Fairness-Based Tasks for Assessing Children’s Perceptions of Food Quantities and Associations with Portion Selection
It is critical to develop ecologically valid experimental methods to assess consumers’ food-related behaviors. Ad libitum approaches are often used but may not be appropriate for studies with children or with products that are not typically consumed until the individual feels full. The current study...
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doaj-dc41b15288474077a8725197e2d4d0c42020-11-24T23:18:56ZengMDPI AGNutrients2072-66432018-04-0110445310.3390/nu10040453nu10040453Fairness-Based Tasks for Assessing Children’s Perceptions of Food Quantities and Associations with Portion SelectionAurore Ferrage0Lisa R. Fries1Nicolas Godinot2David Labbe3Nathalie Martin4Consumer Science & Applied Nutrition Department, Nestlé Research Center, 1000 Lausanne, SwitzerlandConsumer Science & Applied Nutrition Department, Nestlé Research Center, 1000 Lausanne, SwitzerlandConsumer Science & Applied Nutrition Department, Nestlé Research Center, 1000 Lausanne, SwitzerlandConsumer Science & Applied Nutrition Department, Nestlé Research Center, 1000 Lausanne, SwitzerlandConsumer Science & Applied Nutrition Department, Nestlé Research Center, 1000 Lausanne, SwitzerlandIt is critical to develop ecologically valid experimental methods to assess consumers’ food-related behaviors. Ad libitum approaches are often used but may not be appropriate for studies with children or with products that are not typically consumed until the individual feels full. The current study presents novel methods to assess children’s size perception and portion preference for gummy candies. In the first study, 62 children (30 boys, 32 girls) aged 6 to 9 years completed two matching tasks: one using pictures on a computer screen, and a similar task where the products were physically manipulated. Results of the two matching tasks were correlated, demonstrating that a computer-based approach could be used to predict the factors influencing children’s perception of food amount: the number, size, and shape of pieces. In the second study, a portioning measure was developed to investigate whether the factors identified in the matching tasks were confirmed in a task that more closely represented portion selection in the real world. The effects observed in the matching tasks could not be replicated in the portioning task. The size of each item had no significant impact on the portion selection, suggesting that it may be possible to reduce the size of pieces in snacks where multiple pieces are typically consumed without negatively impacting perceived quantity in children, thus offering a promising strategy to nudge children toward choosing smaller portions.http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/10/4/453sensoryfood designportion sizechildrenfood choice |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Aurore Ferrage Lisa R. Fries Nicolas Godinot David Labbe Nathalie Martin |
spellingShingle |
Aurore Ferrage Lisa R. Fries Nicolas Godinot David Labbe Nathalie Martin Fairness-Based Tasks for Assessing Children’s Perceptions of Food Quantities and Associations with Portion Selection Nutrients sensory food design portion size children food choice |
author_facet |
Aurore Ferrage Lisa R. Fries Nicolas Godinot David Labbe Nathalie Martin |
author_sort |
Aurore Ferrage |
title |
Fairness-Based Tasks for Assessing Children’s Perceptions of Food Quantities and Associations with Portion Selection |
title_short |
Fairness-Based Tasks for Assessing Children’s Perceptions of Food Quantities and Associations with Portion Selection |
title_full |
Fairness-Based Tasks for Assessing Children’s Perceptions of Food Quantities and Associations with Portion Selection |
title_fullStr |
Fairness-Based Tasks for Assessing Children’s Perceptions of Food Quantities and Associations with Portion Selection |
title_full_unstemmed |
Fairness-Based Tasks for Assessing Children’s Perceptions of Food Quantities and Associations with Portion Selection |
title_sort |
fairness-based tasks for assessing children’s perceptions of food quantities and associations with portion selection |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Nutrients |
issn |
2072-6643 |
publishDate |
2018-04-01 |
description |
It is critical to develop ecologically valid experimental methods to assess consumers’ food-related behaviors. Ad libitum approaches are often used but may not be appropriate for studies with children or with products that are not typically consumed until the individual feels full. The current study presents novel methods to assess children’s size perception and portion preference for gummy candies. In the first study, 62 children (30 boys, 32 girls) aged 6 to 9 years completed two matching tasks: one using pictures on a computer screen, and a similar task where the products were physically manipulated. Results of the two matching tasks were correlated, demonstrating that a computer-based approach could be used to predict the factors influencing children’s perception of food amount: the number, size, and shape of pieces. In the second study, a portioning measure was developed to investigate whether the factors identified in the matching tasks were confirmed in a task that more closely represented portion selection in the real world. The effects observed in the matching tasks could not be replicated in the portioning task. The size of each item had no significant impact on the portion selection, suggesting that it may be possible to reduce the size of pieces in snacks where multiple pieces are typically consumed without negatively impacting perceived quantity in children, thus offering a promising strategy to nudge children toward choosing smaller portions. |
topic |
sensory food design portion size children food choice |
url |
http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/10/4/453 |
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