Eating in the Absence of Hunger and Caloric Compensation in Preschool Children, Link With Parental Feeding Practices

Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement236 enrolled

Overview

Objectives: The aims were to measure caloric compensation (CC) and eating in the absence of hunger (EAH) in 2 to 7 year-old French children in their regular eating context and to link these measurements with individual characteristics (adiposity, age, gender) and parental feeding practices. Design: Three consecutive weeks an identical lunch was served in four preschool canteens reaching 236 children. The first lunch was a control session. For the CC situation (week 2), thirty minutes before the lunch children were offered a preload (137 kcal). For the EAH situation (week 3), ten minutes after lunch children were exposed to palatable foods (430 kcal). Food intake was measured at the individual level. Parental eating behaviour and feeding practices were measured by questionnaires. Child's height and weight were measured by a medical doctor.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

236

Conditions

Food Intake Regulation in Healthy Children

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 2 YearsMax age: 7 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * To be registered to the school canteen, to provide parental approval Exclusion Criteria: * Chronic disease or food allergies.

Locations (1)

Centre des sciences du goût et de l'alimentation

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Caloric compensation measurement

In order to collect measurements of caloric compensation, children were offered a chocolate bun 30 minutes before the lunch on the second week. The food intake at lunch was recorded. We calculated if children compensated the chocolate bun, by comparing energy intake at this lunch with energy intake from the control lunch which took place on week 1.

Time frame: 1 week

Control measurement of energy intake

The first week, we conducted a control lunch and recorded food intake of each child.

Time frame: 1 week

Eating in the absence of hunger measurement

In order to collect the measurement of Eating in the absence of hunger, on the third week we offered palatable foods to children 10 minutes after their lunch. We recorded the energy intake from these post-meal foods.

Time frame: 1 week

Secondary Outcomes

Parental feeding practices

Using a validated questionnaire, we collected information about parental feeding practices (Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire, Musher-Eizenman \& Holub, 2007).

Time frame: One month after inclusion