A majority of American youngsters have “disordered” eating habits. Their diets are long on fat, sugar, salt, and excess calories, and short on many of the key nutrients children need for optimum health now, and the avoidance of future disease. The simple solution is balancing caloric and nutrient intake over the long-term with adequate physical activity to prevent weight gain. For many consumers, however, the concepts of balance and moderation are just that - concepts. Those who are aware appear to be confused by them. Assigning blame for disordered eating patterns is easy. What is needed is a collaborative effort to address the many issues and access points that influence eating trends in order to bring about long term, positive solutions.

This comprehensive study will provide an up to the minute overview of children’s eating habits in the United States, including long-term changes. Mealtime patterns, portion distortion, and the contribution of away from home eating will also be discussed. In our land of abundance, many children have poor nutrition. This report will detail dietary recommendations for children, and will track compliance over time.

Continued media focus on obesity and wellness are beginning to have an effect. Children’s Eating Habits in the U.S.: Trends and Implications for Food Marketers will examine nutrition and health awareness and attitudes among children and adults, and will explore the influence these attitudes are having on the food and beverage industry. Evolving eating styles, including vegetarian, will be profiled, and the role of schools and school foodservice in the eating patterns of youngsters will be examined.

About the Author
Janis Barbour has more than 20 years experience in business intelligence and market research. In 2003 she established an independent research service, Barbour Information Advantage, Inc. She has held a variety of corporate research positions, most recently as Manager, Market Intelligence at Nestlé USA, Inc. During her 15 years with Nestlé, Ms. Barbour was responsible for providing secondary research support for clients throughout the organization, including Nestlé’s Swiss parent company. She also researched, wrote and edited two quarterly newsletters on nutrition and consumer trends, and was an active member of various corporate teams and task forces focusing on marketing, health and wellness, foodservices, and new product development..

Report Methodology
Children’s Eating Habits in the U.S.: Trends and Implications for Food Marketers is based on secondary and primary research. Primary research included on-site examination of the retail environment, and interviews with parents, researchers, obesity experts, academics and others involved in studying eating habits among America’s youth, and in developing and implementing programs to improve those habits.

Secondary research includes data gathered from relevant trade, business, healthcare, and government sources, including company Web sites. Government sources, including the Continuing Survey of Food Intakes of Individuals (CSFII) and its Supplemental Children’s Survey, the Nationwide Food Consumption Survey (NCFS), and NHANES, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, provided data on food and nutrient intake trends among children. The Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study (FITS) provided detail on food patterns among the youngest children. Data on parental attitudes toward health and nutrition derived from the National Consumer Survey by Simmons Market Research Bureau (SMRB), and other surveys.

Methodology: Notes on Sources
Simmons Market Research Bureau
Simmons Market Research Bureau, New York, New York provided some of the data on parental attitudes, family meals, and visits to fast food restaurants. Each year, Simmons surveys a large sample of consumers about their buying habits, product usage, and attitudes. The data cited here derive from the fall 2003 consumer survey, based on a sample of approximately 20,000 U.S. adults.

FITS
The Feeding Infants and Toddlers Survey (FITS), a study sponsored by Gerber Products Company, incorporated national surveys of infant and toddler nutrition including the Continuing Survey of Food Intakes of Individuals (CSFII), and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), both of which provide intake data for nationally representative samples of infants and toddlers. The Ross Mother’s Study provided data on both breastfed and bottle-fed infants. The target population of the FITS study included all children four to 24 months of age living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

CSFII
Findings from the Continuing Survey of Food Intakes of Individuals (CSFII), which is designed to measure what Americans eat and drink, are used to develop nutrition education programs, assess dietary changes over time, and develop food fortification policies. Participants are asked to provide detail on their food intakes on two separate days. Intake data were collected from 5,559 children in the CSFII 1998 and from 4,253 children in 1994-96. The scientifically selected sample enables results to be projected to the total population of American children.

NHANES
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is an ongoing survey designed to gauge the health status of Americans. The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CC) collects, analyzes, and disseminates the data.

NFCS
The Nationwide Food Consumption Survey (NFCS) compiles data on the foods used by the entire household at home, as well as foods eaten away from home by individual family members. The study involves a nationally representative sample of about 36,000 individuals from whom food intake data is collected over three consecutive days using a 1-day dietary recall in an in-person interview and a self-administered 2-day dietary record. Intake data for children younger than 12 years of age is reported by the household respondent, generally a parent.

Children’s Eating Habits in the U.S.: Trends and Implications for Food Marketers will assess the factors that exert the most influence on children’s eating habits, including parents, peers, and advertisers, and will discuss the factors most frequently blamed for the deteriorating eating habits of America’s youth. The report will present suggestions for improvement, including education, intervention, regulation, and collaboration, along with viewpoints of activists, academics, food marketers and industry organizations.

This report provides background and outlook critical to anyone interested in promoting food, nutrition or wellness to today’s youth, including firms that market to children, and those that support them.

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