Running Header: Childrens Food Preferences, Family Demographics, and Body Mass Index

Is There a Relationship Between Childrens Food Preferences, Family Demographics, and Body

Mass Index?

Esmeralda Pea

University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Running Header: Childrens Food Preferences, Family Demographics, and Body Mass Index

Abstract

Obesity and financial instability has shown to be a growing concern for adults and children

throughout the United States. To cope, millions of children depend on federally funded school

lunch programs for daily nutrition. Over recent years, the National School Lunch Program

(NSLP) have made changes to their program to incorporate more nutritional foods. Although the

NSLP offers nutritional food to children, their overall mission does not consist of reducing

obesity. Rigal, Frelut, Hladik Simmen, & Pasquet (2006) and Berger (2010) used an hands-on

approach to reduce obesity by using responses from a Food Familiarity and Liking Questionnaire

(FFLQ) to create personalized diet plans for participants. This study required participants to

respond to a modified version of the FFLQ that included food items from participants school

menus and food items from Bergers (2010) FFLQ. Participants were also measured for height

and weight for calculating body mass index (BMI). It was predicted that childrens food

preferences would differ between food items from the NSLP and food items from Bergers

(2010) FFLQ. Responses to the modified FFLQ were also compared to family demographics and

participants BMI. Due to the small sample size, no definitive conclusion can be made from the

correlations. Food preferences and family demographics were correlated. Beverages from

Bergers (2010) FFLQ correlated with family income, condiments from the NSLP correlated

with mothers education, a correlation was found between fruits and veggies served at school and

fruits and veggies from Bergers (2010) FFLQ, and a correlation was also found between

breakfast served at school and meat from Bergers (2010) FFLQ. Additional correlations also

suggested that body mass index correlated with breakfast food from the NSLP and with meat
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products from Bergers (2010) FFLQ. There was also a similar pattern found between food

served at school and food from Bergers (2010) FFLQ in four food categories: fruits and veggies,

condiments, breakfast foods, and animal products.

Running Header: Childrens Food Preferences, Family Demographics, and Body Mass Index

Is There a Relationship Between Children's Food Preferences,

Family Demographics, and Body Mass Index?

The probability of being diagnosed as obese has gradually increased for adults and

children over the last three decades. Obesity can be identified by measuring a persons height and

weight to calculate their body mass index (BMI) or amount of body fat. In 2014 more than 39

percent of adults, 1.9 million people around the world, measured as being overweight; 600

million of those 1.9 billion were further diagnosed as being obese (Kiener, 2015). The Harvard

School of Public Health Obesity Prevention Source (2016) states that a BMI that is between 18.5

and 24.9 is considered healthy, 25 to 29.9 is overweight, and a score of 30 or higher is considered

obese.

The probability of children being obese is not much better than adults being obese.

Research conducted by Wardle, Guthrie, Sanderson, Birch, & Plomin (2001) established that

obese adults were five time more likely to have children who would grow up to be obese.

Additionally, researchers McCurdy, Gorman, Kisler, & Katallios-Katsaras suggested that

children who live in poverty are more likely to become obese as adults (2014). Facing financial

instability, families often turn to lunch programs to assure that their children have access to

food.

According to the Food and Nutrition Service, the federally funded National School Lunch

Program (NSLP) currently provides breakfast and lunch to more than 31 million children at little

to no cost. Researchers Terry-McElrath, OMalley, and Lloyd (2015) also reported improvement
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on nutrition and a reduction of food disparity after the NSLP set new food standards into

practice. The purpose of the NSLP is to provide low-income families with daily meals, but does

not specifically focus on reducing obesity rates among recipients. Using a more hands-on

approach, researchers Rigal, Frelut, Hladik Simmen, & Pasquet (2006) and Berger (2010) aim

for weight reduction using participants responses to a Food Familiarity & Liking Questionnaire

to create personal diets for each participant.

Rigal et al (2006) originally used the FFLQ in a weight management program that

encouraged participants to try a variety of foods. Since Rigal et als (2006) FFLQ consisted of

foods commonly known in France, Berger (2010) adjusted the FFLQ to include foods that

college students in Ohio were familiar with. For the purposes of this study, a modified version of

Bergers (2010) FFLQ was created to include food items from participants school breakfast and

lunch menus, which stem from the NSLP. Bergers (2010) FFLQ consisted of 60 food items,

while the modified FFLQ consisted of 25 food items from Bergers (2010) FFLQ and 25 food

items from food served at participants school which is sponsored by the NSLP. Participant

responses will help determine whether there is a difference between childrens preferences of

food served at school and foods from Bergers (2010) FFLQ. It is predicted that there will be

relationships between responses to the modified FFLQ, students body mass index, and family

demographics (income, ethnicity, education).

Method

Participants

Fourteen students (nine girls, five boys) ranging from eight to twelve years participated in this

study. They were recruited from afterschool programs at two elementary schools in an urban
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area. Parents at both schools were contacted during the check-out period, where parents picked

up their children.

Procedures

Parents. Parents were asked to fill out a family background form. The family background form

consisted of demographic questions about ethnicity, highest level of education achieved, family

income, and enrollment in the free and reduced school lunch program. The Institutional Review

Board approved all procedures,

Students. Students responded to a modified version of Bergers (2010) FFLQ of food images on

an iPad. Upon completing the questionnaire, the students height and weight were measured. The

process of collecting data from individual participants was completed within fifteen to twenty

minutes.

Measures

Food Familiarity and Liking Questionnaire (FFLQ)

The FFLQ was a modified version of Bergers (2010) FFLQ. Bergers FFLQ initially had sixty

food items divided into seven categories: fruits and vegetables, never served foods, spices,

breakfast foods, animal products, high-density foods, and calorie-reduced foods. The revised

version of the FFLQ was a shorter list of fifty food items in six categories: fruits and vegetables,

condiments, breakfast foods, animal products, high-density foods, and beverages. twenty-five

food items came from the participants schools breakfast and lunch menus (Type 1) and the other

twenty-five of the food items were from Bergers (2010) FFLQ (Type 2).
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The food items were presented as colored images on an iPad. After looking at each image,

participants were asked, Have you already tasted this food before? If they answered yes, they

rated the food using a five-point face scale that rates from (1) a frowny face with a tongue

sticking out that meant I do not like at all to (5) a grinning face meaning I like very much

(Carraway-Stage, Spangler, Borges, & Goodell, 2014). If the participants answered no, they did

not rate the food and skipped to the next food item. Questionnaires were randomly assigned to

participants as three slideshows labeled Order A, Order B, and Order C. All three slideshows

used the same 50 food images that were randomly arranged.

Body Mass Index (BMI)

After completing the FFLQ, a stadiometer was used to measure the participants height and an

electric scale was used to measure weight. Once heights and weights were collected, an online

BMI calculator was used to calculate the participant's body mass index.

Results

Figure 1 shows the interaction of means for both food groups in the questionnaire. Type

1 refers to the twenty-five food items from participants school and Type 2 refers to the twenty-

five food items from Bergers (2010) FFLQ.

Type 1 and Type 2 share a similar pattern in four food categories (fruits and veggies,

condiments, breakfast foods, and animal products), but differ in two food categories (high-

density and beverages). The mean average for both types showed that participants had a higher

preference to Type 1 food items. The mean average per food categories showed the highest rating

to breakfast foods and the lowest rating to condiments.

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A Pearson correlation was also conducted to assess the relationship between participant

response to the FFLQ per food categories, participants body mass index (BMI), and family

demographics. BMI calculations indicated that four participants were underweight, eight were

considered healthy, one was overweight and one was obese. There was a positive correlation

found between body mass index and Type 1 breakfast foods, r(12) = 0.783, p < 0.01. Body mass

index also had a positive correlation to Type 2 meat products, r(12) = 0.883, p < 0.01. There was

a positive correlation between Type 2 beverages and family income, r(12) = 0.646, p < .05. A

positive correlation was also found between Type 1 condiments and mothers education, r(12)

=0.616, p < 0.05. Type 1 fruits and veggies and Type 2 fruits and veggies appeared to have a

positive correlation, r(12) = 0.628, p < 0.05. In addition, a positive correlation was found

between Type 1 breakfast and Type 2 meat, r(12) = 0.711, p < 0.01.

Discussion

Although several differences and correlations were found between the modified FFLQ,

family demographics, and body mass indexes, the number of participants is too low to come to

any definitive conclusions.

Responses to the modified FFLQ indicate that participants had similar responses to four

food categories (fruits and veggies, condiments, breakfast food, meat) for food served at school

and food from Bergers (2010) FFLQ. Of the six food categories, participants reported liking

breakfast foods the most and condiments the least. Fruits and veggies from school and from

Bergers (2010) FFLQ had the most similar responses of the four food categories. Another strong

correlation was found between breakfast served at school and meat from Bergers (2010) FFLQ.
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Overall ratings of food categories indicated that participants prefered food served at school more

than food from Bergers (2010) FFLQ.

Participants body mass index had significant correlations to breakfast served at school

and meat products from Bergers (2010) FFLQ. Two correlations were also found between

responses to the modified FFLQ and family demographics. Ratings of condiments from Bergers

(2010) FFLQ correlated with mothers education and ratings of beverages from Bergers (2010)

FFLQ correlated with family income.

A significant limitation for the research was having a small number of participants.

Future studies could recruit more participants to yield better result. Inviting parents to take part

in the food questionnaire could persuade families to be more involved in understanding the

nutritional value of food served at school and at home. Parents and children can also be asked to

provide suggestions of other foods they like which are not included in the questionnaire.

Responses could help understand which foods children are more likely to eat.
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References

Berger, E. (2010) The relationship between Fungiform Papillao Density, PTC Supertasting,

Food Preference, and Eating Behaviors in College Students. Wittenberg

University: Senior Honors Thesis

Carraway-Stage, V., Spangler, H., Borges, M., & Goodell, L. S. (2014). Evaluation of a

pictorial method to assess liking of familiar fruits and vegetables among

preschool children. Appetite, 75, 11-20

Jaime, P.C., & Lock, K. (2009). Do school based food and nutrition policies improve diet

and reduce obesity? Preventive Medicine: An International Journal Devoted To

Practice And Theory, 48, 45-53.

Kiener (2015) Obesity: Is it a disease or a lifestyle problem? CQ Researcher Retrieved

from news.discovery.com/human/genetics/top-10-countries-with-the-most

obese-people-named-140528.htm

McCurdy, K., Gorman, K. S., Kisler, T., & Metallinos-Katsaras, E. (2014). Associations

between family food behaviors, maternal depression, and child weight among

low-income children. Appetite, 79, 97-105

National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Food and Nutrition Service. United States

Department of Agriculture, 2012.

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Rigal, N., Frelut, M., Monneuse, M., Hladik, C., Simmen, B., & Pasquet, P. (2006). Food

neophobia in the context of a varied diet induced by a weight reduction program

in massively obese adolescents. Appetite, 46(2), 207-214.

Terry-McElrath, Y.M., OMalley, P.M., & Johnston, L.D. (2015). Foods and beverages

offered in US public secondary schools through the Nutritional School Lunch

Program from 2011-2013: Early evidence of improved nutrition and reduced

disparities. Preventive Medicine: An International Journal Devoted To Practice

And Theory, 78, 52-58.

Wardle, J., Guthrie, C., Sanderson, S., Birch, L., & Plomin, R. (2001). Food and activity

preferences in children of lean and obese parents. International Journal Of

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What does it actually mean to be overweight or obese? (2016) Retrieved from

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-definition/
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Figure 1. Interactive chart between food categories of Type 1 and Type 2 food items.

Note. Food categories are numerically identifiable: (1) fruits and veggies, (2) condiments, (3)

breakfast foods, (4) animal products, (5) high-density, and (6) beverages.