Using remote peers’ influence to promote healthy food choices among preschoolers.

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

doi:10.1037/dev0000669

Cited by 15 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…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). In this study, girls chose significantly healthier food than boys, but there were no significant sex differences in the influence of peers (in line with Kim, Chen, & Cheon, 2019b;Sharps & Robinson, 2015. Similarly, there were no significant differences by sex on the impact of evaluating peer choices.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

“…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: 90%

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

et al. 2021

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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,

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 53%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

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

et al. 2021

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“…For example, participants’ significant places may represent opportunities to disseminate interventions beyond the participant themselves to their families, friends and coworkers. Similarly, interventions which address the social pressures within person-defined significant places such as work or church in addition to individual-level behavior change strategies may lead to improved intervention outcomes and sustainability of intervention effects [ 35 , 36 ]. For AA adults in rural settings, partnering with leaders and influential individuals within key significant places such as churches and workplaces while using these places together as intervention settings, may be a means of addressing negative social pressures and leveraging place to improve CVD risk behaviors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The significant places of African American adults and their perceived influence on cardiovascular disease risk behaviors

et al. 2021

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Background AA living in rural areas of the southeastern U.S. experience a disproportionate burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Neighborhood environmental factors contribute to this disparity and may decrease the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions aimed at preventing CVD. Furthermore, the influence of neighborhood factors on AA CVD risk behaviors (i.e. physical activity) may be obscured by the use of researcher-defined neighborhoods and researcher-defined healthy and unhealthy places. The objective of this study was to elucidate the effects of neighborhood environments on AA CVD risk behaviors among AA adults who recently completed a lifestyle intervention. We specifically sought to identify AA adults’ self-perceived places of significance and their perceptions of how these places impact CVD risk behaviors including diet, physical activity and smoking. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews with AA adults (N = 26) living in two rural North Carolina counties (Edgecombe and Nash, North Carolina, USA). Participants were recruited from a community-based behavioral CVD risk reduction intervention. All had at least one risk factor for CVD. Participants identified significant places including where they spent the most time, meaningful places, and healthy and unhealthy places on local maps. Using these maps as a reference, participants described the impact of each location on their CVD risk behaviors. Data were transcribed verbatim and coded using NVivo 12. Results The average age of participants was 63 (SD = 10) and 92% were female. Places participants defined as meaningful and places where they spent the most time included churches and relatives’ homes. Healthy places included gyms and parks. Unhealthy places included fast food restaurants and relatives’ homes where unhealthy food was served. Place influenced CVD risk behaviors in multiple ways including through degree of perceived control over the environment, emotional attachment and loneliness, caretaking responsibilities, social pressures and social support. Conclusions As we seek to improve cardiovascular interventions for rural AA in the American South, it will be important to further assess the effect of significant places beyond place of residence. Strategies which leverage or modify behavioral influences within person-defined significant places may improve the reach and effectiveness of behavioral lifestyle interventions.

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“…A randomized controlled experiment showed that after seeing peers choose unhealthy food, children became more likely to choose unhealthy food, resulting in negative peer behavior [ 30 , 39 ]. However, some studies have found that the healthy diet encouragement of their peers will reduce the intake of unhealthy foods such as snacks and beverages, thus encouraging children to make healthier dietary choices [ 40 ].…”

Section: Literature Review Conceptual Framework and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, many studies have shown that there is a significant negative relation between gender and unhealthy diet, and that boys are more likely to eat unhealthy food than girls [ 29 ]. In terms of age, children in middle school are more likely to be affected by their peers’ unhealthy food preferences [ 40 , 42 ]. In an experiment, it was found that the presence of peers affects the caloric intake and healthy food choices of overweight children [ 43 ].…”

Section: Literature Review Conceptual Framework and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Peers Matter? Unhealthy Food and Beverages Preferences among Children in a Selected Rural Province in China

Zhou

Bian

Huang

2023

Foods

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With the growing problem of childhood obesity, unhealthy dietary preferences among children have become an issue of worldwide concern. This article examines the class-peer effect of these preferences using random class assignment data from a field survey. The results show significant positive peer effects for both unhealthy food and beverages preference. These results remained robust after controlling for endogeneity issues using instrumental variables. Further analysis of the mechanism of peer effect shows that the better the relationship between classmates, the greater the influence peers have on unhealthy diet preferences among rural children. The same peer effect is found in situations where it is easy for children to obtain unhealthy food and beverages. The analysis of heterogeneity finds that the peer effects of unhealthy dietary preferences are stronger for girls, older students, and obese students. This paper also discusses the role of parents and schools in mitigating the peer effect. This paper proposes policy recommendations for rural areas in China to improve dietary preferences in children. These results may also provide useful guidelines for policy in other developing countries.

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Using remote peers’ influence to promote healthy food choices among preschoolers.

Abstract: Using remote peers' influence to promote healthy food choices among preschoolers

Cited by 15 publications

References 40 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

The significant places of African American adults and their perceived influence on cardiovascular disease risk behaviors

Do Peers Matter? Unhealthy Food and Beverages Preferences among Children in a Selected Rural Province in China

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