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Eating-Behavior in Children and Adolescents

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A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutritional Epidemiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2021) | Viewed by 19304

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Dr. Alison Tovar

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Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA
Interests: Feeding Practices; Diet; Ethnic/Racial Minorities

Special Issue Information

Nutrients is planning a Special Issue focusing on eating behaviors in infants, children, and adolescents. The recent American Heart Association Statement highlighted the importance of targeting not just what a child eats but how they eat it. While there is a large body of literature documenting the eating behaviors of children and adolescents, significant gaps remain. There is a need to integrate how children’s individual differences in temperament, appetite, and adiposity shape parent feeding behaviours. There is also a need for empirical evidence demonstrating benefits of responsive approaches. Studies are also needed to help us understand eating behaviors within the wider environmental context, including poverty, food insecurity, stress, other caregivers, and culture. This Special Issue aims to bring together the latest research on eating behaviors of infants, children and adolescents.

Dr. Alison Tovar
Guest Editor

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Keywords

Eating behavior
Infant
Children
Adolescents

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

9 pages, 246 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Associations between Coparenting Quality and Food Parenting Practices among Mothers and Fathers in the Guelph Family Health Study

by Sabrina Douglas, Gerarda Darlington, John Beaton, Kirsten Davison, Jess Haines and on behalf of the Guelph Family Health Study

Nutrients 2021, 13(3), 750; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13030750 - 26 Feb 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3405

Abstract

Coparenting quality and food parenting practices have been shown to have a strong influence on child outcomes. However, little is known about whether coparenting quality may influence food parenting practices. This study aimed to investigate how coparenting quality is associated with both mothers’ and fathers’ food parenting practices. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted of 58 mothers and 40 fathers enrolled in the Guelph Family Health Study. The Coparenting Relationship Scale and the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire were used to measure coparenting and food parenting practices, respectively. Linear regressions using generalized estimating equations were used to examine associations between coparenting quality and food parenting practices in mothers and fathers. Among mothers, higher coparenting quality was associated with lower use of food for emotional regulation, restriction of food for health, and child control of food intake and with higher encouragement of a balanced and varied diet, provision of a healthy home environment, and modeling of healthy eating behaviors. Among fathers, higher coparenting quality was associated with lower pressure to eat and with higher encouragement of a balanced and varied diet and provision of a healthy home environment. Coparenting quality is associated with food parenting practices among both mothers and fathers. Interventions aiming to improve food parenting practices should include fathers and should consider targeting parents’ coparenting relationship. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eating-Behavior in Children and Adolescents)

9 pages, 258 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Taste Ratings of Healthier Main and Side Dishes among 4-to-8-Year-Old Children in a Quick-Service Restaurant Chain

by Sara Tauriello, Lily McGovern, Brianna Bartholomew, Leonard H. Epstein, Lucia A. Leone, Juliana Goldsmith, Elizabeth Kubiniec and Stephanie Anzman-Frasca

Nutrients 2021, 13(2), 673; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13020673 - 19 Feb 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2569

Abstract

Restaurants are regular eating environments for many families. Children’s consumption of restaurant foods has been linked with poorer diet quality, prompting emerging research examining strategies to encourage healthier eating among children in restaurants. Although taste is a primary determinant of restaurant meal choices, there is a lack of research considering children’s perspectives on the taste of different healthier kids’ meal options. The current study sought to examine, via objective taste testing, children’s liking of and preference for healthier kids’ meal options at a quick-service restaurant (QSR) and to describe bundled kids’ meals with evidence of both taste acceptability and consistency with nutrition guidelines. Thirty-seven 4-to-8-year-old children completed taste tests of ten healthier main and side dish options. Liking and preference were assessed using standard methods after children tasted each food. Children also reported their ideal kids’ meal. Results show the majority of children liked and preferred three main (turkey sandwich, chicken strips, peanut butter/banana sandwich) and side dishes (yogurt, applesauce, broccoli), with rank order differing slightly by age group. Accepted foods were combined into 11 bundles meeting nutritional criteria. Results highlight healthier kids’ meals with evidence of appeal among children in a QSR. Findings can inform future research and may increase the success of healthy eating interventions in these settings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eating-Behavior in Children and Adolescents)

15 pages, 556 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Appetitive Traits in a Population-Based Study of Polish Adolescents within the PLACE-19 Study: Validation of the Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire

by Dominika Guzek, Dominika Skolmowska and Dominika Głąbska

Nutrients 2020, 12(12), 3889; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12123889 - 19 Dec 2020

Cited by 37 | Viewed by 5523

Abstract

Appetitive traits of food approach or food avoidance are commonly measured using the Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire (AEBQ). However, there is no Polish version of the AEBQ validated for adolescents, and to the best of our knowledge, no study completed with the Polish version of the AEBQ has been published thus far. The present study aimed to validate the AEBQ in a population-based sample of Polish secondary school students and to assess differences in appetitive traits between boys and girls within the Polish Adolescents’ COVID-19 Experience (PLACE-19) Study. The PLACE-19 Study was conducted in a group of 2448 adolescents recruited in May 2020 through the random quota sampling of secondary schools. The AEBQ was used to assess food approach subscales (Food Responsiveness, Emotional Over-Eating, and Enjoyment of Food) and food avoidance subscales (Satiety Responsiveness, Emotional Under-Eating, Food Fussiness, and Slowness in Eating). To validate the questionnaire, the standardized factor loadings within confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with weighted least squares (WLS) were analyzed, and invariance was verified. The CFA presented good model fit, with χ² = 4826.105 (degrees of freedom (df) = 384), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.069 (90% confidence interval (CI): 0.067, 0.070), comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.90, and standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) = 0.08. The results revealed that, compared to the configural invariance model, the metric invariance model did not result in significantly decreased model fit, with ΔCFI = −0.002 and ΔRMSEA = −0.001, which were lower than the recommended cutoffs of 0.010 and 0.015, respectively. The scalar invariance model also did not result in significantly decreased fit of the model over the metric invariance model, with ΔCFI = −0.005 and ΔRMSEA = 0.000. Girls reported higher levels of Food Responsiveness (p < 0.0001), Emotional Over-Eating (p < 0.0001), Satiety Responsiveness (p < 0.0001), Emotional Under-Eating (p < 0.0001), and Slowness in Eating than boys (p < 0.0001), and the total AEBQ scores of girls were also higher (p < 0.0001). Positive inter-correlations were observed between all food approach subscales, as well as between Emotional Under-Eating and all food approach subscales for girls, boys, and the total sample; positive inter-correlations were also observed between the majority of food avoidance subscales. The present study confirmed the validity of the AEBQ in the studied population, and supported the associations between appetitive traits assessed using the AEBQ; it also indicated higher scores of both food approach and food avoidance subscales in girls than in boys in a population-based sample of Polish secondary school students. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eating-Behavior in Children and Adolescents)

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11 pages, 280 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Home Cooking Is Related to Potential Reduction in Cardiovascular Disease Risk among Adolescents: Results from the A-CHILD Study

by Yukako Tani, Takeo Fujiwara, Aya Isumi and Satomi Doi

Nutrients 2020, 12(12), 3845; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12123845 - 16 Dec 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3243

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the association between the frequency of home cooking and cardiovascular disease risk among Japanese adolescents. We used cross-sectional data on adolescents from the 2018 Adachi Child Health Impact of Living Difficulty study, which targeted junior high school students aged 13–14 years in Adachi, Tokyo, Japan. Frequency of home cooking by 553 caregivers was assessed via questionnaire and classified as high (almost daily), medium (4–5 days/week), or low (≤3 days/week). Cardiovascular disease risk factors included blood pressure, serum cholesterol (total, LDL, and HDL), hemoglobin A1c, and body mass index. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that adolescents exposed to a low frequency of home cooking showed higher diastolic blood pressure (β = 3.59, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.42 to 6.75) and lower HDL cholesterol (β = −6.15, 95% CI: −11.2 to −1.07) than those exposed to a high frequency of home cooking, adjusting for adolescents’ sex, household income, and parental comorbidity. Future studies are needed to clarify the causal relationship and mechanisms through which home cooking influences adolescents’ cardiovascular health. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eating-Behavior in Children and Adolescents)

16 pages, 926 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Factors Influencing the Early Introduction of Sugar Sweetened Beverages among Infants: Findings from the HSHK Birth Cohort Study

by Vanessa Irvine, James Rufus John, Jane A Scott, Andrew Hayen, Loc Giang Do, Sameer Bhole, Diep Ha, Gregory S. Kolt and Amit Arora

Nutrients 2020, 12(11), 3343; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12113343 - 30 Oct 2020

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3796

Abstract

Understanding the determinants of early introduction of sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) may assist in designing effective public health interventions to prevent childhood weight related conditions (obesity). This study explores the relationship between family/infant characteristics and the early introduction of SSBs among infants in Sydney, Australia. Mothers (n = 934) from an ongoing birth cohort study were interviewed at 8, 17, 34, and 52 weeks postpartum. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify family/infant factors independently associated with the likelihood of early introduction of SSBs (<52 weeks of age). Of the 934 mothers interviewed, 42.7% (n = 399) of infants were introduced to SSBs before 52 weeks. Mothers who were born in Vietnam (adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 2.14; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.33, 3.47), other Asian countries (AOR = 1.62; 95% CI 1.02, 2.58) as well as single mothers (AOR = 3.72; 95% CI 2.46, 5.62) had higher odds of introducing SSBs early to their infants. Mothers from highly advantaged socioeconomic background (AOR = 0.43; 95% CI 0.28, 0.68), those who breastfed their baby for 17–25 weeks (AOR = 0.60; 95% CI 0.37, 0.99), 26–51 weeks (AOR = 0.65; 95% CI 0.45, 0.94), and 52 weeks or more (AOR = 0.62; 95% CI 0.43, 0.90); and those who introduced solids between 17–25 weeks (AOR = 0.58; 95% CI 0.36, 0.91) and 26 weeks or more (AOR = 0.55; 95% CI 0.34, 0.91) had reduced odds of introducing SSBs early. Tailoring health promotion programs for these vulnerable groups may delay the introduction of SSBs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Eating-Behavior in Children and Adolescents)

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