Portion sizes for children are predicted by parental characteristics and the amounts parents serve themselves.
BACKGROUND
Children's energy intakes are influenced by the portions they are served. Factors influencing the amounts adults offer children are not well described.


OBJECTIVE
We assessed whether the amounts that were served to and consumed by children at meals were related to amounts that parents served themselves.


METHODS
In this repeated-measures, cross-sectional observational study, 145 parents and their preschoolers (82 Hispanic, 57 African American, 6 unidentified) were recruited from Head Start settings in Houston, TX. The amounts served to and consumed by children and parents during 3 at-home evening meals were measured and analyzed. We assessed children's and parents' heights and weights, and body mass indexes (BMIs) were calculated. Associations between portions served for parents and children and between amounts served to and consumed by children were evaluated. Multiple linear regression was used to determine whether maternal characteristics (race-ethnicity, sociodemographic factors, and caregivers' BMIs) predicted the amounts caregivers served to children.


RESULTS
The amounts that parents served themselves were significantly associated with the amounts that they served to their children (r = 0.51, P < 0.0001). Multiple regression analysis showed that African American parents (compared with Hispanics) served more food to themselves and to their children (P < 0.01, R² = 6.9%) and that employed (compared with unemployed) parents served more food to their children (P = 0.025, R² = 3.3%). The amounts served to children were strongly associated with the amounts children consumed (r = 0.88, P < 0.0001). When parents served more to themselves, they also served more to their children (P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
These findings underscore the strong relation between portions offered by caregivers and the amounts children consume at a meal and suggest that factors unrelated to the child (such as the amount a parent serves himself or herself) are important predictors of children's consumption. Efforts aimed at improving parents' recognition of developmentally appropriate portions for young children could be useful for future obesity-prevention efforts.
Department of Pediatrics, Section of Nutrition, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado (SLJ); the Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX (SOH, TN, YL, and KV); the Office of Energetics, Nutrition Obesity Research Center, and Section on Statistical Genetics, Department of Biostatistics, University of Alabama Birmingham, Birmingham, AL (DBA, XC, and XL); the Department of Human Development, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington (TGP); and the Departments of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (LSG).
Susan L
SL
Johnson
Sheryl O
SO
Hughes
Xiangqin
X
Cui
Xuelin
X
Li
David B
DB
Allison
Yan
Y
Liu
L Suzanne
LS
Goodell
Theresa
T
Nicklas
Thomas G
TG
Power
Kirstin
K
Vollrath
D001741:Black or African American; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D018479:Early Intervention, Educational; D002149:Energy Intake / Q000208:ethnology; D005192:Family Health / Q000208:ethnology; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D062407:Meals / Q000208:ethnology; D010287:Parent-Child Relations / Q000208:ethnology; D010332:Paternal Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D064787:Portion Size / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000208:ethnology; D012648:Self Care / Q000009:adverse effects; D013781:Texas; D014504:Urban Health / Q000208:ethnology