title: A qualitative study of parents' perceptions and use of portion size strategies for preschool children's snacks.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Increases in childhood obesity correspond with shifts in children's snacking behaviors and food portion sizes. This study examined parents' conceptualizations of portion size and the strategies they use to portion snacks in the context of preschool-aged children's snacking.
  
  
  METHODS
  Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with non-Hispanic white (W), African American (AA), and Hispanic (H) low-income parents (n = 60) of preschool-aged children living in Philadelphia and Boston. The interview examined parents' child snacking definitions, purposes, contexts, and frequency. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Coding matrices compared responses by race/ethnicity, parent education, and household food security status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Parents' commonly referenced portion sizes when describing children's snacks with phrases like "something small." Snack portion sizes were guided by considerations including healthfulness, location, hunger, and timing. Six strategies for portioning snacks were presented including use of small containers, subdividing large portions, buying prepackaged snacks, use of hand measurement, measuring cups, scales, and letting children determine portion size. Differences in considerations and strategies were seen between race/ethnic groups and by household food security status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Low-income parents of preschool-aged children described a diverse set of considerations and strategies related to portion sizes of snack foods offered to their children. Future studies should examine how these considerations and strategies influence child dietary quality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, University of South Carolina, 915 Greene Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, United States. Electronic address: ceblake@sc.edu.
authors.forename: Christine E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Blake
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Center for Obesity Research and Education, Temple University, 3223 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19140, United States.
authors.forename: Jennifer Orlet
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ganter
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, University of South Carolina, 915 Greene Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, United States.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Younginer
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Center for Obesity Research and Education, Temple University, 3223 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19140, United States.
authors.forename: Alexandria
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Orloski
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
authors.forename: Rachel E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Blaine
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Center for Obesity Research and Education, Temple University, 3223 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19140, United States.
authors.forename: Yasmeen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bruton
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
authors.forename: Kirsten K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Davison
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001900:Boston; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003657:Decision Making; D004522:Educational Status; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply; D066296:Grounded Theory; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010465:Perception; D015143:Philadelphia; D064787:Portion Size / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D011203:Poverty; D036301:Qualitative Research; D062410:Snacks / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Child snacking; Parent perceptions; Portion size strategies; Preschool children; Qualitative methods; Snack portion sizes considerations