Improving Preschoolers' Self-Regulation of Energy Intake

Abstract

Background. Children exhibit individual differences in their ability to self-regulate energy intake. Feeding strategies that focus on external signals, like the time of day or amount of food left on a plate, tend to diminish children9s ability to respond to internal cues of hunger and fullness. Objectives. We investigated whether children could be taught to focus on internal cues of hunger and satiety, and consequently improve their self-regulation of energy intake. We explored whether parents9 eating behaviors and adiposity were related to their children9s self-regulation skills and adiposity. Design. In a pretest and posttest design, preschoolers participated in single-meal protocols to assess their individual ability to self-regulate food intake. During a 6-week intervention period, children took part in individual and group activities designed to help them recognize internal cues. Parents completed questionnaires regarding adult dietary restraint and disinhibition. Results. At baseline, we found a large individual variability in children9s regulation: some children overate, some regulated accurately, and others underate. At baseline, children9s eating related to their adiposity and to mothers9 disinhibition: heavier children and children whose mothers9 reported difficulty controlling food intake showed less evidence of self-regulation. Both overeaters and undereaters responded to the intervention, improving their ability to self-regulate, and children9s eating was no longer significantly related to mother9s eating. Conclusions. Children9s disregulated energy intake is related to mothers9 weight status and mothers9 perceived control over eating. Cues can be provided that help children to focus on internal signals and improve their ability to self-regulate energy intake.