Assessing dinner meals offered at home among preschoolers from low‐income families with the Remote Food Photography Method

Abstract

Summary Background The high prevalence of obesity among preschoolers may be partially explained by the type and quantity of foods offered by parents and left unconsumed by preschoolers. Objectives (a) To compare foods offered and consumed at dinner to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) standards and (b) to examine the types, quantities, and nutrient composition of foods offered to and consumed by preschoolers and their plate waste. Methods Participants were recruited from six Head Start/preschool centres. The Remote Food Photography Method was used to document dinner meals over 1 week (n = 153 meals). Energy and nutrients for foods offered, consumed, and plate waste were calculated. Foods offered and consumed were compared with the DGAs and CACFP standards. Results Foods and beverages offered at dinner equaled 506 kcal, which is 36% of the DGA‐recommended total daily energy intake. Meals offered and consumed were high in fat and sodium and low in fibre. Adherence to CACFP standards was low for fruits (25%) and milk (2%) and moderate for vegetables (63%). Mean plate waste (29%) was similar across food types. Conclusions Opportunities exist to improve preschoolers' adherence to the DGAs and CACFP standards by enhancing the quality of dinner meals offered to them.

“Everyone can take photos.” Feasibility and relative validity of phone photography-based assessment of children’s diets – a mixed methods study

“…FFQ), and they require low-moderate levels of participant burden and literacy [6,7]. Several such imagebased methods have been developed that utilise different types of devices, such as personal digital assistants, handheld cameras, wearable cameras or (smart)phones [6,7,10], but many require apps, software, special equipment and/or training, even those that have successfully been tested and used in resource-poor areas [12,13]. In addition, dietary assessment methods in general are not routinely validated in such populations [10,14].…”

Food Photography as a Tool to Assess Type, Quantity, and Quality of Foods in Parent-Packed Lunches for Preschoolers

“…However, the consumption findings show that this parental worry may be at least partially unfounded, as the amount of food left unconsumed was similar across food groups, which has been seen in other studies. 36 Therefore, parents may be encouraged to prioritize their own desire to pack healthful foods and continue offering these items.…”

Obesity Risk Assessment Tool for Low-Income Spanish Speaking Immigrant Parents with Young Children: Validity with BMI and Biomarkers of Obesity

“…Another paradigm shift has occurred over 20 years, emphasizing the need for objective assessments of obesogenic behaviors to validate short self-report behavioral tools, in addition to the more traditional self-report measures. This was accomplished through the introduction of biologic objective measures [ 70 ], such as blood values to assess chronic low-grade inflammation [ 40 ], serum carotenoids to validate fruit and vegetable intakes [ 42 ], body mass index and other anthropometric markers [ 71 ], videotaping family meals to measure parenting practices [ 72 ], digital photography to measure dietary intake [ 73 ] and actigraphy devices to measure physical activity, sedentary behavior and sleep. The emphasis in all these methods are objective measurements to support or replace the more traditional parent-report methods.…”