![]() ![]() Thus, the goal of the current study is to investigate the extent to which children’s scripts for various events include food intake. Because scripts can influence future behavior, and can be influenced by past behavior, understanding the food-related content of children’s scripts is especially important in understanding children’s food intake. Abelson (1981) defines scripts as “conceptual representations of stereotyped event sequences” that involve “expectations about the order as well as the occurrence of events.” A common event during a specific situation or context is more likely to be represented in an individual’s event script for that situation or context. When individuals experience events frequently, they develop cognitive scripts (also known as mental schemas) for these events, which represent the typical order and type of events that occur in a particular situation or context ( Abelson, 1981 Siegler & Alibali, 2005). If children are eating more calories and eating more frequently today than in the past, it is likely that they view the consumption of food as relatively more normal and appropriate across a greater variety of contexts and situations than children in the past. One study found that for school-age children, “snacks account for 27% of total daily calories, which is more than the calories consumed at breakfast (18%) and lunch (24%), but not dinner (31%)” ( Roblin, 2007). ![]() This is related to an increase in the frequency of snack consumption and an increase in overall calorie consumption among children ( Jahns, Siega-Riz, & Popkin, 2001). Children today consume more calories and eat more frequently than children did 30 years ago ( Popkin & Duffey, 2010). Poor eating habits that children develop, which endure over time, combined with sedentary behavior, contribute to childhood overweight and obesity ( Schwartz & Brownell, 2007).Ĭhanges in the food environment are likely associated with a shift in children’s expectations about when and where eating typically occurs. The authors emphasized that the food environment interacts with parental feeding practices and young children’s eating behaviors. A recent review by Kuhl, Clifford, and Stark (2012) cites a number of ways in which the food environment impacts child diet and weight status. One avenue to prevent and treat childhood overweight and obesity is to address child caloric intake and dietary quality. Because overweight and obesity have been identified as risk factors for a number of chronic diseases and health problems, as well as social and psychological consequences, the WHO identified prevention as a high priority, and formed the WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity, and Health in 2004 to address the high rates of overweight and obesity ( World Health Organization, 2014), which are viewed as highly preventable ( World Health Organization, 2013). In the United States, the prevalence of obesity among children 4–6 years old was recently estimated to be approximately 15% ( Castetbon & Andreyeva, 2012), which parallels the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey-based estimate that 16.9% of children in the 2–19 years age bracket are obese ( Ogden, Carroll, Kit, & Flegal, 2012). Future researchers should investigate the causal nature of this relationship.Īccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2010 more than 42 million children worldwide under the age of five were overweight ( World Health Organization, 2013). Results provide preliminary evidence that food features prominently in young children’s event scripts and that children with higher BMI percentiles may possess scripts that feature more food-related themes. The number of food-related activities reported was positively correlated with children’s BMI percentile ( r = 0.53, p = 0.03). Over 22% of the activities in the children’s scripts involved food. Frequencies were obtained, and responses were correlated with BMI percentile. Data were binarily coded to indicate whether each response was food-related. Forty-four children (45% female) participated, with an average BMI percentile of 73.3% ( SD = 25.9). Participants, recruited from area preschools and day cares, provided a four-activity sequence for each of three events, and responses were recorded verbatim. Data were collected in a structured interview format. ![]() This study examined whether young children include eating in their cognitive scripts for various events, and whether food-related scripts are associated with body mass index (BMI) percentile. ![]()
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