Laurel J. Branen

Comparison of College Students’ Current Eating Habits and Recollections of Their Childhood Food Practices

Abstract In order to investigate the stability of food habits from childhood into late adolescence, we compared the current eating habits of college students and their recollections of their childhood caregivers’ feeding practices.The 546 subjects responded to a questionnaire sent to 1000 18- to 23-year-old college students. Subjects’ current eating habits were related to their recollections of their caregivers’ feeding practices and their own food habits when the subjects were children. For example, current habits such as eating all food on the plate, using food as an incentive, eating dessert, and eating regularly scheduled meals were dependent on those feeding practices being used by caregivers during the respondents childhood. In addition, current consideration of nutrition when selecting food was dependent on caregivers talking about nutrition. This study contributes to existing literature that links parent-child feeding relationships to the development of an individuals relationship with food.

Understanding patient experiences with goal setting for diabetes self-management after diabetes education.

Diabetes educators need to understand self-care experiences of patients with diabetes in the early stage after diagnosis and education. A survey assessed patient-generated measures of experiences with goals (self-care behaviors) after diabetes education among patients with type 2 diabetes (N = 97) between 6 months and 1.5 years since diagnosis. Most patients set goals during diabetes education and thought that the goals were useful. There is evidence suggesting that patients experiencing difficulty with traditional self-care behaviors may use approaches to evaluate their diabetes control that are not encouraged in diabetes education, such as monitoring their physical and emotional feelings. Implications for diabetes education and counseling practices are suggested.

Creating Potential for Common Ground and Communication Between Early Childhood Program Staff and Parents About Young Children's Eating

OBJECTIVES To explore child care staff and parent perspectives and communications about childrens eating in child care. DESIGN Focus groups (FGs) conducted with child care staff and parents. SETTING Four Western states in the United States. PARTICIPANTS Thirty-nine child care staff in 7 FGs and 25 parents in 6 FGs. PHENOMENON OF INTEREST Thoughts and concerns about childrens eating and opportunities to improve communication between staff and parents. ANALYSIS Content analysis (FG coding inter-rater reliability: staff = 0.74; parents = 0.81) and identification of meta-themes. RESULTS Three meta-themes were identified: (1) recognition of positive influences of the child care setting in childrens development of healthy eating; (2) concerns about childrens eating in child care and at home; and (3) strategies to improve communications and transactions related to childrens eating. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Staff reported that their roles included informing parents about food at mealtimes in child care (eg, menus, recipes) but also educating parents about child nutrition and feeding. Parents valued daily information about their childs eating to adjust home mealtimes and to feel connected to their child. Barriers to effective communication included limited time and concerns regarding parent reactions and defensiveness. Staff requested training about child nutrition and feeding and about sensitive communications with parents.

Effects of Pre-portioned and Family-style Food Service on Preschool Children's Food Intake and Waste at Snacktime

Abstract Many child care food program guidelines recommend family-style food service as a best practice for feeding young children in group settings. However, some child care providers resist these guidelines, expressing concerns about convenience, food waste, and time constraints. This study was conducted to determine if there are differences in food intake, waste, and time required for eating when young children in group settings are served by pre-portioned or family-style food service. Forty children, ages 35 to 60 months (19 boys, 21 girls), were observed during 108 preschool sessions. Pre-portioned food service was used one day per week for 35 sessions; family-style food service was used for the remaining 73 sessions. Mean intake of children fed family style was significantly greater than the mean intake of children fed using the pre-portioned method. No significant differences between feeding protocols were found in the mean portions of waste or in the time required to eat. This study provides evide...

Effects of restrictive and self-selected feeding on preschool children's food intake and waste at snacktime

Abstract Regulating young childrens food intake is common practice in child care facilities. Many caregivers fear that children will overeat or waste food if allowed to select their own portions. The purpose of this study was to compare food intake and waste of preschool children at snacktime when given one portion of snack and when allowed to self-select their snack amount. Subjects were 20 3-year-olds and 20 4-year-olds enrolled in a university preschool. For the 29 days of restrictive feeding, children were offered only one portion of snack. For the 25 days of self-selected feeding, children could eat as many portions as they wanted. Based on a 2 × 2 factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA), there was a significant interaction of class and feeding method. During self-selected feeding, the 4-year-old group increased their intake to a greater extent than the 3-year-old group. The number of portions wasted was not significantly different for the two feeding methods; however, the younger children wasted significantly more than the older children. These results indicate that preschool children in group settings will eat more than one portion at snack time when they are allowed to self-select their intake without significantly increasing the amount they waste.

Nutrient Intake and Consumption of Fruit and Vegetables in Young Children

Children’s fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC) is below recommendations. Objectives of the study were to (a) describe the type and frequency of FVC, (b) analyze the average nutrient intake from young children’s fruit consumption and vegetable consumption separately, and (c) determine the contribution of demographic factors on FVC. Children aged 2 to 5 years (n = 821) were identified using the 2009-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Average servings and nutrient intake from FVC were estimated. Multiple comparisons among age, gender, body mass index (BMI), ethnicity, and poverty index ratio (PIR) were analyzed using an ANCOVA. Akaike’s information criterion determined relative contribution of each factor to FVC. Children consumed 3 times as many fruit servings as vegetable servings regardless of age, gender, BMI, ethnicity, and PIR. Potato products and fruit juice were consumed most frequently and in the greatest amounts. In general, children obtained more nutrients from fruits than ve...

How much is enough? Tablespoon per year of age approach meets nutrient needs for children

BACKGROUND Adults often ask health professionals for guidance on offering the appropriate serving sizes for young children and little research is available on whether serving size approaches meet childrens nutrient needs. OBJECTIVE Determine whether three serving size approaches for young children meet dietary standards for nutrient adequacy. DESIGN We examined nutrient contents of three serving size approaches for children ages 2-5 years of age: 1 tablespoon per year of age (T/y), MyPyramid, and Child and Adult Care Food Program. Nutrient content of the three approaches were compared to the Estimated Energy Requirements (EER), Estimated Average Requirement (EAR), or Adequate Intake (AI) for each year of age for males and females; Analysis of Variance identified differences in nutrient content among the three approaches. RESULTS Young childrens nutrient requirements were met for most nutrients by all approaches. However, the recommendation for vitamin E, potassium, and fat were not met by any approach, for any year, for either girls or boys. Energy content of the T/y serving size approach was below the EER for each year of age and for both sexes but still met minimal vitamin and mineral needs. CONCLUSION Health professionals can feel comfortable using any of the three approaches. However, the T/y approach is a more graduated serving size approach, may be more consistently age appropriate for young children, and may be implemented more easily by adults.

Child Care Mealtime and Active Play Partnerships (Child Care MAPP): Evaluation of a Training Resource Web Site for Enhancing Nutrition Education Communication

The communication component of the Child Care MAPP Web site was designed according to an established theoretical base, and was critically reviewed. The communication materials were targeted for use by trainers who educate child care providers, and may be incorporated into higher education curricula to guide nutrition educators who will be working in child nutrition and child feeding programs. Evaluation of the impact of the communication materials on a group of trainers demonstrated a significant increase in participant confidence to communicate about nutrition. In particular, the child- and adult-centered phrases developed as a novel and developmentally appropriate approach to nutrition education were evaluated by respondents as useful, and were found to increase confidence to communicate with children. Future research should further examine the use of child-centered and adult-centered nutrition phrases in nutrition education and higher education, to determine whether the way in which adults talk with children improves children’s knowledge about nutrition, and whether use of the phrases can positively affect children’s nutrition behaviors.

Attitudes, concerns, and likelihood for action related to young children's overweight among early childhood program staff.

For obesity prevention planning in early childhood programs, attitudes and actions of staff related to communicating with parents about young childrens eating and weight need to be assessed. Early childhood program teachers (n = 271) working with children aged 3 to 5 years were surveyed by mail. Factor analysis provided patterns of response for multi-item questions. Respondents reported different levels of agreement and comfort regarding communicating concerns to parents about their childs weight and eating versus observations about the childs daily eating. Feelings about parent communication varied (worried, hesitant, responsible, and willing). Findings suggest opportunities for communication between program staff and parents.

About feeding children: factor structure and internal reliability of a survey to assess mealtime strategies and beliefs of early childhood education teachers

BackgroundChildren spend a substantial amount of time in early care and education (ECE) settings and may eat a majority of their diet in this setting. While there are several instruments focused on measuring factors of the ECE environment that may influence diet and weight outcomes, there are few comprehensive, valid, and reliable measures for collecting self-report of ECE providers’ feeding practices. The purpose of this study was to establish the factor structure and internal reliability of a survey developed to measure practices and beliefs of ECE providers relative to feeding children.MethodsLicensed ECE centers from CA, CO, ID and NV were included in this cross-sectional survey study. The sample was stratified by states and census regions to yield equal numbers of centers from each category. The total sample distribution included 1600 randomly selected centers and up to 8000 staff members (who represented teachers, aides, assistants, or cooks); 1178 surveys were completed. We conducted an exploratory, unrestricted factor analysis as well as parallel analyses to inform the number of factors to be extracted.ResultsFactors within Structural Mealtime Strategies included Adult Control of Foods Consumed (Kuder-Richardson [KR] = 0.67), Bribing with Sweet Foods (KR = 0.70), and Supportive Adult Roles at Mealtime (KR = 0.55). Factors in Verbal Mealtime Strategies included Supporting Children’s Eating Self-regulation (KR =0.61), Pressure to Eat (KR = 0.58), and Social Comparisons (KR = 0.59). Beliefs about Mealtime factors were Autonomy Promoting (α = 0.64), Coercive Beliefs (α = 0.77), and Concern-Based Control (α = 0.60).ConclusionsThe AFC Strategies and Beliefs Survey provides a promising self-report instrument with a strong factor structure consistent with the extant literature to measure practices and beliefs related to feeding and mealtimes in the ECE setting. Feeding young children in group settings differs in many ways from feeding in a family setting; hence it is important that measures such as the AFC Strategies and Beliefs Survey capture unique aspects of the ECE feeding environment.