Search

The transition from primary to permanent dentition is an important phase in children's oral development, yet its impact on texture perception and food acceptance are less explored. This study aimed to investigate how changing dentition and tooth loss influence texture preferences and perception of eating difficulty among children aged 5 to 12 years. Children (n = 475) completed a forced‐choice questionnaire featuring drawings of six food pairs, each available in hard or soft texture, and reported whether they had started losing primary teeth and the number of tooth gaps present. They also tasted four samples: chocolate snacks (cake and biscuits) and cheddar cheese (grated and cubes), evaluating their perceived eating difficulty and liking for each sample. Analysis of questionnaire responses showed a general preference for softer food textures among children, with a 36% probability of choosing hard foods. Preferences were not related to child's dental state, including primary teeth loss (p =.13) or number of tooth gaps (p =.45). In the taste test, chocolate biscuits and cheese cubes were perceived as significantly more difficult to eat than chocolate cake and grated cheese, respectively (both p <.0001). Children with more than two tooth gaps reported greater eating difficulty for chocolate biscuits and cheese cubes compared to children with fewer or no tooth gaps. This study demonstrated that children's texture preferences for hardness of foods remained consistent during dentition change, while their perception of eating difficulty could vary based on their dental state at specific points in time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foods containing bits and pieces are often less liked by children; however, there is a limited understanding of how perceptions and preferences for foods with particles change during childhood. This study aimed to investigate preferences and perceptions of particle‐containing foods in children aged 5–12 years. Children (n = 485) completed a forced‐choice questionnaire on drawings of six pairs of foods, each available with or without particles. Additionally, children tasted yogurts added with muesli differing in particle size (median diameter: 3.9 or 7.5 mm) and evaluated their perception of particle size in mouth and their liking. The questionnaire results showed that children had a clear preference for foods without particles. The average probability of choosing the 'with‐particle' foods was 28%, significantly below the midpoint of 50% (p <.0001). Preferences for particle‐containing foods were lowest at age six and increased significantly with age (p =.0007). In the taste test, muesli particle size affected oral size perception (p <.0001) but not liking (p =.60). Older children were better able to differentiate particle size than younger children. However, there was no relationship between individual preferences for particle‐containing foods and oral size perception of muesli particles. The observation that children's texture preferences changed with age highlights the role of increased experience in shaping preferences for foods with particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little is known about the pathways linking parent feeding practices with appetitive traits and BMIz throughout infancy. This study examined bidirectional associations between parental feeding practices, infant appetitive traits, and infant BMIz. Methods: Parents (n = 380) of infants aged less than 6 months at baseline reported their feeding practices (using the Feeding Practices and Structure Questionnaire (FPSQ) for infants and toddlers), infant appetitive traits (using the Baby Eating Behaviour Questionnaire) and infant BMIz (parent-reported) at three timepoints (< 6 months, ~ 9 months, ~ 12 months) up to 12 months of age. Cross-lagged models examined bidirectional associations between parent feeding practices, infant appetitive traits and infant BMIz. Results: There was strong continuity across the three timepoints for maternal feeding practices, infant appetitive traits, and infant BMIz. Infant food avoidance was prospectively associated with higher parental persuasive feeding. Infant BMIz was prospectively associated with higher parent-led feeding. Parent use of food to calm was prospectively associated with lower infant BMIz, and infant BMIz was prospectively associated with higher infant food approach. Feeding on demand was prospectively associated with lower infant food approach. Conclusion: This study highlights the complex associations between parental feeding practices, infant appetitive traits and infant BMIz. The study demonstrated that both child and parent effects are important, suggesting a need for tailored programs beginning in infancy to promote and support infant appetitive traits and parent feeding practices that support healthy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To prioritise and refine a set of evidence-informed statements into advice messages to promote vegetable liking in early childhood, and to determine applicability for dissemination of advice to relevant audiences. Design: A nominal group technique (NGT) workshop and a Delphi survey were conducted to prioritise and achieve consensus (≥70 % agreement) on thirty evidence-informed maternal (perinatal and lactation stage), infant (complementary feeding stage) and early years (family diet stage) vegetable-related advice messages. Messages were validated via triangulation analysis against the strength of evidence from an Umbrella review of strategies to increase children's vegetable liking, and gaps in advice from a Desktop review of vegetable feeding advice. Setting: Australia. Participants: A purposeful sample of key stakeholders (NGT workshop, n 8 experts; Delphi survey, n 23 end users). Results: Participant consensus identified the most highly ranked priority messages associated with the strategies of: 'in-utero exposure' (perinatal and lactation, n 56 points) and 'vegetable variety' (complementary feeding, n 97 points; family diet, n 139 points). Triangulation revealed two strategies ('repeated exposure' and 'variety') and their associated advice messages suitable for policy and practice, twelve for research and four for food industry. Conclusions: Supported by national and state feeding guideline documents and resources, the advice messages relating to 'repeated exposure' and 'variety' to increase vegetable liking can be communicated to families and caregivers by healthcare practitioners. The food industry provides a vehicle for advice promotion and product development. Further research, where stronger evidence is needed, could further inform strategies for policy and practice, and food industry application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In developmental science, there is an extensive literature on non-food related self-regulation in childhood, where several domains relating to emotions, actions and cognitions have been identified. There is now growing attention to food related self-regulation in childhood, especially difficulties with ASR, and the consequences for weight gain and adiposity. The aim of this narrative review was to conduct a reciprocal analysis of self-regulation in the food and non-food domains in childhood (referred to as appetite self-regulation (ASR) and general self-regulation (GSR) respectively). The focus was on commonalities and differences in key concepts and underpinning processes. Methods: Databases and major journals were searched using terms such as self-regulation, appetite self-regulation, or self-regulation of energy intake, together with associated constructs (e.g., Executive Function, Effortful Control, delay-of-gratification). This was followed by backward and forward snowballing. Results and discussion: The scholarship on GSR in childhood has had a focus on the role of the cognitively-oriented Executive Function (EF), the temperamentally-based Effortful Control (EC) and the recursive interplay between bottom-up (reactive, emotion driven, approach or avoidance) and top-down (cognitive, conscious decision-making) processes. "Hot" and "cool/cold" EF and self-regulation situations have been distinguished. There were some parallels between GSR and ASR in these areas, but uncertainty about the contribution of EF and EC to ASR in young children. Possible differences between the contribution to ASR-related outcomes of delay-of-gratification in food and non-food tasks were apparent. Unique elements of ASR were identified; associated with psychological, biological and neurological responses to food and bottom-up processes. A diverse number of situations or elements connected to ASR exist: for example, energy balance homeostasis, caloric compensation, hunger regulation, satiation, satiety, energy density of food, eating in the absence of hunger, emotional eating, etc. Conclusions: Self-regulation in food and non-food domains are amenable to a reciprocal analysis. We argue that self-regulation of appetite should be added as a domain under the umbrella of self-regulation in childhood along with the other non-food related domains. This could lead to a broader understanding of self-regulation in childhood, and generate novel lines of enquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Mobile health (mHealth) interventions have great potential to promote health. To increase consumer engagement in mHealth interventions it is necessary to address factors that influence the target demographic. The Growing healthy (GH) program is the first obesity prevention program delivered via a smartphone app and website offering evidence-based information on infant feeding from birth until 9 months of age. This sub-study aimed to explore how the design features, quality of the app and participant characteristics influenced parents' engagement with the GH app. Methods: A sequential mixed methods design was used. The GH app participants (225/301) were considered for this sub-study. Participant app engagement was measured through a purpose-built Engagement Index (EI) using app metrics. Participants were categorized as low, moderately or highly engaged based on their EI score upon completing the 9 months program and were then invited to participate in semi-structured telephone interviews. Participants who used the app program, given an EI score and expressed interest to participate in these interviews were eligible. The interviews explored factors that influenced app engagement including delivery features and quality. Thematic analysis networks was used for analysis. Results: 108/225 expressed interest and 18 interviews were conducted from low (n = 3), moderately (n = 7), or highly (n = 8) engaged participants based on purposeful sampling. Participants defined as highly engaged were likely to be a first-time parent, felt the app content to be trustworthy and the app design facilitated easy navigation and regularly opened the push notifications. Participants defined as having low or moderate engagement were likely to have experience from previous children, felt they had sufficient knowledge on infant feeding and the app did not provide further information, or experienced technological issues including app dysfunction due to system upgrades. Conclusions/Implications: This study demonstrated a novel approach to comprehensively analyse engagement in an mHealth intervention through quantitative (Engagement Index) and qualitative (interviews) methods. It provides an insight on maximizing data collected from these programs for measuring effectiveness and to understand users of various engagement levels interaction with program features. Measuring this can determine efficacy and refine programs to meet user requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Excess or rapid weight gain during the first 2 years of life is associated with an increased risk of later childhood and adult overweight and obesity. When compared with breastfed infants, formula fed infants are more likely to experience excess or rapid weight gain, and this increased risk in formula fed infant populations may be due to a number of different mechanisms. These mechanisms include the nutrient composition of the formula and the way formula is prepared and provided to infants. This systematic literature review examines the association between formula feeding practice and excess or rapid weight gain. This review explores these different mechanisms and provides practical recommendations for best practice formula feeding to reduce rapid weight gain. Eighteen studies are included in this review. The findings are complicated by the challenges in study design and accuracy of measurements. Nevertheless, there are some potential recommendations for best practice formula feeding that may reduce excess or rapid weight gain, such as providing formula with lower protein content, not adding cereals into bottles, not putting a baby to bed with a bottle, and not overfeeding formula. Although further well designed studies are required before more firm recommendations can be made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Front-of-pack attributes have the potential to affect parents' food choices on behalf of their children and form one avenue through which strategies to address the obesogenic environment can be developed. Previous work has focused on the isolated effects of nutrition and health information (e.g. labeling systems, health claims), and how parents trade off this information against co-occurring marketing features (e.g. product imagery, cartoons) is unclear. A Discrete Choice Experiment was utilized to understand how front-of-pack nutrition, health and marketing attributes, as well as pricing, influenced parents' choices of cereal for their child. Packages varied with respect to the two elements of the Australian Health Star Rating system (stars and nutrient facts panel), along with written claims, product visuals, additional visuals, and price. A total of 520 parents (53% male) with a child aged between five and eleven years were recruited via an online panel company and completed the survey. Product visuals, followed by star ratings, were found to be the most significant attributes in driving choice, while written claims and other visuals were the least significant. Use of the Health Star Rating (HSR) system and other features were related to the child's fussiness level and parents' concerns about their child's weight with parents of fussy children, in particular, being less influenced by the HSR star information and price. The findings suggest that front-of-pack health labeling systems can affect choice when parents trade this information off against marketing attributes, yet some marketing attributes can be more influential, and not all parents utilize this information in the same way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's vegetable consumption is often lower than that needed to promote optimal health and development, and practical approaches for increasing vegetable consumption are needed. Sensory Specific Satiety (SSS) reduces the liking and consumption of a consumed food over the course of an eating occasion and is an important factor in meal termination. The present study aimed to investigate the development of SSS when children ate vegetables of different sizes. The absence of SSS would be an encouraging sign to provide children more vegetables during a meal. Seventy-two children (33 boys, ages 8.8 ± 1.5 years) were recruited from Australian primary schools. Participating children consumed either whole or diced carrots for a maximum period of 10-min from a 500 g box. Cucumber was used as a control vegetable. Children's liking of carrots and cucumber was measured with a 5-point child friendly hedonic scale prior to and after carrot consumption. In comparison to cucumber, liking for neither diced (p = 0.57) nor whole carrots (p = 0.18) changed during ad libitum consumption of carrots, indicating that SSS did not occur. However, children (n = 36) who finished eating carrots within the 10-min time limit, spent more time eating the whole carrots compared to the diced carrots (p < 0.05), which tended to result in a higher consumption of whole carrots (p < 0.06). This suggests that, in order to increase vegetable consumption, it is better to present children whole carrots than diced carrots. These findings might aid in the development of strategies to promote children's greater vegetable consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite the crucial need to develop targeted and effective approaches for obesity prevention in children most at risk, the pathways explaining socioeconomic disparity in children's obesity prevalence remain poorly understood.Methods: We conducted a systematic review of the literature that investigated causes of weight gain in children aged 0-5 years from socioeconomically disadvantaged or Indigenous backgrounds residing in OECD countries. Major electronic databases were searched from inception until December 2015. Key words identified studies addressing relationships between parenting, child eating, child physical activity or sedentary behaviour and child weight in disadvantaged samples.Results: A total of 32 articles met the inclusion criteria. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool quality rating for the studies ranged from 25 % (weak) to 100 % (strong). Studies predominantly reported on relationships between parenting and child weight (n = 21), or parenting and child eating (n = 12), with fewer (n = 8) investigating child eating and weight. Most evidence was from socio-economically disadvantaged ethnic minority groups in the USA. Clustering of diet, weight and feeding behaviours by socioeconomic indicators and ethnicity precluded identification of independent effects of each of these risk factors.Conclusions: This review has highlighted significant gaps in our mechanistic understanding of the relative importance of different aspects of parent and child behaviours in disadvantaged population groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Food preferences are important determinants of children's food intakes. Parental feeding behaviours have a significant influence on the development of children's food preferences. The aim of the present study was to describe the ways in which parents attempt to influence their children's food preferences. Methods: Parents of 2–5 year old children participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews, which were transcribed and content analysed using a thematic coding manual. The parents described the ways in which they tried to influence the foods their child liked and disliked. Participants (N = 57) were separated into three separate groups based on an a priori study measuring food preferences and food neophobia: those who either had children with healthy food preferences (i.e. closely aligned with dietary guidelines) (N = 20), or unhealthy food preferences (i.e. not closely aligned with dietary guidelines) (N = 18), or high levels of food neophobia (N = 19). Results: The parents used many, diverse behaviours to influence their child's food preferences. Some of these behaviours were likely to be effective in promoting healthy food preferences in children (e.g. parental modelling, food exposure), whilst others were likely to be ineffective (e.g. forcing consumption, restricting food access). Parents of children with healthy food preferences appeared to use more of the feeding behaviours predicted to promote healthy preferences than parents in the other two groups. Parents of children with unhealthy food preferences and those of food neophobic children appeared to rely more on ineffective behaviours. Conclusion: Parents used a mixture of effective and ineffective behaviours, with parents of children with unhealthy food preferences or high food neophobia using fewer behaviours known to be effective. Interventions aimed at influencing parental feeding behaviours should include those behaviours targeted at children's food preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ObjectiveThe objective was to investigate parents’ motives for selecting foods for their children and the associations between these motives and children’s food preferences.DesignCross-sectional survey. A modified version of the Food Choice Questionnaire was used to assess parents’ food choice motives. Parents also reported children’s liking/disliking of 176 food and beverage items on 5-point Likert scales. Patterns of food choice motives were examined with exploratory principal component analysis. Associations between motives and children’s food preferences were assessed with linear regression while one-way and two-way ANOVA were used to test for sociodemographic differences.SettingTwo Australian cities.SubjectsParents (n 371) of 2–5-year-old children.ResultsHealth, nutrition and taste were key motivators for parents, whereas price, political concerns and advertising were among the motives considered least important. The more parents’ food choice for their children was driven by what their children wanted, the less children liked vegetables (β =−0·27, P<0·01), fruit (β=−0·19, P<0·01) and cereals (β=−0·28, P<0·01) and the higher the number of untried foods (r=0·17, P<0·01). The reverse was found for parents’ focus on natural/ethical motives (vegetables β=0·17, P<0·01; fruit β=0·17, P<0·01; cereals β=0·14, P=0·01). Health and nutrition motives bordered on statistical significance as predictors of children’s fruit and vegetable preferences.ConclusionsAlthough parents appear well intentioned in their motives for selecting children’s foods, there are gaps to be addressed in the nature of such motives (e.g. selecting foods in line with the child’s desires) or the translation of health motives into healthy food choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Grating orientation task successfully differentiated oral tactile acuity in 1817 Australian children aged 5–12 years. • 1 cm2 grating square with 0.5 mm groove width showed best discrimination of oral tactile acuity in the sample of children. • Oral tactile acuity was not significantly different by child's age, age group, gender or BMIz groups (p > 0.05). • Oral tactile acuity was not correlated with child's BMI (r = −0.03) or waist circumference (r = 0.01). • Calculated R-index was highly corelated with Accuracy index (R Index without surety question)(r = 0.86). Oral tactile sensitivity is logically linked to food texture perception. However, there is currently no widely accepted method to determine oral tactile sensitivity, particularly in children. The aim of this study was to determine the suitability of the grating orientation task to measure tactile acuity in a large and diverse sample of 5–12-year-old children. A total of 1817 Australian children (921 boys, 896 girls) participated. Three grating widths (0.5, 0.75 and 1.25 mm) and two square sizes (1 cm2 and 2 cm2) were utilized. Grating squares were presented in random order, 8 times total either vertically or horizontally on the tongue, and children were asked to identify the orientation of groove and sureness of their responses. Oral tactile sensitivity was calculated as R-index values. Spearman's correlation coefficients and one-way ANOVA were performed to investigate correlations and statistical differences between R-index values and child's characteristics. Overall, 1 cm2 grating square in 0.5 mm groove width effectively discriminated oral tactile acuity in the sample of children, showing a near ideal normal distribution of R-index (p = 0.97 by Shapiro-Wilk test). Oral tactile acuity was not significantly different by age, age group, gender or BMIz (p > 0.05). No relationship was found between oral tactile acuity and BMI (r = -0.03) or waist circumference (r = 0.01). The measured R-index was highly correlated to the R Index without the surety question (Accuracy index, r = 0.86). The study illustrated that grating orientation task is a simple suitable method to measure in oral tactile acuity in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Developed child's food texture preference questionnaire is content-valid. • Child-rated food texture preference was positively correlated with child's texture preference after tasting (r = 0.55). • Child-rated food texture preference was positively correlated with child's texture preference rated by parents (r = 0.31). • Child's food texture preference was positively associated with child's age (p < 0.05). • Child's food texture preference was not correlated with measured oral tactile sensitivity or food fussiness. This study aimed to 1) develop a parent-reported child's food texture preference questionnaire, 2) assess content validity and inter-rater reliability among parent-, child-report and the child report after tasting and 3) validate the questionnaire with oral tactile acuity and food fussiness in 5 to 12-year-old Australian children. Parents rated their child's preference for 29 pairs of foods selected as they were different in texture but similar in other sensory attributes. A subset of these food pairs (10 pairs) was used for child reported preference and preference after tasting (4 pairs). Content validity was rated by 7 experts and expressed as the content validation index for items. Grating orientation task was used to measure oral tactile sensitivity. Parents reported fussiness on the Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire fussiness subscale. A total of 154 caregivers and 251 children (129 boys, 122 girls) participated. Content validation resulted in the elimination of 9 items. Child-rated texture preference was positively correlated with preference after tasting (r = 0.55) and parent-reported scores (r = 0.31). A moderate positive correlation was found between preference after tasting and parent reported scores (r = 0.20). Child's food texture preference was positively associated with child's age (p < 0.05) but not correlated with measured oral tactile sensitivity or food fussiness. This is the first study to evaluate content validity and inter-rater reliability of parent-report child's food texture preference measure. There still remains opportunities for improvements of both food texture preference measure and oral tactile sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Determination of food preferences and perceptions by one food attribute. • Portion sizes create conflict, small is healthy but large is tasty. • No differences in preference and perceptions for age, sex, BMI or hunger. A key determinant of children's health is the quality and quantity of their food and energy intake. In middle childhood children gain greater independence over their food choices. Understanding the factors that influence their choices is therefore important, particularly in the context of obesogenic food environments where children need to learn to identify and select healthier options. This study aimed to examine the role of food attributes in affecting children's food preferences and perception of healthiness and tastiness. A secondary aim was to determine if portion size was related to children's food perceptions and preferences. Participants (children 5–12 years) completed a discrete choice experiment (n = 2112) that examined their perceptions of bread and smoothies when the attributes of type/flavour, food form and portion size were systematically varied. Children were asked about their (i) food preferences, and their perceptions of (ii) healthiness and (iii) tastiness. Data were analyzed using a conditional logit model for the foods independently, and the relative contribution of the attributes to children's preferences, and perceptions of healthiness and tastiness was determined. The results found that children primarily used the type/flavour of the breads and smoothies to form their preferences and perceptions, and the other attributes (portion size and food form), had minimal influence. This study found that children aged 5–12 years made simple food choices and formed perceptions of how healthy or tasty a food was based on a single food characteristic (the type/flavour), ignoring the portion size and food form. This suggests that when children in middle childhood make food choices, they are likely to rely primarily on the food's flavour or type and do not consider other important attributes that will affect their diet quality and energy balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]