Parents who spend more time preparing food at home have children who make healthier food choices outside the home. The study found an inverse relationship between the amount of time parents reported spending on food preparation and the energy density of meals children selected on their own in a lab setting. Neither family income nor parents' education levels were found to influence children's food choices. The amount of time spent cooking by parents may shape children's dietary behaviors regardless of socioeconomic factors.

1. Parents' reported food preparation time is
inversely associated with energy density of
children's
ad libitum laboratory meals
CV Shehan1, HA Schlechter2, TL Cravener2, JE Hayes1, and KL
Keller1,2
1 - Department of Food Science
2 - Department of Nutritional Sciences
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pennsylvania

2. Children do not meet most
dietary recommendations.
USDA (2013) “Diet Quality of
Children Age 2-17 Years as
Measured by the Healthy Eating
Index-2010”

3. Food Preparation and Diet Quality
o Increased food prep time  increased diet quality in young
adults
o Fewer meals eaten outside the home
o Less usage of high energy density (ED) convenience foods
o Family meals associated with better nutritional outcomes
Could the time that parents spend
on food preparation influence
children’s food choices and outside
the home?Larson et al. (2006, 2007, 2011). Journal of the American Dietetic Association
Larson and Story (2009). Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

4. Study Overview
• Data comes from a children’s food
liking/intake study
• Two visits to the Children’s Eating Behavior
Lab
• Parents filled out various online questionnaires
• Children tasted and rated their liking of foods
• Children ate an ad libitum test meal
• Participants encouraged to visit during their
usual meal times
• Parents and children separated to minimize
bias
Research Study for 4-6 year-olds
Help us understand what
drives food choices for kids!
You will be compensated $40 for your time.
Interested? Please call us at 814-863-9841 to learn more
about this exciting study!
FoodChoiceStudy
814-863-9841
FoodChoiceStudy
814-863-9841
FoodChoiceStudy
814-863-9841
FoodChoiceStudy
814-863-9841
FoodChoiceStudy
814-863-9841
FoodChoiceStudy
814-863-9841
FoodChoiceStudy
814-863-9841
FoodChoiceStudy
814-863-9841
FoodChoiceStudy
814-863-9841
This study is being conducted by Dr. Kathleen Keller in the Department of Nutritional Sciences
and is approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Penn State University.

5. Participants
Minimum Maximum Mean S.D.
Age (years) 4.0 6.9 5.4 0.8
BMI percentile 4 99 51.6 27.7
n %
Child’s Sex
Male
Female
34
27
55.7
44.3
Child’s BMI Class**
Not Overweight Or Obese
Overweight Or Obese
52
8
86.7
13.3
Race And Ethnicity
White, Non-Hispanic
Non-white and/or Hispanic
49
12
80.3
19.7
**One data point missing
Overall n= 61*; 95% retention rate
*n for data analysis = 57; 3 participants
dropped out of the study and 1 participant’s
survey data was corrupted
n %
Parent in Study
Mother
Father
54
6
90
10
Stay-at-home
Parent
Yes
No
33
28
46
54

6. Test Meal
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Tomatoes
Broccoli
Red Grapes
Ketchup
Chicken Nuggets
Cookies
Potato Chips
Energy Density (kcal/g)
Children had ad libitum access to foods for 30 minutes.

7. Socioeconomic Status
• Measurements of income and education
• How many people live in your household?
• What is the highest level of education you have
completed?
• Categorical: Less than High Hchool  Graduate
Degree
• Which of these categories describes your 2012
gross household income?
• Collected as categorical variable

8. Socioeconomic Status
• Transformed income categories to continuous variable
• Median of each income range
• Per capita income to account for variability in family size
• Estimate / # people in household
Category
Estimated
Gross
Income
Per Capita
(Family of
4)
Per Capita
(Family of
8)
Less than $20,000 $10,000 $2500 $5000
$20,000 - $35,000 $27,500 $6875 $3475.50
$36,000 - $50,000 $44,000 $11,000 $5500
$51,000 - $75,000 $63,000 $15,750 $7875
$76,000 - $100,000 $88,000 $22,000 $11,000
More than $100,000 $120,000 $30,000 $15,000

9. Test Meal
Min Max Mean S.D.
Energy Intake
(kCal)
218 1112 618 196
Test Meal Mass (g) 79.2 703.5 336.51 126.1
Food ED (kCal/g)
1.26 4.49 2.80 0.62

10. Parental Reports
Minimum Maximum Mean S.D.
Household Income
(USD) *
< 20,000 > 100,000 59,418 35,189
Per Capita Income
(USD) *
2,000 40,000 14,488 9,989
Household Size
Food Preparation Time
(hours)
1.0 16.0 7.7 4.0
*estimated values for mean and standard deviation

11. 0
1
2
3
4
5
0 5 10 15 20
TestMealEnergyDensity
(kCal/g)
Reported Home Food Preparation Time (hours/week)
Significant negative correlation
between reported food preparation
time and test meal energy density
* r= -.34, p= .01

12. Children whose parents spend 10+ hours on food
prep per week ate significantly lower ED meals than
their peers.
*
b
0
1
2
3
4
AverageEnergyDensity
(kCal/g)
5 or fewer hours/week Between 5 and 10 hours per week
10 or more hours/week
A
*One-Way ANOVA and LSD showed significant difference from other groups at p=.005
B*
A

13. 0
1
2
3
4
5
$- $20,000 $40,000
EnerguyDensity
(kCal/g)
Per capita Income
r= - .05, p= .795
No associations were found between socioeconomic
status and and test meal energy density
n=46
n=11
0
1
2
3
4
5
EnergyDensity
(kCal/g)
Bachelor’s Degree No Bachelor’s
Degree
p= .343
Household Income Education

14. 0
1
2
3
4
5
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
MealEnergyDensity
(kCal/g)
Income/Prep Time Residual Z-Score
Food preparation time is negatively
associated with meal energy density,
regardless of family income, education, or
parental work status
r= -.36, p =
________

15. Limitations
• Limited participant diversity
• Limited sample size for analysis (n=57)
• Limited number of visits– children’s food intake is
variable
• Test meals may not be indicative of normal intake
patterns
• Awareness of parental monitoring among some
children
• Parents asked not to discuss the study between visits, but….

16. Future Research
• Increase sample size and participant diversity
• Design and test targeted interventions
• Study related concepts/behaviors in parents
• Types of food prepared at home
• Food preparation skill and nutrition knowledge
• Attitudes toward the importance of food
Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes

17. Conclusions
• Food preparation time is a significant predictor of children’s food
choices away from home.
• Reported time spent on food preparation is negatively related with child-
selected test meal ED
• SES was not shown to be a significant predictor of children’s food
choices away from home.
• Neither family income nor parental education level was associated with
test meal energy density
• But the case isn’t closed…

18. The amount of time parents
spend on food preparation may
influence the quality of children’s
food choices away from their
parents and their home.

19. Thank you!
• My study participants and their families
• The Children’s Eating Behavior Lab
• Carol Byrd-Bredbenner - Rutgers
Have an idea? Let’s talk! cvs121@psu.edu

20. Any questions?