How Brazilian Schoolchildren Identify, Classify, and Label Foods and Beverages-A Card Sorting Methodology.

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Child Psychology
• Educational Research

Background:

• Understanding how children perceive and categorize food is crucial for accurate dietary assessments.
• Previous research has not fully explored the classification and labeling methods used by young children for food items.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the methods Brazilian schoolchildren use to identify, classify, and label foods and beverages.
• To identify common grouping strategies and nomenclature used by children aged 7-10 years.

Main Methods:

• Semi-structured interviews with 133 schoolchildren (aged 7-10) in southern Brazil.
• Utilized a card set with 32 food/beverage items from the Web-CAAFE tool.
• Employed statistical analyses including t-tests, ANOVA, and k-means cluster analysis.

Main Results:

• Children created an average of 9.1 piles, with 3.0 items per pile.
• Five distinct food groups were identified: meats, snacks/pasta, sweets, dairy, and fruits/vegetables.
• Taxonomic-professional labeling was most frequent (47.4%), followed by specific item names (16.4%).

Conclusions:

• Children naturally categorize foods into meaningful groups.
• The taxonomic-professional labeling approach is effective and can enhance the accuracy of children's self-reported dietary data in digital tools.