Developing Novel Methods to Teach Children to Recognize Internal Signals of Hunger

The purpose of this multi-year project is to develop an evidence-based curriculum for teaching preschool children to eat in response to internal hunger and fullness signals. There are currently no validated methods for teaching children these basic skills, despite the fact that doing so is necessary to prevent the development of obesity. To accomplish this task, the investigators have assembled a multi-disciplinary team from nutrition, eating behavior, obesity prevention, science education, and information sciences and technology.

First, the investigators will refine and build upon a pre-existing curriculum by incorporating 1) state-of-the art theories in early childhood science education, 2) innovative virtual technology to provide more realistic simulations of hunger and fullness, and 3) a parent training component to improve long-range sustainability.

Second, the investigators will conduct an experimental study to determine the effectiveness of this curriculum on children's ability to regulate energy intake in the laboratory. Forty children (ages 4-5) will be tested over an 9-week period. Key outcomes will be children's adjustment in intake in response to a first course (energy compensation) and children's intake of tasty snacks when not hungry (eating in the absence of hunger). Additionally, the investigators will measure other variables likely to impact the success of the curriculum, for example: child gender/age, parent feeding practices, parent education, infant feeding practices, child/parent weight status, and others.

The long term goal of this line of research will be to create an evidence based curriculum that can be integrated into early childhood education and health-based interventions. The translation potential of this research is broad because once validated, the curriculum can be disseminated more widely to early childhood education programs.

Inclusion criteria

• Children must be between the ages of 4-5 years-old at the time they participate in the study.
• All children will be physically healthy, with no food allergies. Parents are asked if the child has any medical problems or is taking any prescription medication. If the answer to either of these questions is yes but the medical problem (or medication) is not severe nor has the potential to affect the study outcome, as judged by our PI, then the child may be included.
• The person primarily responsible for feeding the child must be able to make nine, two-hour visits along with the child to the lab within an nine-week time period.

Exclusion criteria

• Child is younger than 4 or older than 6.
• Child is not physically healthy. Parents are asked if the child has any medical problems or is taking any prescription medication. If the medical problem (or medication) is severe or may affect the study outcome, as judged by our PI, then the child may be excluded.
• Child has food allergies.
• Person primarily responsible for feeding child and child cannot make nine, 90 minute - 2 hour visits along with the child within a 9-week period.