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Portion size variably affects food intake of 6-year-old and 4-year-old children in Kunming, China.

ABSTRACT: Age and portion size have been found to influence food intake in American children but have not been examined in an international context. This study evaluated the association between age and the effects of portion size on the food intake of kindergarteners in Kunming, China. Using a within-subjects crossover design in a classroom setting, 173 children in two age groups, mean age 4.2 years and 6.1 years, were served a predefined reference, small (-30%) and large (+30%) portion of rice, vegetables, and a protein source during lunchtime over three consecutive days. Each portion was weighed before and after the meal to determine amount of food consumed. Linear mixed modeling, controlling for repeated measures and clustering by classroom, was used to compare food intake under small and large portion size conditions to the reference portion. Children ate significantly less food when served small portions. When served a large portion, 6-year-old children increased food intake while 4-year-old children decreased food intake in comparison to the reference portion. Findings indicate that portion size affects food intake in Chinese children 4-6-years old. Older children show larger increases in food intake with increased portion size than do younger children.

SUBMITTER: Smith L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4319705 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Portion size variably affects food intake of 6-year-old and 4-year-old children in Kunming, China.

Smith Lindsey L Conroy Katharine K Wen Hongmei H Rui Li L Humphries Debbie D

Appetite 20130520

Age and portion size have been found to influence food intake in American children but have not been examined in an international context. This study evaluated the association between age and the effects of portion size on the food intake of kindergarteners in Kunming, China. Using a within-subjects crossover design in a classroom setting, 173 children in two age groups, mean age 4.2 years and 6.1 years, were served a predefined reference, small (-30%) and large (+30%) portion of rice, vegetable ...[more]

PMID: 23702260

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Project description:BackgroundFood portion size guidance resources aimed at parents of young children in the UK are freely available from a number of credible sources. However, little is known about whether parents are aware of, and use, any of these resources to guide their food portioning practices.ObjectivesWe aimed to explore the food portion size practices used by first-time parents living in the UK when feeding their one- to two-year-old child, and their awareness of and views on six food portion size guidance resources.MethodsParticipants were recruited via parent Facebook groups and online parent forums. Online 1-1 semi-structured interviews were conducted, during which parents were shown images of six food portion size guidance resources to facilitate discussion. Data was analysed in NVivo 11 using a Reflexive Thematic Analysis approach.ResultsOf the 27 participants, most were women (n = 25), white (n = 18), and educated to first degree level or higher (n = 24). First-time parents mostly relied on their own judgement and "instinct" to portion foods, based on their learned experience of how much their child ate on a day-to-day basis. This experience was used alongside physical indicators of food portion size, such as the size of children's dishware and food packaging. Most participants were unaware of any of the six food portion size guidance resources we showed them; only four had read any of the resources. Parents suggested they had previously sought advice about weaning from a range of sources (e.g. online, friends, community groups) but would be unlikely to seek out specific food portion size guidance. Parents suggested recommendations on food portion size should acknowledge and highlight parents' perception that "every child is different".ConclusionsExisting food portion size guidance resources for parents of young children in the UK are ineffective as they have poor reach and impact. We suggest parents should be involved in developing novel strategies to promote age-appropriate consumption and healthy weight gain in young children.

Project description:Aging is often associated with overweight and obesity. There exists a long-standing debate about whether meal pattern also contributes to the development of obesity. The orexigenic hormone ghrelin regulates appetite and satiety by activating its receptor, growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R). In mice, circulating ghrelin concentrations and brain GHS-R expression were shown to increase with aging. To assess whether GHS-R regulates feeding pattern during aging, we studied meal patterns for the following cohorts of male mice fed a normal unpurified diet: 1) 3-4 mo, young wild-type (WT) mice; 2) 3-4 mo, young Ghsr-null (Ghsr(-/-)) mice; 3) 12-14 mo, middle-aged WT (WT-M) mice; 4) 12-14 mo, middle-aged Ghsr(-/-) (Ghsr(-/-)-M) mice; 5) 24-26 mo, old WT (WT-O) mice; and 6) 24-26 mo, old Ghsr(-/-) (Ghsr(-/-)-O) mice. Although the total daily food intake of Ghsr(-/-) mice was similar to that of WT controls, Ghsr(-/-)-M and Ghsr(-/-)-O mice had 9% (P = 0.07) and 16% (P < 0.05) less body weight compared with WT-M and WT-O mice, respectively, primarily due to reduced fat mass (P < 0.05, WT-M vs. Ghsr(-/-)-M and WT-O vs. Ghsr(-/-)-O). Intriguingly, Ghsr(-/-)-M mice ate larger meals (on average, Ghsr(-/-)-M mice ate 0.117 g/meal and WT-M mice ate 0.080 g/meal; P < 0.01) and took a longer time to eat (Ghsr(-/-)-M, 196.0 s and WT-M, 128.9 s; P < 0.01), but ate less frequently (Ghsr(-/-)-M, 31.0 times/d and WT-M, 42.3 times/d; P < 0.05) than WT-M controls. In addition, we found that expression of hypothalamic orexigenic peptides, neuropeptide Y (NPY) and agouti-related peptide (AgRP), was relatively lower in aged WT mice (P = 0.09 for NPY and P = 0.06 for AgRP), but anorexic peptide pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) expression remained unchanged between the WT age groups. Interestingly, old Ghsr(-/-) mice had greater hypothalamic NPY expression (102% higher; P < 0.05) and AgRP expression (P = 0.07) but significantly lower POMC expression (P < 0.05) when compared with age-matched WT-O controls. Thus, our results indicate that GHS-R plays an important role in the regulation of meal pattern and that GHS-R ablation may modulate feeding behavior through the regulation of hypothalamic neuropeptides. Our results collectively suggest that ghrelin receptor antagonism may have a beneficial effect on metabolism during aging.

Dataset Information

Portion size variably affects food intake of 6-year-old and 4-year-old children in Kunming, China.

Publications

Portion size variably affects food intake of 6-year-old and 4-year-old children in Kunming, China.

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