Preschoolers’ Reasoning About Food: the Roles of Health, Desirability, and Permissibility

• In Event: Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Topic - Cognitive Processes

Abstract

Childhood nutrition holds important consequences, including obesity and adverse health outcomes (CDC, 2019). Federal programs often attempt to shape food choices by providing dietary guidelines for youth (e.g. MyPlate). However, these guidelines negate the true gatekeepers of food: children. How do children decide what to eat?

Prior research has focused on children’s perceptions of foods’ health (DeJesus et al., 2019; Nguyen, 2008; Tatlow-Golden et al., 2013), but it remains unknown how other inputs shape children’s perceptions of food. The present research explores interactions between three considerations influencing children’s food decisions: what is healthy, desirable, and permissible to eat.

In Experiment 1, we created a validated list of foods for subsequent research. We recruited 179 adults from Prolific and asked them to rate the health and desirability of 50 foods. Agreement between adults’ ratings was used to classify foods based on their perceived health (healthy, unhealthy, mixed ratings) and desirability (liked, disliked, mixed ratings).

In Experiment 2, children completed a novel online survey. Children (N=22 4–6 years, Mage = 5.33) were introduced to four foods selected from Experiment 1: broccoli, cookie, raisins, and skittles. Children sorted pictures of foods into boxes: healthy or not healthy; liked or not liked; OK to eat or not OK to eat. Children were comparatively more likely to categorize foods they thought were healthy as undesirable but permissible, and comparatively more likely to categorize foods they thought were unhealthy as desirable but not permissible [P(desirable|healthy)=66%, P(desirable|unhealthy)=80; P(permissible|unhealthy)=70%, P(permissible|healthy)=94%]. Figure 1 depicts the relation between health and permissibility across foods.

In Experiment 3 (ongoing), we are investigating children’s considerations of the health, desirability and permissibility of an expanded set of foods. Using an established online database, we will recruit 72 4-6-year-old children; our sample size is achievable given current recruitment rates. Using the methodology from Experiment 2, we will ask children to assess the health, desirability and permissibility of 10 foods: three healthy foods, four mixed ratings foods, and three unhealthy foods (Figure 2). Parents will complete a survey modeled off of validated child feeding questionnaires (Birch et al., 2001; Hughes et al., 2005), and a novel scale addressing mealtime and food culture. We will examine correlations between children’s categorizations and the influence of parents’ food beliefs on children’s responses. We predict the preliminary trends from Experiment 2 will be supported and expect to gain insight from analyzing varied foods. Notably, we expect mixed ratings foods will produce wide-ranging responses, and be more influenced by considerations of desirability and permissibility than healthy and unhealthy foods. Finally, we predict children whose parents regulate, restrict, and control food will show a stronger positive relation between health and permissibility, whereas children whose parents perceive food as social and cultural will show a stronger relation between desirability and permissibility.

This research can help inform future nutrition education programs by creating an evidence-based understanding of the considerations children weigh when deciding what to eat.

Authors

• Charlotte Sophia Borgers, Cornell University
  Presenting Author

• Isobel A Heck, University of Chicago
  Non-Presenting Author

• Tamar Kushnir, Duke Univeristy
  Non-Presenting Author