Preschoolers exhibit conformity to computer-simulated food portion selection behaviors of remote peers

Kim, Elizabeth B.; Chen, Chuansheng; Cheon, Bobby K.

doi:10.1016/j.appet.2019.04.028

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 80 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Lastly, this study also reports exploratory findings concerning the early adolescents' sex and the influence of remote peers on food choices (Kim, Chen, & Cheon, 2019a, 2019bRomero et al, 2009;Sharps & Robinson, 2015. Previous research on school-aged children and young adolescents reported that: (a) girls tended to choose healthier food than boys (Ragelien _ e & Grønhøj, 2020), (b) remote peers had a stronger influence on boys than girls (Giese, Juh asz, Schupp, & Renner, 2013), and (c) there was no interaction of sex and age on food choices (Caine-Bish, & Scheule, 2009;Cooke, & Wardle, 2005;Larson, Neumark-Sztainer, Hannan, Stat, & Story, 2007;Vereecken et al, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Early Adolescents’ Food Selection After Evaluating the Healthiness of Remote Peers’ Food Choices

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study investigates whether asking early adolescents to evaluate the food choices of remote peers improves their own food selection. Participants were students from fifth (N = 219, M age = 9.30 years) and sixth grades (N = 248, M age = 10.28 years) of varying nationalities living in the United Arab Emirates (race and ethnicity were not collected). Students saw peers' healthy or unhealthy food choices before picking their own food. In some conditions, students also critically evaluated the healthiness of the peers' choices. Evaluation of peer choices led to healthier decisions (d = .53) to the point that it offsets the negative impact of observing unhealthy peer choices. This effect is larger for sixth graders compared to fifth graders.According to the World Health Organization, over 340 million children and adolescents (aged 5-19 years) were classified as overweight or obese in 2016. The fraction of children and adolescents classified as overweight and obese has risen dramatically from just 4% in 1975 to just over 18% in 2016. Childhood obesity is associated with a wide range of severe health complications and an increased risk of premature onset of illnesses, including diabetes and heart disease. Without intervention, children and young adolescents classified as obese are likely to remain so throughout adolescence and adulthood. Since dietary habits are established at a young age, it is critical to identify effective public health strategies to address these issues in childhood (Haire-Joshu & Tabak, 2016).Among the factors driving children's eating behavior (for an extensive review, see DeCosta, Møller, Frøst, & Olsen, 2017), there is ample evidence showing that peer modeling affects eating behavior by providing a norm of appropriate food intake and information on food preferences. This is true for preschool children (Addessi, Galloway,

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Early Adolescents’ Food Selection After Evaluating the Healthiness of Remote Peers’ Food Choices

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In addition, the sample consisted largely of university students and, therefore, their selected portions may not reflect the average portion sizes of the wider population. Despite this, PSTs in general have been widely used outside of student samples including with children [ 22 , 41 ] and clinical populations [ 42 ]. Finally, the simplified PSTs presented here are developed as proxies for the SCPST and have not been compared with actual ad libitum food intake.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Methodological advancements that address these potential constraints are computerized or simulated portion selection tasks (PSTs; standard computerized PSTs are referred to as/SCPST throughout) which have been commonly used in research on portion selection, premeal planning and expected satiation/satiety (e.g., [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]). In these tasks, participants can dynamically and flexibly change the portion of food presented on a computer screen using a keyboard.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a Simplified Portion Size Selection Task

Pink

Cheon

2021

Foods

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Portion size is an important determinant of energy intake and the development of easy to use and valid tools for measuring portion size are required. Standard measures, such as ad libitum designs and currently available computerized portion selection tasks (PSTs), have several limitations including only being able to capture responses to a limited number of foods, requiring participants’ physical presence and logistical/technical demands. The objective of the current study was to develop and test robust and valid measures of portion size that can be readily prepared by researchers and be reliably utilized for remote online data collection. We developed and tested two simplified PSTs that could be utilized online: (1) portion size images presented simultaneously along a horizontal continuum slider and (2) multiple-choice images presented vertically. One hundred and fifty participants (M = 21.35 years old) completed both simplified PSTs, a standard computerized PST and a series of questionnaires of variables associated with portion size (e.g., hunger, food item characteristics, Three Factor Eating Questionnaire). We found average liking of foods was a significant predictor of all three tasks and cognitive restraint also predicted the two simplified PSTs. We also found significant agreement between the standard PST and estimated portion sizes derived from the simplified PSTs when accounting for average liking. Overall, we show that simplified versions of the standard PST can be used online as an analogue of estimating ideal portion size.

show abstract

“…Modeling is based on social learning theory, which posits that children will imitate the behavior of others (Bandura, 1977). In line with the theory, research done in Singapore suggests that preschoolers conform to their peers' portion sizes as well as food and drink preferences (Kim et al, 2019a(Kim et al, , 2019b(Kim et al, , 2020. Moreover, family-style meal service is wellaligned with another key research-backed practice; providing structured mealtime routines (Rollins et al, 2016).…”

Section: Sociality and Commensalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Sifting through preschool teachers' funds of knowledge to reveal culturally sustaining child-feeding professional learning opportunities at one university in Singapore

Chin

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Preschool teachers use their ideals as a sifter to comb through their most pertinent funds of knowledge related to mealtimes with young children. The purpose of this two-cycle action research study was to investigate and enhance child-feeding professional learning opportunities-targeted at early childhood educators working with young children (aged 1 to 6 years)-at a university in Singapore. Cycle 1 participants consisted of Singapore-based preschool teachers. Analysis of data from 12 semi-structured interviews, five mealtime observations and five menu documents led to six themes responding to the research question. Together with the literature, these themes informed the Cycle 2 action step, which was designed, executed, and evaluated in Cycle 2. The participants in Cycle 2 completed a teacher reflection tool and participated in a WhatsApp chat group. Semi-structured interviews conducted at two points, review of participant-generated mind maps, personal reflection documents and WhatsApp chat logs, coupled with field notes and analytic memos enabled evaluation of the project's effectiveness in raising participants' subjective knowledge and confidence around mealtime decisions. In response to the research question, findings suggest that (a) preschool teachers use their values, attitudes and beliefs as a "sifter" (enabling them to sift through their funds of knowledge to reveal child-feeding growth opportunities); (b) bridging dissonance between extant research and local child-feeding experiences enables learning; (c) building safety and trust can make child-feeding learning feel less risky; and (d) combining both introspection and community support helps to achieve change in mealtime practices.Implications included the need to develop relationships between scholar-practitioners and preschool teachers, expand child-feeding learning opportunities both within and beyond universities, and signal approval for child-feeding change from preschool and government leadership.

show abstract

Preschoolers exhibit conformity to computer-simulated food portion selection behaviors of remote peers

Cited by 8 publications

References 80 publications

Early Adolescents’ Food Selection After Evaluating the Healthiness of Remote Peers’ Food Choices

Early Adolescents’ Food Selection After Evaluating the Healthiness of Remote Peers’ Food Choices

Development of a Simplified Portion Size Selection Task

Sifting through preschool teachers' funds of knowledge to reveal culturally sustaining child-feeding professional learning opportunities at one university in Singapore

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About