Development of Child-Friendly Fish Dishes to Increase Young Children’s Acceptance and Consumption of Fish

Background: The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 recommend that Americans age two years and older consume seafood, especially fish high in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, at least twice a week. Although fish is of particular importance during childhood to support proper brain and eye development, it is under-consumed in the US pediatric population. This study examined if substituting salmon for chicken would increase preschooler’s fish consumption. Methods: Two-to-five years old children (n = 45) were served eight lunches (four pairs of comparable chicken versus salmon dishes) twice, totaling sixteen lunches over a period of three months to test the hypothesis that children will consume fish at least once a week, thus increasing docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) intake. The plate waste method was used to collect intake data and consumption of total energy and DHA intake in the chicken and the fish dishes were compared using contrasts within a mixed effect ANOVA (significance at P Results: Dietary intake estimates showed that there were no significant differences in energy intake when the chicken and fish dishes looked similar (macaroni-and-cheese and wraps), but when the fish dishes looked new (nuggets and dumplings), energy intake on fish days was lower than on the chicken day. DHA intake increased significantly on all days the fish was served. Conclusions: This pilot study indicates that fish intake can meet recommendations if salmon is incorporated into familiar dishes such as salad wraps or macaroni-and-cheese, in the childcare setting. Although fish is more expensive, childcare centers may serve this highly nutritious protein once a week without experiencing undue amounts of food wastes if incorporated into well-accepted main dishes. Further studies in larger and more diverse samples of children, different experimental dishes, and longer exposure periods may elucidate additional venues to increase children’s diet quality by increasing consumption of fatty fish.

The effects of increased dietary fiber intake on the self-reported quality of life of school-age children

The aim of this community-based, randomized-controlled prospective nutrition intervention study was to assess the impact of serving high-fiber snacks twice a day to a sample of school-age children on their dietary fiber intake and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scores. Participants (n = 81) were children aged 7-11 years. Children were randomized to receive two high-fiber snacks per day for eight weeks (intervention) or to continue eating their regular snacks (control). At baseline and post-intervention, usual dietary intake data were collected via repeated 24-hour dietary recalls and HRQOL was assessed using the PedsQL? Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory. Statistical analysis to assess significant changes in dietary intake as well as self-reported quality of life was conducted using two-sided student’s t-tests;significance level was set at p < 0.05. Dietary fiber intake increased significantly by 2.41 grams/day in the intervention group. The mean increase in the physical scale score of the PedsQL from baseline to post-intervention was significantly greater for the intervention as compared to control group. This study indicates that providing high-fiber snacks to elementary-school children can effectively increase dietary fiber consumption and may lead to an improved physical quality of life. Further research is needed regarding the impact of nutrition on health-related quality of life.

A Pilot Study on the New USDA Meal Pattern for School Breakfast in a Sample of First-Grade Students

Background: The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently modified the school breakfast program (SBP) to improve children’s nutrition. Based on the new patterns, schools must offer larger amounts of fruits, grains, and proteins/meats to children;the amounts of fluid foods (milk and juice) remained the same. This study examined the effect of the new food pattern on student’s consumption and food cost. Methods: The amounts and cost of foods served and wasted for one week in first grade students attending two elementary schools (n = 812) were measured. One school received the current SBP pattern (control breakfast, average number of students attending breakfast n = 81), the other school’s breakfast reflected the proposed changes (test breakfast, n = 82). To test the hypothesis that the test breakfast leads to significantly increased food cost and food waste compared to the control breakfast, the weekly average amount of the served solid and fluid foods (grams and milliliters) as well as their waste were compared between the two groups using paired student’s t-test in STATA 11 (significance at p-value < 0.05). Results: Data confirmed the hypothesis in that the test breakfast was associated with significantly higher food cost (by approximately $100/week) and solid food waste but there was no change in milk and juice consumption. Conclusions: This exploratory study indicates that a significant portion of the additional foods served to first-graders to improve their nutritional status were not consumed but wasted. Further studies in larger samples and including students from all grades are needed to examine this issue fully.