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ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #312413
Title: Portion sizes for children are predicted by parental characteristics and the amounts parents serve themselves

Author
item JOHNSON, SUSAN - University Of Colorado
item HUGHES, SHERYL - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item CUI, XIANGQIN - University Of Alabama
item LI, XUELIN - University Of Alabama
item ALLISON, DAVID - University Of Alabama
item LIU, YAN - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item GOODELL, L SUZANNE - North Carolina State University
item NICKLAS, THERESA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item POWER, THOMAS - Washington State University
item VOLLRATH, KIRSTIN - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)

Submitted to: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/9/2014
Publication Date: 1/29/2014
Citation: Johnson, S.L., Hughes, S.O., Cui, X., Li, X., Allison, D.B., Liu, Y., Goodell, L., Nicklas, T.A., Power, T.G., Vollrath, K. 2014. Portion sizes for children are predicted by parental characteristics and the amounts parents serve themselves. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 99(4):763-770.

Interpretive Summary: Little is known about whether the amount of food parents serve themselves is related to the amount of food parents serve their preschooler. This issue is compounded by the problems inherent in parents reporting on their own food consumption and the consumption of their children. In this study, we took photos of the food served by parents to themselves and their children across three dinner meals in a two week period. What was left on the plates was measured after the meals were completed. Therefore, both the amount of food served (parents and children) and the amount of food consumed (parents and children) were assessed in this study of Hispanic and African American Head Start families. It was found that the amounts served and consumed by parents and their preschooler were very similar. Intervention efforts should be aimed at improving parents recognition of appropriate serving sizes for young children.

Technical Abstract: Children's energy intakes are influenced by the portions they are served. Factors influencing the amounts adults offer children are not well described. We assessed whether the amounts that were served to and consumed by children at meals were related to amounts that parents served themselves. In this repeated-measures, cross-sectional observational study, 145 parents and their preschoolers (82 Hispanic, 57 African American, 6 unidentified) were recruited from Head Start settings in Houston, TX. The amounts served to and consumed by children and parents during three at-home evening meals were measured and analyzed. We assessed children's and parents' heights and weights, and body mass indexes were calculated. Associations between portions served for parents and children and between amounts served to and consumed by children were evaluated. Multiple linear regression was used to determine whether maternal characteristics (race- ethnicity, sociodemographic factors, and caregivers' body mass indexes) predicted the amounts caregivers served to children. The amounts that parents served themselves were significantly associated with the amounts that they served to their children. Multiple regression analysis showed that African American parents (compared with Hispanics) served more food to themselves and to their children and that employed (compared with unemployed) parents served more food to their children. The amounts served to children were strongly associated with the amounts children consumed. When parents served more to themselves, they also served more to their children. These findings underscore the strong relation between portions offered by caregivers and the amounts children consume at a meal and suggest that factors unrelated to the child (such as the amount a parent serves himself or herself) are important predictors of children's consumption. Efforts aimed at improving parents' recognition of developmentally appropriate portions for young children could be useful for future obesity- revention efforts.