecure women: first, let them eat what they like

To determine the extent to which identified nutrient inadequacies in the dietary intakes of a sample of food-insecure women could be ameliorated by increasing their access to the 'healthy' foods they typically eat. Merged datasets of 226 food-insecure women who provided at least three 24-hour dietary intake recalls over the course of a month. Dietary modelling, with energy adjustment for severe food insecurity, explored the effect of adding a serving of the woman's own, and the group's typically chosen, nutrient-rich foods on the estimated prevalence of nutrient inadequacy. One study included participants residing in 22 diverse community clusters from the Atlantic Provinces of Canada, and the second study included food bank attendees in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Of the 226 participants, 78% lived alone with their children. While nutritional vulnerability remained after modelling, adding a single serving of either typically chosen 'healthy' foods from women's own diets or healthy food choices normative to the population reduced the prevalence of inadequacy by at least half for most nutrients. Correction for energy deficits resulting from severe food insecurity contributed a mean additional 20% improvement in nutrient intakes. Food-insecure women would sustain substantive nutritional gains if they had greater access to their personal healthy food preferences and if the dietary compromises associated with severe food insecurity were abated. Increased resources to access such choices should be a priority.

Contribution of Health Attributes, Research Investment, and Innovation to Developments in the Blueberry Industry

This paper examines how the United States and Canadian highbush and lowbush blueberry industries have changed over the last two decades. Production increases have been driven by a combination of changing consumer preferences for healthy foods and the development of new cultivars that have opened new production regions, expanded fresh market opportunities, and created new food products. Canada has found it advantageous and economical to invest its research effort in the development of the lowbush blueberry, exploiting its health protective properties. The Unites States has concentrated its research effort on highbush cultivars to lengthen the harvest window and promote diversification opportunities in the Southern United States. Highbush production expansion in the Pacific Northwest has relied very little on new cultivar development and improvements in yield but more on increases in cultivated area.

Contribution of Health Attributes, Research Investment and Innovation to Developments in the Blueberry Industry

This paper examines how the United States and Canadian highbush and lowbush blueberry industries have changed over the last two decades. Production increases have been driven by a combination of changing consumer preferences for healthy foods and the development of new cultivars that have opened new production regions, expanded fresh market opportunities, and created new food products. Canada has found it advantageous and economical to invest its research effort in the development of the lowbush blueberry, exploiting its health protective properties. The United States has concentrated its research effort on highbush cultivars to lengthen the harvest window and promote diversification opportunities in the Southern United States. Highbush production expansion in the Pacific Northwest has relied very little on new cultivar development and improvements in yield but more on increases in cultivated area.

Role of parents in the determination of the food preferences of children and the development of obesity.

The role of parental behaviour in the development of food preferences is considered. Food preferences develop from genetically determined predispositions to like sweet and salty flavours and to dislike bitter and sour tastes. Particularly towards the second year of life, there is a tendency to avoid novel foods (neophobia). Food aversions can be learnt in one trial if consumption is followed by discomfort. There is a predisposition to learn to like foods with high-energy density. However, from birth genetic predispositions are modified by experience and in this context during the early years parents play a particularly important role. Parental style is a critical factor in the development of food preferences. Children are more likely to eat in emotionally positive atmospheres. Siblings, peers and parents can act as role models to encourage the tasting of novel foods. Repeated exposure to initially disliked foods can breakdown resistance. The offering of low-energy-dense foods allows the child to balance energy intake. Restricting access to particular foods increases rather than decreases preference. Forcing a child to eat a food will decrease the liking for that food. Traditionally, educational strategies have typically involved attempts to impart basic nutritional information. Given the limited ability of information to induce changes in behaviour, an alternative strategy would be to teach parents about child development in the hope that an understanding of the characteristic innate tendencies and developmental stages can be used to teach healthy food preferences.

FAMILY ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS INFLUENCING THE DEVELOPING BEHAVIORAL CONTROLS OF FOOD INTAKE AND CHILDHOOD OVERWEIGHT

Although a large body of research has assessed direct genetic links between parent and child weight status, relatively little research has assessed the extent to which parents (particularly parents who are overweight) select environments that promote overweight among their children. Parents provide food environments for their children's early experiences with food and eating. These family eating environments include parents' own eating behaviors and child-feeding practices. Results of the limited research on behavioral mediators of familial patterns of overweight indicate that parents' own eating behaviors and their parenting practices influence the development of children's eating behaviors, mediating familial patterns of overweight. In particular, parents who are overweight, who have problems controlling their own food intake, or who are concerned about their children's risk for overweight may adopt controlling child-feeding practices in an attempt to prevent overweight in their children. Unfortunately, research reveals that these parental control attempts may interact with genetic predispositions to promote the development of problematic eating styles and childhood overweight. Although the authors have argued that behavioral mediators of family resemblances in weight status, such as parents' disinhibited or binge eating and parenting practices are shaped largely by environmental factors, individual differences in these behaviors also have genetic bases. A primary public health goal should be the development of family-based prevention programs for childhood overweight. The findings reviewed here suggest that effective prevention programs must focus on providing anticipatory guidance on parenting to foster patterns of preference and food selection in children more consistent with healthy diets and promote children's ability to self-regulate intake. Guidance for parents should include information on how children develop patterns of food intake in the family context. Practical advice for parents includes how to foster children's preferences for healthy foods and how to promote acceptance of new foods by children. Parents need to understand the costs of coercive feeding practices and be given alternatives to restricting food and pressuring children to eat. Providing parents with easy-to-use information regarding appropriate portion sizes for children is also essential as are suggestions on the timing and frequency of meals and snacks. Especially during early and middle childhood, family environments are the key contents for the development of food preferences, patterns of food intake, eating styles, and the development of activity preferences and patterns that shape children's developing weight status. Designing effective prevention programs will, however, require more complete knowledge than currently available regarding behavioral intermediaries that foster overweight, including the family factors that shape activity patterns, meals taken away from home, the impact of stress on family members' eating styles, food intake, activity patterns, and weight gain. The research presented here provides an example of how ideas regarding the effects of environmental factors and behavioral mediators on childhood overweight can be investigated. Such research requires the development of reliable and valid measures of environmental variables and behaviors. Because childhood overweight is a multifactorial problem, additional research is needed to develop and test theoretic models describing how a wide range of environmental factors and behavioral intermediaries can work in concert with genetic predispositions to promote the development of childhood overweight. The crucial test of these theoretic models will be in preventive interventions.

Autonomy at mealtime: Building healthy food preferences and eating behaviors in young children

This article discusses family-style meal service as a means to building autonomy and healthy eating behaviors in young children. The authors discuss the development of food preferences, age-related developmental responses to food, and the importance of socially mediated exposure to food as a way to increased food acceptance. Guidelines for implementing family-style mealtimes in child care settings are outlined.

Food preferences, eating patterns, and physical activity among adolescents: Correlates of eating disorders symptoms

Purpose: Food preferences, eating patterns, and physical activity patterns were examined in a cohort of adolescent females and males participating in a longitudinal study of the developmental antecedents of eating disorders. Methods: All adolescents ( n = 1494) in grades seven through ten in an entire school district completed a survey about their dieting behaviors, eating, and exercise patterns. Results: Principal components analysis showed similar factor structures for food preferences and eating patterns among males and females. Gender differences were present in physical activity patterns. Sports participation was correlated with healthy food preference and was a significant predictor of eating disorders symptoms. Junk food preference was marginally inversely related to eating disorders symptoms in females. Preference for other types of foods and reported intake of foods were not related to eating disorders symptoms. The percent of variance in risk score accounted for by dietary intake and physical activity patterns was small. Conclusions: Psychological and social/environmental variables may explain a larger proportion of the variance in eating disorders risk than the dietary and physical activity variables examined in this study. Implications for understanding the etiology and behavioral expression of eating disorders are discussed.