Elsevier

Appetite

Volume 44, Issue 3, June 2005, Pages 273-282
Appetite

Research Report
Children eat what they are served: the imprecise regulation of energy intake

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2005.01.005Get rights and content

Abstract

Total daily food intake of 16 preschool children 4–6 years of age were collected from 5 to 7 consecutive days. The most powerful determinant of the amount of food consumed at meals was amount served (r=0.77, P<0.0001). Although intake at meals (snacks were considered a meals) was significantly negatively correlated with the amount and energy intake at the previous meal (r=−0.27, P=0.0001), the amount served was also negatively correlated with the amount served at the previous meal (P<0.02). Children did not adjust the amount consumed in response to the energy density of the meal resulting in an energy intake that was directly related to the energy density of the meals (P<0.0001). In addition, intake at meals was not depressed by energy consumed as snacks between meals.

The present results indicate that eating behavior of children is similar to adults in that they display very poor regulation of energy intake and are responsive to environmental stimuli. The conclusion from this study is that both the cause of overweight in children, as well as its prevention, may lie in the hands of the caregiver.

Section snippets

Subjects and methods

Seventeen preschool children 4–6 years of age, 6 girls (mean age+standard deviation, 4.4+0.5 years) and 11 boys (4.8+0.7 years), were studied. The children attended 2 day-care centers located in Ithaca, NY, where they consumed three meals per day (two snacks and lunch) in a relaxed and non-coercive atmosphere. All were healthy, without any chronic disease that will interfere with their normal food intake and had normal body weight (between 25th and 50th percentile of the standard growth curves)

Daily intake

Because the food intakes of children from the 2 day-care centers were not statistically significantly different, the data from the two schools were combined. All the results are reported as a mean+standard deviation if not stated differently. The results of 16 children, 5 girls and 11 boys, with mean age 4.7+0.7 years were included in the analysis. One girl was excluded from further analysis because she developed an acute respiratory infection during the study. Her energy intake dropped below

Discussion

The present study demonstrates that children, like adults, show little evidence of the regulation energy intake either at the meal or within 24 h. Instead, the major determinant of energy intake in children appears to be the amount served to them by their caregivers. These results are consistent with the observation of Rolls et al. (2000) who showed that the amount of food 5-year-old children consumed was proportional to the amount they were served, although they did not observe this effect in

Acknowledgements

Supported by USDA Grant 94-34324-0987.

We would especially like to thank the children, their parents, and the teachers of the Under Cottonwood Day Care Center and the Coddington Child Care Center of Ithaca, NY for their fantastic cooperation and support for this study.

This study was submitted as part of a PhD degree awarded to GM by Cornell University, 2000.

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    David A. Levitsky is also at the Department of Psychology, Cornell University.

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