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Background: Evidence suggests that schools play an important role in student health; however, little is known about variability in teachers' use of food-related classroom practices. In this study, we examined associations between teacher demographic and individual factors and their food-related practices and modeling in the classroom. Methods: We had 239 teachers in the United States complete an online survey about their demographics (years of teaching experience, socioeconomic status of the school), personal health status, height and weight, and nutrition knowledge. Teachers also reported on the unhealthy food-related practices they use in their classroom (eg, candy as a reward) and modeling (ie, engaging in unhealthy and healthy eating practices in front of students). Results: Hierarchical linear regressions were computed for each outcome separately. After controlling for socioeconomic status, fewer years of teaching experience and lower perception of personal health were associated with the use of unhealthy practices in the classroom. Teachers who were dieting were more likely to endorse healthy modeling. Conclusions: Teacher demographic and individual factors are associated with food-related classroom behavior. These findings have implications for interventions to promote the health of teachers and their students.

This study focused on Arabs and Jewish pre-service teachers' perception of body image. Body image is a major component of our well-being. Western culture attributes specific characteristics to women based on their body shapes, which significantly influences their functioning. The aim of this study was to examine cultural differences in attitudes towards women's weight among Israeli pre-service education students. Participants were 558 Arab, Jewish religious, and Jewish secular students all majoring in education. As part of a developmental psychology section on body image and eating disorders, the students were asked to respond to two pictures presenting an overweight and an average-weight woman. The participants in this study were an especially important group, given their future role as educators. Comparisons of the three groups showed only one group difference. Analyses of the entire sample showed that attributes assigned to the overweight and average-weight women differed across multiple vocational, personality, emotional, and self-image dimensions. The discussion addresses (a) how attributions about women's bodies extend beyond cultural and religious differences, and (b) pre-service education students' physical appearance stereotypes. Furthermore, the present study findings, underline the importance of pre-service teachers' awareness of diversity among their students.

Given the overlap between mindfulness and food neophobia, the current study developed and tested a mindfulness-based intervention to decrease food neophobia in preschoolers. Preschoolers (ages 3-5) participated in 10 sessions of a mindfulness intervention group (n = 27) or a food-exposure control group (n = 25). Children were assessed pre- and post-test on their ability to explore and describe novel foods and toys, as well as their willingness to try novel foods. Children in the intervention group used more senses to explore and more words to describe novel foods and toys at posttest compared to pre-test. At post-test, the intervention group used more senses to explore foods and more words to describe toys than the control group. No differences regarding willingness to try novel foods at post-test were observed. However, the intervention group tried novel foods willingly during mindful eating exercises. This intervention was enjoyed by childcare providers and children alike. Given the barriers to encouraging children to eat healthfully, this study highlights the potential for teachers and other childcare providers to incorporate such an intervention into their classrooms to encourage healthy eating habits and improve child health.

Background: The school nutrition environment has a large impact on child diet. However, there is a paucity of nationally representative research on factors that predict effective nutrition policies, practices, and education in schools. Purpose: The current study utilized Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data from the 2016 School Health Policies and Practices Survey (SHPPS) to explore the impact of poverty and community type (i.e., urban/rural spectrum) on these variables. Methods: Data from the 2016 SHPPS included 740 U.S. public schools. Composite scores were created from survey items related to dietary policies and practices. Results: Schools of greater rurality and urbanicity had more nutrition policies and education but fewer practices than suburban districts. Rural districts generally had fewer nutrition policies, practices, and education than urban districts. Poverty did not consistently predict these variables. Discussion: Community type is a crucial variable in the school nutrition environment and may better explain discrepancies among schools than poverty. Future efforts might focus on improving school nutrition policy and practice adherence, especially in rural areas. Translation to Health Education Practice: Further research using nationally representative data can help health educators better understand what interventions may produce the best results within their unique community type.

Baby-led weaning (BLW), a popular complementary feeding style, prioritizes exploration of foods, independence of children in eating, and eating with family. Though BLW has received popular attention, empirical evidence is limited. This study measured parents' reports of BLW, parenting style, and feeding practices; analyzed BLW's relation to children's dietary intake; examined how demographic variables such as age, parent sex, education, and marital status related to the prevalence of using BLW. This cross sectional study recruited 313 parents with children ages 6–30 months via Cloud Research, an online survey platform where individuals complete surveys for compensation. Hierarchical regressions examined how feeding style, dietary intake, and parenting style related to independence, exploration, and family subscales of BLW after controlling for relevant demographics. The majority (69.3%) of participants identified as female, white (76.6%), middle-class (52.4%), married (69%), and a third had a bachelor's degree (37.4%). Restrictive feeding practices, Ellyn Satter's division of responsibility, and the parents' sex were significant predictors of all subscales of BLW. Parents who use BLW allowed for an autonomous food experience and were less likely to restrict or control the child's eating. BLW appears to be related to, but distinct from, well-researched parent feeding practices such as restriction and division of responsibility. These findings might be useful in education and interventions for healthcare professionals. Future research on BLW should examine how child behavior and nutrition outcomes compare to other feeding practices. • Baby-led weaning (BLW) has recently gained popularity; however, there is limited empirical research on this construct. • Restrictive feeding practices and division of responsibility were significant predictors of all subscales of BLW. • BLW is related to, but distinct from, parent feeding practices such as restriction and division of responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine the psychometric properties of 9 quantitative items that assess time scarcity and fatigue as parent barriers to planning and preparing meals for their children. Methods: A convenience sample of 342 parents of children aged 2-6 years completed a 20-minute online survey. Exploratory factor analysis was used to examine the factor structure and create summary scales. Internal consistency reliability and measures of construct and concurrent validity were assessed. Results: Two scales were created based on the factor analysis: time and energy for meals and meal planning. Preliminary evidence suggests that both scales are reliable and valid. Conclusions and Implications: The time and energy for meals and meal planning scales can be completed quickly by busy and tired parents. As many children do not eat nutritious diets, a better understanding of the barriers that parents face is critical and may help inform interventions tailored to the needs of tired, busy parents. (Contains 4 tables.)

Background: This article reports the development and validation of a measure of parents' use of baby‐led weaning (BLW). BLW is a child‐centred approach to complementary feeding where the infant is allowed to eat whole foods (rather than purees) and explore a variety of foods and textures. To date, parents' use of BLW has been assessed using either single items or a wide variety of measures. Method: In this study, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on independent samples supported three BLW subscales: independence, exploration, and family. Results: The final 13‐item scale showed adequate fit statistics and good reliability (χ2(62) = 115.02, p < 0.001; CFI = 0.98; TLI = 0.98; RMSEA = 0.05; SRMR = 0.06; exploration a = 0.738; family a = 0.715; independence a = 0.809). In addition, the scale demonstrated good external validity and related in theoretically expected ways to an infant feeding‐style measure and parent report of complementary feeding approach. This study was limited as it was mostly white parents, and the scale should be validated on a more diverse sample. Conclusions: Future research can use this scale to examine if BLW relates to infant taste preferences, parenting styles, and child eating behaviours to improve child nutrition and health outcomes. Key Points: To date, there is limited operationalisation of BLW as a complementary feeding style.This study created a scale to measure BLW as a complementary feeding style.Three main factors emerged from the items: exploration, independence, and family.Future research should target the effects of BLW on child nutrition and feeding outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caregivers often struggle with food neophobia on the part of young children. This study examined whether labeling novel healthy foods with fun names would increase children's willingness to try those foods and encourage them to eat more of those foods in a child care setting. Thirty-nine toddler and preschool age children (mean age = 3.9 years) were served each of three foods twice, once labeled with a fun name and once with a healthy name. Percentage of the food consumed by each child was recorded. Overall, children ate a greater percentage of the target foods when they were labeled with fun names. Also, a larger percentage of the children tasted the foods when they were labeled with fun names. This simple strategy could be effective for increasing consumption of healthy foods among young children.

Eating behaviours begin to develop during early childhood, but relatively little is known about preschoolers' nutrition knowledge. The current study examined age and gender differences in this knowledge using two tasks: food group classification and the creation of unhealthy, healthy and preferred meals. Sixty-nine three- to six-year-old children were interviewed. Findings suggest that the healthy meals children created were lower in calories and fat than their preferred and unhealthy meals. Older children and girls had a larger discrepancy in the calorie/fat content of their healthy and unhealthy meals than younger children and boys, respectively. Children's created meals showed some dietary variety, but many children could not provide valid explanations for why they selected the foods they did. Children were better at classifying fruits and vegetables than foods from the grain and dairy group. This study highlights the utility of using ecologically valid measures to understand children's developing nutrition knowledge. (Contains 4 tables.)

Overweight is increasing in children, leading to negative health consequences. Children also lack appropriate levels of important vitamins and nutrients in their diets. Environmental cues, such as food proximity, have been shown to influence consumption rates in adults. The present study has tested whether proximity to either a nutrient-dense or caloric-dense food would influence children's snack consumption in a day care setting. Children (N = 46, age range 3.4-11) consumed more of both nutrient- and energy-dense foods when they are sitting closer to the food than if they are sitting farther away from the food, above and beyond the effects of age. The data indicate that it may be possible to increase the consumption of nutrient-dense foods or decrease the consumption of energy-dense foods, respectively, by modifying the proximity of such foods within a child's environment. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

This article describes qualitative and quantitative assessment based on responses of 221 teachers from nine elementary schools in two districts (urban and suburban) to inform plans for reducing and preventing student aggression. Teachers' perceptions of students' aggressive behavior and beliefs were validated against students' self-reports and archival disciplinary data. Using a brief survey, we found district- and grade-level differences in teachers' perceptions of students' aggressive behavior and aggression supporting cognitions. Teacher reports on these two constructs each uniquely predicted teacher perceptions of the degree to which student aggression interferes with their jobs. Focus-group interviews with teachers were used to elaborate on individual-cognitive and ecological school factors related to student aggression, including procedures for handling aggression. The importance of teacher reports is highlighted, and implications for school program development are considered. (Contains 1 table and 1 footnote.)

We analyzed the content of school-aged children's responses to a countywide in-class essay assignment in which they described what they are thankful for. Accounts were written in November of 2000 (n=152) and 2001 (n=196). We identified the most prominent themes of children's gratitude as well as differences in the themes that emerged before and after the September 11 terrorist attacks. We also examined sex and developmental differences in the gratitude themes. The most common themes were family, basic needs, friends, and teachers/school. Rescue workers, the United States and its values (e.g., freedom) appeared more frequently in 2001 than 2000. Girls expressed more gratitude than boys for a variety of interpersonal relationships; boys were more grateful for material objects. Older children mentioned several themes more frequently than younger children. Implications are discussed in the context of positive psychology.

Two studies investigated whether children's television programs that were produced to decrease racial prejudice had the intended positive effect on young children. Study 1 measured 60 White 5- and 6-year-old children's attitudes toward Asian, Black, and White stimuli prior to, and immediately following, a brief, one-time anti-prejudice television program. No significant change was observed. Study 2 assessed the attitudes of 30 White 3-6-year-old children toward Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White stimuli at the beginning and end of a 3-week intervention period. During the intervention period children watched a pro-diversity television program four times. Plot and anti-prejudice message comprehension was assessed at three time-points during the testing period. Participants improved on plot and message comprehension over time, but no change in ideas about race was evidenced (children indicated a strong pro-White bias at both pre- and post-test). Possible reasons for, and implications of, this lack of change are discussed.