This study aims to examine children’s fruit, vegetable, and added sugar consumption relative to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the American Heart Association’s recommendations, as well as to compare children’s reported consumption with parental perception of the child’s overall diet quality. Data were drawn from 2 independent, cross sectional panels (2009–10 and 2014–15) of the New Jersey Child Health Study. The analytical sample included 2229 households located in five New Jersey cities. Daily consumption of fruit (cups), vegetables (cups), and added sugars (teaspoons) for all children (3–18 years old) were based on parent reports. Multivariate linear regression analyses estimated children’s adjusted fruit, vegetable, and added sugar consumption across parents’ perception categories (Disagree; Somewhat Agree; and Strongly Agree that their child eats healthy). Although only a small proportion of children meet recommendations, the majority of parents strongly agreed that their child ate healthy. Nonetheless, significant differences, in the expected direction, were observed in vegetable and fruit consumption (but not sugar) across parental perceptional categories for most age/sex groups. Dietary interventions tailored to parents should include specific quantity and serving-size information for fruit and vegetable recommendations, based on their child’s age/sex, and highlight sources of added sugar and their sugar content.
Objective
In response to recent national efforts to increase the availability of healthy food in small stores, we sought to understand the extent to which small food stores could implement the newly published Healthy Small Store Minimum Stocking Recommendations and reflect on the new US Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service's final rule for stocking of staple foods for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program–approved retailers.
Design
We collected qualitative and quantitative data from 57 small stores in four states (Arizona, Delaware, Minnesota, and North Carolina) that accepted Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program but not Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children benefits. Data from semistructured, in-depth interviews with managers/owners were transcribed, coded, and analyzed. We collected quantitative store inventory data onsite and later performed descriptive analyses.
Results
Store interviews revealed a reluctant willingness to stock healthy food and meet new recommendations. No stores met recommended fruit and vegetable stocking, although 79% carried at least one qualifying fruit and 74% carried at least one qualifying vegetable. Few stores met requirements for other food categories (ie, whole grains and low-fat dairy) with the exception of lean proteins, where stores carrying nuts or nut butter were more likely to meet the protein recommendation. Water and 100% juice were widely available and 68% met basic healthy beverage criteria.
Conclusions
In contrast to the inventory observed, most owners believed store stock met basic recommendations. Further, findings indicate that small stores are capable of stocking healthy products; however, technical and infrastructure support, as well as incentives, would facilitate shifts from staple to healthier staple foods. Retailers may need support to understand healthier product criteria and to drive consumer demand for new products.
The New Jersey Childhood Obesity Study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, aims to provide vital information for planning, implementing and evaluating interventions aimed at preventing childhood obesity in five ew Jersey municipalities: Camden, Newark, New Brunswick, Trenton, and Vineland. These five communities are being supported by RWJF's New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids program to plan and implement policy and environmental change strategies to prevent childhood obesity.
Effective interventions for addressing childhood obesity require community specific information on who is most at risk and on contributing factors that can be addressed through tailored interventions that meet the needs of the community.
Using a comprehensive research study, the Center for State Health Policy at Rutgers University is working collaboratively with the State Program Office for New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids and the five communities to address these information needs. The main components of the study include:
• A household survey of 1700 families with 3 -18 year old children
• De-identified heights and weights data from public school districts
• Assessment of the food and physical activity environments using objective data
Data books and maps based on the results of the study are being shared with the community coalitions in the five communities to help them plan their interventions.
The New Jersey Childhood Obesity Study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, aims to provide vital information for planning, implementing and evaluating interventions aimed at preventing childhood obesity in five New Jersey municipalities: Camden, Newark, New Brunswick, Trenton, and Vineland.
These five communities are being supported by RWJF's New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids program to plan and implement policy and environmental change strategies to prevent childhood obesity.
Effective interventions for addressing childhood obesity require community-specific information on who is most at risk and on contributing factors that can be addressed through tailored interventions that meet the needs of the community.
Using a comprehensive research study, the Center for State Health Policy at Rutgers University is working collaboratively with the State Program Office for New Jersey Partnership for Healthy I<ids and the five communities to address these information needs. The main components of the study include:
• A household survey of 1700 families with 3 -18 year old children
• De-identified heights and weights data from public school districts
• Assessment of the food and physical activity environments using objective data
Data books and maps based on the results of the study are being shared with the community coalitions in the five communities to help them plan their interventions.
Many factors influence children’s health behaviors and health outcomes. The Social Ecological Model (SEM) groups these factors into interactive layers, creating a framework for understanding their influence and for designing interventions to achieve positive change. The layers of influence in the SEM include individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, and policy factors.
The New Jersey Childhood Obesity Study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, aims to provide vital information for planning, implementing and evaluating interventions aimed at preventing childhood obesity in five New Jersey municipalities: Camden, Newark, New Brunswick, Trenton, and Vineland. These five communities are being supported by RWJF's New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids program to plan and implement policy and environmental change strategies to prevent childhood obesity.
Effective interventions for addressing childhood obesity require community specific information on who is most at risk and on contributing factors that can be addressed through tailored interventions that meet the needs of the community.
Using a comprehensive research study, the Center for State Health Policy at Rutgers University is working collaboratively with the State Program Office for New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids and the five communities to address these information needs. The main components of the study include:
• A household survey of 1700 families with 3 -18 year old children
• De-identified heights and weights data from public school districts
• Assessment of the food and physical activity environments using objective data
Data books and maps based on the results of the study are being shared with the community coalitions in the five communities to help them plan their interventions.
Many factors influence children’s health behaviors and health outcomes. The Social Ecological Model (SEM) groups these factors into interactive layers, creating a framework for understanding their influence and for designing interventions to achieve positive change. The layers of influence in the SEM include individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, and policy factors (see figure). The New Jersey Child Health Study (NJCHS) was designed to examine how specific layers of the SEM, particularly food and physical activity environments in schools and communities, affect obesity outcomes in children
the US comparing parental perception of their child’s diet with quantitatively assessed diet quality. We examined the association between parent perception of their child’s overall diet and the child’s diet quality, as measured by frequency of consumption of key food categories.
Methods: Secondary analysis was conducted using data from two independent cross- sectional panels of surveys with parents of a 3-18 year old child. Data collection took place in 2009-2010 and 2014, the random sample was drawn from low-income cities. Well-established survey questions assessed parental perception of their child’s diet and frequency of consumption of fruits, vegetables, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB), fast food and unhealthy snacks. Diet quality scores were calculated for each child, with higher scores reflective of healthier diets (max score= 40). Ordered logistic regressions examined associations between parental perception and consumption of food categories. Multinomial logistic regressions examined associations between levels of concordance in parent perception and diet scores by demographic sub-groups.
Results: Almost half of children were non-Hispanic black (46%) and 40% were Hispanic. Overall 52% of parents strongly agreed, 33% somewhat agreed, 10% somewhat disagreed, and 4% strongly disagreed that their child eats a healthy diet. The mean diet quality score for the sample was 20.58 ± 6.7. Children from our sample with the unhealthiest diet had a mean frequency of fruit intake = 0.8 times/day and SSBs = 2.2 times/day. Children with the healthiest diet had a mean consumption of fruit=1.7/day and
SSBs= 0.4/day. Parental perception of their child’s diet was significantly higher when their child consumed more fruit (p<0.001) and vegetables (p<0.001) and lower when their child consumed more fast food (p<0.001), SSBs (p=0.01) and unhealthy snacks (p=0.02). Over half of parents overestimated the healthfulness of their child’s diet (61%). Parent, child and household demographics did not moderate this association.
Conclusions: Although parental perceptions that their child eats healthy are associated when their child eats more healthy foods and less unhealthy foods, parents’ perceptions still do not align with their child’s diet.