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How do children make food choices? Using a think-aloud method to explore the role of internal and external factors on eating behaviour
Since there is a lack of knowledge about how children conceptualise food and the factors involved in their decision making processes according to Ogden and Roy-Stanley (2020), a qualitative study was designed to explore children’s comprehension of food and how their food related decisions are affected. This think-aloud study recruited 27 children all of the ages 9-10, who voiced their thoughts while making different meals and snacks using pictures of food. The results from the thematic analysis revealed the drivers of food decisions were hunger, health, personal liking, emotions and availability while the sources of these drivers included parents, peers and their routine. The food was often thought of as good or bad. Using these themes, the degree of deliberation in the children could be seen when making decisions which could be identified as either automatic, considered or sanctioned. The children were found to be in a transition stage, shifting between a passive child whose decisions are made for them to an active kid with autonomy and agency. Ogden and Roy-Stanley believe the results illustrate the ways in which children begin to internalise messages of others as they grow older, which enables them to take ownership of their own eating behavior. [NPID: behavior, children, decision making, food decision, food pictures, hunger, personal liking, emotions, availability, automatic decisions, considered decisions, sanctioned decisions, autonomy, agency, ownership]
Year: 2020
