Anzman-Frasca Stephanie, Braun Abbey C, Ehrenberg Sarah, Epstein Leonard H, Gampp April, Leone Lucia A, Singh Anita, Tauriello Sara
Department of Pediatrics, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, G56 Farber Hall, South Campus, Buffalo 14214, NY, USA.
Independent Health Foundation, 511 Farber Lakes Drive, Buffalo 14221, NY, USA.
Physiol Behav. 2018 Aug 1;192:109-117. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.01.022. Epub 2018 Feb 1.
Children's consumption of restaurant foods is associated with higher energy intake and lower nutritional quality compared to foods prepared at home. The aim of this pilot study was to test whether an in-restaurant intervention promoting healthy children's meals (i.e. two meals that met nutrition recommendations and were thus healthier than typical children's meal offerings across leading restaurants) affected children's meal selection and intake.
Families with 4-to-8-year-old children were recruited from one location of Anderson's Frozen Custard, a regional quick-service restaurant chain. Families were randomly assigned to return to the restaurant during an intervention or control period and were blinded to group assignment. All families received free meals. During the intervention period families also received placemats featuring two healthy "Kids' Meals of the Day" upon restaurant entry. After families finished dining, researchers recorded children's orders and collected leftovers for quantifying dietary intake via weighed plate waste. Poisson regression and chi-square tests were used to compare children's orders between study groups, and t-tests were used to test for differences in dietary intake among children ordering a promoted healthy entrée (main dish) versus those who did not.
Fifty-eight families participated. Children who were exposed to the study placemats prior to ordering ordered a significantly greater number of healthy food components compared to controls (p = 0.03). Overall, in the intervention group, 21% of children ordered a healthy entrée or side dish, versus 7% of controls. Children who ordered one of the promoted healthy entrées consumed less saturated fat across the total meal compared to those who did not (p = 0.04).
Manipulating the prominence of healthy choices in restaurants may shift children's meal selections. Future research should build on these initial promising results, aiming to increase the potency of the intervention to achieve more widespread effects.
与在家制作的食物相比，儿童食用餐厅食物与更高的能量摄入和更低的营养质量相关。这项试点研究的目的是测试一项在餐厅内推广健康儿童餐的干预措施（即两份符合营养建议的餐食，因此比主要连锁餐厅提供的典型儿童餐更健康）是否会影响儿童的餐食选择和摄入量。
从区域速食连锁餐厅安德森冷冻奶昔的一个门店招募有4至8岁儿童的家庭。家庭被随机分配在干预期或对照期返回餐厅，且对分组情况不知情。所有家庭都获得免费餐食。在干预期，家庭在进入餐厅时还会收到印有两份健康“今日儿童餐”的餐垫。家庭用餐结束后，研究人员记录儿童的点餐情况，并收集剩菜，通过称量餐盘剩余食物来量化饮食摄入量。使用泊松回归和卡方检验比较研究组之间儿童的点餐情况，使用t检验来测试点了推广的健康主菜的儿童与未点的儿童在饮食摄入量上的差异。
58个家庭参与了研究。与对照组相比，在点餐之前接触过研究餐垫的儿童点的健康食物成分数量显著更多（p = 0.03）。总体而言，在干预组中，21%的儿童点了健康主菜或配菜，而对照组为7%。点了一份推广的健康主菜的儿童在整餐中摄入的饱和脂肪比未点的儿童少（p = 0.04）。
操控餐厅中健康选择的突出程度可能会改变儿童的餐食选择。未来的研究应基于这些初步的有前景的结果，旨在提高干预措施的效力以实现更广泛的效果。
