Department of Nutritional Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
Department of Nutritional Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA; Department of Food Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
Physiol Behav. 2019 May 15;204:210-218. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2019.02.042. Epub 2019 Mar 1.
To investigate preschool children's ability to self-regulate their energy intake, we assessed their response to increases or decreases in dietary energy density (ED) over 5 consecutive days, a period likely long enough for compensatory behavior.
Using a crossover design, over 3 periods we served the same 5 daily menus to 49 children aged 3-5 y in their childcare centers. During each 5-day period, 3 main dishes and 1 snack per day were systematically varied in ED, from baseline ED to either higher ED (increased by 20%) or lower ED (decreased by 20%). All of the served items were weighed to determine individual intakes.
Modifying the ED of 4 dishes per day had a significant and sustained effect on preschool children's daily energy intake across 5 days. In the baseline condition, children's intakes were similar to daily energy needs (98 ± 2%), but serving higher-ED foods increased energy intake by 84 ± 16 kcal/d (to 105 ± 2% of needs) and serving lower-ED foods decreased energy intake by 72 ± 17 kcal/d (to 89 ± 2% of needs; both P < .0001). The patterns of daily energy intake over the 5 days did not differ across conditions (P = .20), thus there was no evidence that either surfeits or deficits in energy intake led to adjustment over this time period. Furthermore, the response to ED varied, as children with a higher weight status had greater amounts of overconsumption when served higher-ED foods and of underconsumption when served lower-ED foods compared to children with a lower weight status.
These findings counter the suggestion that preschool children's regulatory systems can be relied on to adjust intake in response to energy imbalances. Increasing or decreasing the ED of several foods per day leads to sustained changes in the energy intake of preschool children.
为了研究学龄前儿童自我调节能量摄入的能力，我们评估了他们在连续 5 天内对膳食能量密度（ED）增加或减少的反应，这一时期可能足够长，足以产生补偿行为。
使用交叉设计，我们在 3 个时期内将相同的 5 种日常菜单提供给他们的儿童保育中心的 49 名 3-5 岁儿童。在每个为期 5 天的期间内，每天的 3 道主菜和 1 道小吃的 ED 系统地从基线 ED 增加到更高 ED（增加 20%）或降低 ED（降低 20%）。所有供应的食物都称重以确定个人摄入量。
每天改变 4 道菜的 ED 对学龄前儿童的每日能量摄入有显著且持续的影响，持续 5 天。在基线条件下，儿童的摄入量与每日能量需求相似（98±2%），但供应高 ED 食物会使能量摄入增加 84±16 kcal/d（达到需求的 105±2%），供应低 ED 食物会使能量摄入减少 72±17 kcal/d（达到需求的 89±2%；均 P<0.0001）。在不同条件下，5 天内的每日能量摄入模式没有差异（P=0.20），因此没有证据表明在这段时间内，能量摄入的过剩或不足会导致调整。此外，ED 的反应因人而异，与体重较低的儿童相比，体重较高的儿童在摄入高 ED 食物时会过度摄入更多的食物，而在摄入低 ED 食物时会摄入更少的食物。
这些发现与认为学龄前儿童的调节系统可以依靠来调节摄入以应对能量失衡的观点相悖。每天增加或减少几种食物的 ED 会导致学龄前儿童的能量摄入持续变化。
