School of Social Ecology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA; Clinical Nutrition Research Centre, Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 117599, Singapore.
School of Social Ecology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA.
Appetite. 2019 Aug 1;139:164-171. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2019.04.028. Epub 2019 May 2.
Children have been found to rely on others for food choice and food intake cues, but it is unclear whether a similar type of social modeling occurs for food portion selection, especially among young children. Given that portion size predicts energy intake, it is important to understand the role of social influence on portion selection behavior early in life. The present study aimed to determine preschoolers' conformity to food portion selection patterns of remote peers using a computerized Portion Selection Task and examined the role of parents' feeding styles in children's susceptibility to others' food portion choices. Seventy-five 3-6 year old Singaporean children (M = 62 ± 0.72 months) were asked to make food portion selections of high-energy-density (ED) foods and low-ED foods both independently and after having viewed remote peers' portion selections of the same foods. In the unhealthy peers condition, children saw peers choose large portions of high-ED foods and small portions of low-ED foods, while in the healthy peers condition, children saw peers select large portions of low-ED foods and small portions of high-ED foods. Parents were surveyed about their child feeding practices. Results revealed that participants exhibited conformity to the portion sizes of remote peers for both high-ED and low-ED foods under the healthy peers condition, but only marginally for high-ED foods under the unhealthy peers condition. Parents' higher restriction of foods for child's health was marginally associated with lower conformity to peers' portion selections of unhealthy foods and higher conformity to peers' portion selections of healthy foods. This study provides support for social modeling of food portion selection among young children, but the extent of social modeling may be contingent on characteristics of the food.
研究发现，儿童在选择食物和摄入食物方面依赖于他人的提示，但目前尚不清楚在食物份量选择方面是否也存在类似的社会模仿现象，尤其是在幼儿中。鉴于份量大小会影响能量摄入，因此了解社会影响在儿童生命早期对份量选择行为的作用非常重要。本研究旨在使用计算机化的份量选择任务确定学龄前儿童对远程同伴食物份量选择模式的遵从性，并探讨父母喂养方式在儿童对他人食物份量选择的易感性中的作用。75 名 3-6 岁的新加坡儿童（M=62±0.72 个月）被要求独立选择高能量密度（ED）食物和低 ED 食物的份量，然后在观看远程同伴对相同食物的份量选择后再进行选择。在不健康的同伴条件下，儿童看到同伴选择大份量的高 ED 食物和小份量的低 ED 食物，而在健康的同伴条件下，儿童看到同伴选择大份量的低 ED 食物和小份量的高 ED 食物。父母接受了关于其育儿实践的调查。结果表明，参与者在健康同伴条件下对高 ED 和低 ED 食物的同伴份量均表现出遵从性，但在不健康同伴条件下对高 ED 食物的遵从性仅略高。父母对孩子健康的食物限制越高，对同伴不健康食物份量选择的遵从性越低，对同伴健康食物份量选择的遵从性越高。这项研究为幼儿食物份量选择的社会模仿提供了支持，但社会模仿的程度可能取决于食物的特点。
