Department of Nutritional Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
Department of Food Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
J Nutr. 2022 Oct 6;152(10):2287-2296. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxac162.
When children choose amounts of food to eat, it is unclear what influences the portions they select and whether their selections are related to the amounts they consume.
Using a computer survey, we investigated the effect of food liking on portion selection in middle childhood and examined how children's selections were related to measured intake at meals in which portions of all foods were varied across 4 test days.
Fifty-one children aged 7-10 y completed a computer survey of 20 common foods with a range of energy density. For each food, the survey presented sliding scales with 5 images varying in portion size and children indicated their liking and the amount they would eat at a specified meal or snack. On 4 test days in a randomized crossover design, children were served a meal of 6 foods from the survey with portions of 100%, 133%, 167%, or 200% of baseline amounts. Data were analyzed using random coefficients models.
Across the 20 foods used in the survey, portion selection ratings were predicted by food liking ratings (P < 0.0001). After accounting for liking, portion selection ratings did not vary by food energy density (P = 0.50). At the meals, intake of all 6 foods increased when larger portions were served (P = 0.002). Furthermore, the selected portion of a food on the survey was positively related both to intake of that food at the 100%-portion meal (P = 0.014) and to increased intake as larger portions were served (P < 0.0001).
Children aged 7-10 y were able to use a computer survey to choose food portions that predicted their measured intake in response to increased portions. The relation of liking to selection and intake indicates that to promote children's consumption of larger portions of low-energy-dense foods such as fruits and vegetables, these foods must be well liked by the children. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02759523.
当儿童选择食物摄入量时，尚不清楚哪些因素会影响他们选择的份量，以及他们的选择与每餐的实际摄入量之间是否存在关联。
本研究使用计算机调查的方法，探究了儿童对食物的喜好程度对其选择份量的影响，并检验了在 4 天的测试中，所有食物的份量都有所变化的情况下，儿童的选择与实际摄入量之间的关系。
51 名 7-10 岁的儿童完成了一项涉及 20 种常见食物（能量密度范围不同）的计算机调查。对于每种食物，调查都提供了带有 5 个不同份量图像的滑动标尺，儿童可以根据自己的喜好和指定的餐点或零食量进行选择。在随机交叉设计的 4 天测试中，儿童食用的是调查中 6 种食物的餐点，份量分别为基线量的 100%、133%、167%和 200%。使用随机系数模型对数据进行分析。
在调查中使用的 20 种食物中，食物的选择评分与喜好评分密切相关（P<0.0001）。在考虑了喜好因素后，食物的选择评分与能量密度无关（P=0.50）。在餐点中，当提供更大份量的食物时，所有 6 种食物的摄入量都会增加（P=0.002）。此外，在调查中选择的食物份量与该食物在 100%份量餐点的摄入量呈正相关（P=0.014），并且与较大份量的食物摄入量增加呈正相关（P<0.0001）。
7-10 岁的儿童能够使用计算机调查来选择食物份量，这些选择可以预测他们对增加份量的实际摄入量。喜好与选择和摄入量之间的关系表明，为了促进儿童对低能量密度食物（如水果和蔬菜）的更大份量的摄入，这些食物必须得到儿童的喜爱。本试验在 clinicaltrials.gov 上注册为 NCT02759523。
