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Faster eating rates are associated with increased energy intake, but little is known about the relationship between children’s eating rate, food intake and adiposity. We examined whether children who eat faster consume more energy and whether this is associated with higher weight status and adiposity. We hypothesised that eating rate mediates the relationship between child weight and ad libitum energy intake. Children (n 386) from the Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes cohort participated in a video-recorded ad libitum lunch at 4·5 years to measure acute energy intake. Videos were coded for three eating-behaviours (bites, chews and swallows) to derive a measure of eating rate (g/min). BMI and anthropometric indices of adiposity were measured. A subset of children underwent MRI scanning (n 153) to measure abdominal subcutaneous and visceral adiposity. Children above/below the median eating rate were categorised as slower and faster eaters, and compared across body composition measures. There was a strong positive relationship between eating rate and energy intake (r 0·61, P<0·001) and a positive linear relationship between eating rate and children’s BMI status. Faster eaters consumed 75 % more energy content than slower eating children (Δ548 kJ (Δ131 kcal); 95 % CI 107·6, 154·4, P<0·001), and had higher whole-body (P<0·05) and subcutaneous abdominal adiposity (Δ118·3 cc; 95 % CI 24·0, 212·7, P=0·014). Mediation analysis showed that eating rate mediates the link between child weight and energy intake during a meal (b 13·59; 95 % CI 7·48, 21·83). Children who ate faster had higher energy intake, and this was associated with increased BMI z-score and adiposity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Few children consume the recommended portions of fruit or vegetables. This study examined the effects of parental physical prompting and parental modelling in children’s acceptance of a novel fruit (NF) and examined the role of children’s food-approach and food-avoidance traits on NF engagement and consumption. A total of 120 caregiver–child dyads (fifty-four girls, sixty-six boys) participated in this study. Dyads were allocated to one of the following three conditions: physical prompting but no modelling, physical prompting and modelling or a modelling only control condition. Dyads ate a standardised meal containing a portion of a fruit new to the child. Parents completed measures of children’s food approach and avoidance. Willingness to try the NF was observed, and the amount of the NF consumed was measured. Physical prompting but no modelling resulted in greater physical refusal of the NF. There were main effects of enjoyment of food and food fussiness on acceptance. Food responsiveness interacted with condition such that children who were more food responsive had greater NF acceptance in the prompting and modelling conditions in comparison with the modelling only condition. In contrast, children with low food responsiveness had greater acceptance in the modelling control condition than in the prompting but no modelling condition. Physical prompting in the absence of modelling is likely to be detrimental to NF acceptance. Parental use of physical prompting strategies, in combination with modelling of NF intake, may facilitate acceptance of NF, but only in food-responsive children. Modelling consumption best promotes acceptance in children with low food responsiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Past research on the relationship between taste sensitivity and fruit and vegetable (FV) intake in children has focused on sensitivity to bitter taste. The effects of sensitivity to sweet taste on intake of FV have never been investigated. Furthermore, the effects of children's weight on intake of FV are inconclusive. This study measured the effects of Sucrose Detection Threshold (SDT) and weight status on intake of FV in children. The participants of this study were 99 children between 5–9 years old. Parents reported their own and their children's 24 hour intake of FV and completed a measure of children's sensory sensitivity. Children completed the triangle test with suprathreshold concentrations of sucrose ranging between 0.2% and 1.6%, in 0.2% increments. Two MANCOVAs showed that, controlling for parental intake and children's sensory sensitivity, there was a main effect of SDT on intake of fruit (p < 0.05), which was exclusive to non-astringent fruit (p < 0.05), and cruciferous vegetables (p < 0.01). Weight status had no effect on intake of FV. Mechanisms behind the effects of SDT are discussed in the context of past research on bitter taste sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The foods that tend to be rejected by children include those which may have greatest importance for later health. This paper reviews some of the intrinsic and extrinsic influences on preschool children's eating behavior, with particular reference to their acceptance of new foods into their diet. Factors conceptualized as intrinsic to the child in this review include sensory processing, taste perception, neophobia, and temperament. The important extrinsic determinants of children's food acceptance which are reviewed include parental and peer modeling, the family food environment, infant feeding practices including breastfeeding and age at weaning, concurrent feeding practices including restriction, pressure to eat, prompting and reward, and the taste & energy content of foods. Children's willingness to accept new foods is influenced by a wide range of factors that likely have individual and also interactive effects on children's willingness to taste, and then continue to eat, new foods. The literature lacks longitudinal and experimental studies, which will be particularly important in determining interventions most likely to be effective in facilitating children's acceptance of healthy foods. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Previous research demonstrated that faster eating rates are linked with increased intake of energy during a meal. Here, we examined whether within‐meal parental feeding practices show cross‐sectional and prospective associations with children's oral processing behaviours and whether the previously demonstrated association between faster eating rates and higher energy intakes varies by parental feeding practices. A subset (n = 155) of children and their mothers from the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes cohort participated in an ad libitum meal at age 4.5 years. Children's oral processing behaviours (eating rate, bite size, chews per gram, oral exposure time, and meal duration) and parental feeding practices (autonomy‐supporting and coercive prompts, restrictions, hurrying, and slowing) were recorded during the meal. Subsequently, 94 of the children participated in a follow‐up meal without their mothers at age 6 years. Parental feeding practices were not consistently associated with child oral processing behaviours overall. However, exploratory post hoc analyses revealed some sex differences. The mothers of girls with faster eating rates, larger bite sizes, and fewer chews were more likely to use hurrying, slowing, and restrictions, but similar associations were not observed among boys. Children who had the most problematic eating style and were eating fast and for long experienced more restrictions, instructions to slow down, and prompts. Faster eating rates were linked with the highest energy intakes if children were additionally prompted to eat. Prospective analyses showed that children who were more often prompted using coercive techniques and less frequently hurried at age 4.5 years had faster eating rates at 6 years and a larger increase in eating rates between ages 4.5 and 6 years but did not consume more energy. Although the direction of these associations cannot be assumed, these exploratory analyses suggest sex differences in the associations between feeding practices and oral processing behaviours and highlight the potential role of parents in the development of children's oral processing behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents' feeding practices have been shown to be associated with children's food intake and weight status, but little is known about feeding practices in Asian countries. This study used behavioral observation to explore the feeding practices of 201 mothers of 4.5 year-old children in Singapore during an ad libitum buffet lunch. Feeding practices were coded from videos, focusing on behaviors used to prompt the child to eat more food (autonomy-supportive and coercive-controlling prompts to eat, suggesting items from buffet), those to reduce intake (restriction, questioning food choice), and those related to eating rate (hurrying or slowing child eating). Child outcome measures included energy consumed, variety of food items selected, and BMI. Maternal restriction and trying to slow child eating rate were associated with higher energy consumed by the child (r = 0.19 and 0.13, respectively; p < 0.05). Maternal autonomy-supportive prompts and restriction were associated with a greater variety of items selected by children (r = 0.19 and 0.15, respectively; p < 0.05). The frequency of maternal feeding practice use differed across ethnic groups, with Malay mothers using the most prompts to eat (p < 0.05), Chinese mothers most likely to question a child's food choice (p < 0.01), and Indian mothers the last likely to tell the child to eat faster (p < 0.001). There were no differences between ethnic groups for other feeding practices. No associations were found between feeding practices and child BMI. It is possible that feeding practices related to restriction and slowing child eating are adopted in response to children who consume larger portions, although longitudinal or intervention studies are needed to confirm the direction of this relationship and create local recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]