To think, “On a typical day in 1992, 1.9 million children ate at least one of their meals in a child care center or family day care home”. (Briley, Roberts-Gray, & Simpson, 1994).
Abstract
This article discusses family-style meal service as a means to building autonomy and healthy eating behaviors in young children. The authors discuss the development of food preferences, age-related developmental responses to food, and the importance of socially mediated exposure to food as a way to increased food acceptance. Guidelines for implementing family-style mealtimes in child care settings are outlined.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berman, C., & Fromer, J. (1991).Teaching children about food. Palo Alto, CA: Bull Publishing.
Birch, L. L. (1979a). Dimensions of preschool children's preferences.Journal of Nutrition Education 11, 91–95.
Birch, L. L. (1979b). Preschool children's food preferences and consumption patterns.Journal of Nutrition Education, 11, 189–192.
Birch, L. L. (1980a). Experimental determinants of children's food preferences. In L. Katz (Ed.),Current topics of early childhood education. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Birch, L. L. (1980b). Effects of peer models' food choices and eating behaviors in preschoolers' food preferences.Child Development, 51, 489–496.
Birch, L. L., & Marlin, D. E. (1982). I don't like it; I never tried it: Effects of exposure on two-year-old children's food preferences.Appetite, 3, 353–360.
Birch, L. L., McPhee, L., Shoba, B. C., & Steinberg, L. (1987). What kind of exposure reduces children's food neophobia?Appetite, 9, 171–78.
Birch, L. L., Johnson, S., Andresen, G., Peters, J. C., & Schulte, M. (1991). The variability of young children's energy intake.New England Journal of Medicine, 324, 232–237.
Briley, M. E., Roberts-Gray, C., & Simpson, D. (1994). Identification of factors that influence the menu at child care centers: a grounded theory approach.Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 94, 276–281.
Davis, C. M. (1928). Self-selection of diet by newly weaned infants: An experimental study.Journal of Diseases of Children, 36, 651–679.
Endres, J., & Rockwell, R. (1990).Food, nutrition, and the young child. St. Louis, MO: Times Mirror/Mosby.
Garb, J. L., & Stunkard, A. (1974). Taste aversions in man.American Journal of Psychiatry, 13, 1204–1207.
National Association for Education of Young Children (1992). In S. Bredekamp (Ed.),In Accreditation criteria and procedures of national academy of early childhood programs. Washington, DC: Author.
Nahikian-Nelms, M., Syler, G., & Mogharreban, C. (1994). Pilot assessment of nutrition practices in a university child care program.Journal of Nutrition Education, 26, 238–240.
Satter, E. (1987).How to get your child to eat but not too much. Palo Alto, CA: Bull Publishing.
Stanek, K., Abbott, D., & Cramer, S. (1990). Diet quality and the eating environment of preschool children.Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 90, 1582–1584.
Willer, B., Hofferth, S. L., Kisker, E. E., Divine-Hawkins, P., Farquar, E., & Glantz, F. B. (1991).The demand and supply of child care in 1990. Washington, D.C.: The National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mogharreban, C., Nahikian-Nelms, M. Autonomy at mealtime: Building healthy food preferences and eating behaviors in young children. Early Childhood Educ J 24, 29–32 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02430547
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02430547