Snacking Behaviors Among US Preschoolers

 描述（由申请人提供）：普遍的智慧表明，幼儿需要吃零食来满足营养需求。虽然儿童每天从零食中消耗近三分之一的能量，但关于幼儿吃零食的经验数据很少。儿童是否需要零食来满足营养需求，或者零食是否会使儿童面临营养过剩的风险，目前还不清楚。这项拟议中的研究将使用2007-2014年国家健康和营养调查数据，全面描述儿童零食对美国幼儿和学龄前儿童膳食充足和过量的贡献。零食的数量，质量和时间将被独立评估（目标1），并作为自然发生的儿童零食模式的一部分（目标2）。将确定儿童特征，包括体重状况和腰围，以及家庭零食行为的预测因素（目标3）。 NHANES是唯一适合产生具有高度公共卫生意义的结果，因为它是美国最大的正在进行的美国儿童营养状况调查。《美国人膳食指南》（DGA）将用于从操作上定义食物和营养素的结果，

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Prevailing wisdom suggests that young children need to eat snacks to meet nutritional needs. While children consume close to a third of daily energy from snacks, there are very few empirical data on snacking among young children. Whether children need snacks to meet nutrient requirements or whether snacks put children at risk for excessive nutrition is unclear. The proposed research will use 2007-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data to comprehensively characterize the contributions of child snacking to dietary adequacy and excess among US toddlers and preschoolers. Snacking quantity, quality, and timing will be evaluated independently (Aim 1) and as part of naturally occurring child snacking patterns (Aim 2). Child characteristics, including weight status and waist circumference, as well as family predictors of snacking behaviors will be identified (Aim 3). NHANES is uniquely suited to yield findings with high public health significance because it is the largest on-going US survey of the nutritional status of US children. Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) will be used to operationally define food and nutrient outcomes of significant