Pediatric Food Preferences and Eating Behaviors


Book Description

Pediatric Food Preferences and Eating Behaviors reviews scientific works that investigate why children eat the way they do and whether eating behaviors are modifiable. The book begins with an introduction and historical perspective, and then delves into the development of flavor preferences, the role of repeated exposure and other types of learning, the effects of modeling eating behavior, picky eating, food neophobia, and food selectivity. Other sections discuss appetite regulation, the role of reward pathways, genetic contributions to eating behaviors, environmental influences, cognitive aspects, the development of loss of control eating, and food cognitions and nutrition knowledge. Written by leading researchers in the field, each chapter presents basic concepts and definitions, methodological issues pertaining to measurement, and the current state of scientific knowledge as well as directions for future research. Delivers an up-to-date synthesis of the research evidence addressing the development of children’s eating behaviors, from birth to age 18 years Provides an in-depth synthesis of the basic eating behaviors that contribute to consumption patterns Translates the complex and sometimes conflicting research in this area to clinical and public health practice Concludes each chapter with practical implications for practice Presents the limits of current knowledge and the next steps in scientific inquiry




Factors Influencing Children's Short-Term Energy Compensation


Book Description

As childhood obesity rates continue to increase, it is critical to identify factors that protect some children against excess weight gain. The ability to eat in response to homeostatic cues of hunger and fullness, rather than hedonic food cues, has been identified as one such factor and is often referred to as appetite self-regulation. However, this ability is highly variable and identifying sources of this variability may offer targets for obesity prevention and intervention strategies. This dissertation, therefore, aimed to examine various factors that may influence children's short-term appetite self-regulation. The framework for this dissertation posited that appetite self-regulation requires a combination of bottom-up and top-down processes, both of which may be subject to a number of influences. While self-regulation likely has many facets, this dissertation focused on energy compensation as measured using a standard preloading paradigm. For this dissertation, three studies were designed to examine the effect of various factors on children's energy compensation, including an appetite awareness intervention (Study 1), child-level individual differences (Study 2), and food characteristics, specifically food form (Study 3). Study 1 tested the effect of a technology-enhanced pilot intervention designed to improve children's understanding of digestion, hunger, and fullness on energy compensation. Thirty-two children (mean age 4.9 ± 0.8 y) completed this within-subjects, pre-post design study that took place across 10 laboratory sessions. The intervention was conducted across weeks 4--7 in small groups focused on. In addition to energy compensation, knowledge of intervention concepts was assessed at baseline and follow-up. Linear mixed models were used to examine changes in short-term energy compensation and knowledge from baseline to follow-up. Knowledge related to the intervention improved from baseline to follow-up (3.5 ± 0.3 to 7.0 ± 0.3 correct responses out of a possible 10; P




Early Nutrition and Long-Term Health


Book Description

Early Nutrition and Long-Term Health: Mechanisms, Consequences, and Opportunities, Second Edition updates and expands upon the content in the first edition and adds focus on actionable and modifiable aspects of nutrition that have an impact on long-term health and disease. Part I examines the associations and the mechanisms of early life nutrition on growth as well as the development of cognitive, metabolic, immune, and dietary patterns and behaviors. Part II reviews the associations and impact of early life nutrition on non-communicable disease as well as their societal and economic impact. Part III focuses on the dietary and nutritional needs and approaches to optimizing the different stages of nutrition, from conception to the second year of life. Nutritionists, pediatricians, academics with research interest in this area, and food industry and healthcare professionals working in infant/child product and services, as well as students studying related disciplines, will benefit from this updated reference. Examines the relation between early life nutrition and long-term health Reviews the mechanistic aspects of the impact of diet, nutrition, from conception through the first years of life, on health in later life Details the associations and the impact of early life nutrition on growth and development, cognition, immunity, metabolism, and dietary habits and patterns Addresses the relationship of early life nutrition and with non-communicable diseases, including allergies, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic conditions, and obesity, as well as approaches to curtail them Explores the current societal and economic impact and the potential for interventions to improving nutrition and health




Handbook of Life Course Health Development


Book Description

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. ​This handbook synthesizes and analyzes the growing knowledge base on life course health development (LCHD) from the prenatal period through emerging adulthood, with implications for clinical practice and public health. It presents LCHD as an innovative field with a sound theoretical framework for understanding wellness and disease from a lifespan perspective, replacing previous medical, biopsychosocial, and early genomic models of health. Interdisciplinary chapters discuss major health concerns (diabetes, obesity), important less-studied conditions (hearing, kidney health), and large-scale issues (nutrition, adversity) from a lifespan viewpoint. In addition, chapters address methodological approaches and challenges by analyzing existing measures, studies, and surveys. The book concludes with the editors’ research agenda that proposes priorities for future LCHD research and its application to health care practice and health policy. Topics featured in the Handbook include: The prenatal period and its effect on child obesity and metabolic outcomes. Pregnancy complications and their effect on women’s cardiovascular health. A multi-level approach for obesity prevention in children. Application of the LCHD framework to autism spectrum disorder. Socioeconomic disadvantage and its influence on health development across the lifespan. The importance of nutrition to optimal health development across the lifespan. The Handbook of Life Course Health Development is a must-have resource for researchers, clinicians/professionals, and graduate students in developmental psychology/science; maternal and child health; social work; health economics; educational policy and politics; and medical law as well as many interrelated subdisciplines in psychology, medicine, public health, mental health, education, social welfare, economics, sociology, and law.




Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8


Book Description

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.




Weight Loss


Book Description

Epidemiological studies show that weight loss has many health benefits, so different strategies have been explored to lose weight, with health and esthetic reasons being the base of those strategies. Weight loss may be the result of pathologies, so both intentional and unintentional weight loss are different situations, each being a relevant focus of study. Along with that distinction, gender and ethnic topics are also relevant aspects, and different chapters of this book are related to male vs. female topics as well as to cultural differences related to weight loss. Childhood obesity from a parenting style perspective is also developed in this book. Finally, it must be noted that activity is essential to improve body composition and also to keep an ideal weight.




Families in an Era of Increasing Inequality


Book Description

The widening gap between the rich and the poor is turning the American dream into an impossibility for many, particularly children and families. And as the children of low-income families grow to adulthood, they have less access to opportunities and resources than their higher-income peers--and increasing odds of repeating the experiences of their parents. Families in an Era of Increasing Inequality probes the complex relations between social inequality and child development and examines possibilities for disrupting these ongoing patterns. Experts across the social sciences track trends in marriage, divorce, employment, and family structure across socioeconomic strata in the U.S. and other developed countries. These family data give readers a deeper understanding of how social class shapes children's paths to adulthood and how those paths continue to diverge over time and into future generations. In addition, contributors critique current policies and programs that have been created to reduce disparities and offer suggestions for more effective alternatives. Among the topics covered: Inequality begins at home: the role of parenting in the diverging destinies of rich and poor children. Inequality begins outside the home: putting parental educational investments into context. How class and family structure impact the transition to adulthood. Dealing with the consequences of changes in family composition. Dynamic models of poverty-related adversity and child outcomes. The diverging destinies of children and what it means for children's lives. As new initiatives are sought to improve the lives of families and children in the short and long term, Families in an Era of Increasing Inequality is a key resource for researchers and practitioners in family studies, social work, health, education, sociology, demography, and psychology.




Care and Nutrition


Book Description

List of tables; Education of caregiver; Knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of caregiver; Physical health and nutritional status of caregiver; Mental health, self-confidence, and lack of stress of caregiver; Autonomy and control of resources in the household by caregiver; Workload and time availability of caregiver; Social support for caregiver; Estimates of time spent on child care from observation and recall; Feeding practices: caregiver-child interactions; Feeding practices: child variables; Psychosocial care: child and caregiver interactions; Psychosocial care: child variables; Illustrations; The unicef conceptual model; The extended model of care; The transactional model of care; Pathways of interaction of education with caregiving; Possible pathways of interaction of maternal health and caregiving; Summary; Introduction; Developments in conceptualizing care; Resources for care; Care practices.




The Handbook of Life-Span Development, Volume 1


Book Description

In the past fifty years, scholars of human development have been moving from studying change in humans within sharply defined periods, to seeing many more of these phenomenon as more profitably studied over time and in relation to other processes. The Handbook of Life-Span Development, Volume 1: Cognition, Biology, and Methods presents the study of human development conducted by the best scholars in the 21st century. Social workers, counselors and public health workers will receive coverage of of the biological and cognitive aspects of human change across the lifespan.