A Qualitative Study of Parents' Perceptions and Use of Portion Size Strategies for Preschool Children's Snacks

Overview

Journal Appetite

Specialties Nutritional Sciences
Social Sciences

Date 2014 Dec 3

PMID 25447008

Citations 17

Authors

Christine E Blake

Jennifer Orlet Fisher

Claudia Ganter

Nicholas Younginer

Alexandria Orloski

Rachel E Blaine

Yasmeen Bruton

Kirsten K Davison

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: Increases in childhood obesity correspond with shifts in children's snacking behaviors and food portion sizes. This study examined parents' conceptualizations of portion size and the strategies they use to portion snacks in the context of preschool-aged children's snacking.

Methods: Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with non-Hispanic white (W), African American (AA), and Hispanic (H) low-income parents (n = 60) of preschool-aged children living in Philadelphia and Boston. The interview examined parents' child snacking definitions, purposes, contexts, and frequency. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Coding matrices compared responses by race/ethnicity, parent education, and household food security status.

Results: Parents' commonly referenced portion sizes when describing children's snacks with phrases like "something small." Snack portion sizes were guided by considerations including healthfulness, location, hunger, and timing. Six strategies for portioning snacks were presented including use of small containers, subdividing large portions, buying prepackaged snacks, use of hand measurement, measuring cups, scales, and letting children determine portion size. Differences in considerations and strategies were seen between race/ethnic groups and by household food security status.

Conclusions: Low-income parents of preschool-aged children described a diverse set of considerations and strategies related to portion sizes of snack foods offered to their children. Future studies should examine how these considerations and strategies influence child dietary quality.

Citing Articles

Designing for downsizing: Home-based barriers and facilitators to reduce portion sizes for children.

Tang T, Wang W, Vazirian M, Croden F, Hetherington M Front Psychol. 2022; 13:915228.

PMID: 36262437 PMC: 9575649. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.915228.

Evaluation of Parental Acceptability and Use of Intervention Components to Reduce Pre-School Children's Intake of Sugar-Rich Food and Drinks.

Christensen B, Bestle S, Trolle E, Biltoft-Jensen A, Matthiessen J, Gibbons S Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022; 19(13).

PMID: 35805623 PMC: 9266277. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19137967.

Parents' awareness and perceptions of the Change4Life 100 cal snack campaign, and perceived impact on snack consumption by children under 11 years.

Day R, Bridge G, Austin K, Ensaff H, Christian M BMC Public Health. 2022; 22(1):1012.

PMID: 35590265 PMC: 9118772. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-022-12789-7.

Food and beverage offerings by parents of preschoolers: A daily survey study of dinner offerings during COVID-19.

Barton J Appetite. 2022; 174:106047.

PMID: 35430295 PMC: 9010018. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2022.106047.

How Do French Parents Determine Portion Sizes for Their Pre-Schooler? A Qualitative Exploration of the Parent-Child Division of Responsibility and Influencing Factors.

Philippe K, Issanchou S, Roger A, Feyen V, Monnery-Patris S Nutrients. 2021; 13(8).

PMID: 34444929 PMC: 8399289. DOI: 10.3390/nu13082769.

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