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Variability and self-regulation of energy intake in young children in their everyday environment
1Department of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY.
Insights
Children demonstrate energy self-regulation by compensating for lower intake at one meal with higher intake at another. This study confirms this behavior in preschool children in their daily environments.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Behavioral Science
- Human Physiology
Background:
- Previous research under controlled conditions suggested children self-regulate energy intake.
- Intraindividual variation in energy consumption is typically smaller than inter-meal variation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the hypothesis of energy self-regulation in preschool children within their natural environment.
- To quantify energy consumption patterns across multiple eating occasions and the whole day.
Main Methods:
- Conducted 24-hour dietary recalls on 181 preschool children in New York City over seven occasions between 1986 and 1989.
- Calculated the coefficient of variation for energy consumption per child for each eating occasion and the entire day.
- Analyzed data to determine if whole-day energy consumption was less variable than expected without self-regulation.
Main Results:
- Coefficients of variation for energy intake at individual eating occasions ranged from 46.5% to 165.8%.
- The coefficient of variation for whole-day energy consumption was significantly lower at 30.3% (P < .001).
- Observed whole-day energy consumption variability was significantly less than predicted without meal-to-meal compensation.
Conclusions:
- Findings support the hypothesis that preschool children self-regulate energy intake in their everyday environment.
- Children appear to compensate for energy consumed at one meal with intake at subsequent meals.
- Further research is needed on longer-term energy regulation, overall energy balance, and diet quality.
Abstract:
Recent data from small numbers of children studied under controlled protocols indicate that intraindividual variation in energy consumption over 24 hours is smaller than variation from eating occasion to eating occasion, implying that children self-regulate their energy consumption. This hypothesis was tested in children living in their everyday environment. Between 1986 and 1989, 24-hour recalls were administered on seven occasions (four times in 1986 through 1987 and three times in 1988 through 1989) to the mothers of 181 preschool children in New York City. Each 24-hour period was divided into six meals or snacks. The coefficient of variation (standard deviation divided by the mean) was calculated for each child for energy consumption at each eating occasion and for the day as a whole. Coefficients of variation for energy consumption at the six eating occasions ranged from 46.5% to 165.8%, compared with 30.3% for the whole day. This coefficient of variation for the observed whole-day energy consumption was significantly less (P < .001) than would be expected if no autoregulation of energy intake (no meal-to-meal correlation) occurred. These findings in children living in their everyday environment are consistent with observations under more controlled study conditions. These data suggest that children who eat less at one meal compensate at another, although the data do not address the issues of longer term energy self-regulation, overall energy balance, or diet quality.