Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The 2018 W3003 annual meeting was held on Wed 03/21/2018 (to Sat 03/24/2018) at the University of Georgia, which was the home university to Alex Anderson (2018-2019 secretary elect)

Attendees included:

Anderson, Alex, University of Georgia

Banna, Jinan, University of Hawaii @ Manoa (video call in)⁴

Cluskey, Mary, Oregon State University (video call in)

da Silva, Vanessa (vdasilva@email.arizona.edu), Arizona State University

Gunther, Carolyn, Ohio State University

Jones, Blake, Purdue University²

Lora, Karina, Oklahoma State University (video call in)³

Reicks, Marla, University of Minnesota,

Richards, Rickelle, Brigham Young University

Topham, Glade, Kansas State University¹

Wong Siew Sun, Oregon State University

¹2017-18 Chair-Elect, ²2017-18 Chair, ³2017-2018 Secretary, ⁴Past Chair

1)   The qualitative methods team (Glade Topham, Mary Cluskey, Martha Reicks, Carolyn Gunther, and Jinan Banna) presented the results of the qualitative analyses conducted this past year on Objective 1 data and presented the draft of associated items for the surveys.  The quantitative team (Rickelle Richards and Blake Jones) reviewed the child data from Objective 1 and made decisions regarding how to present the food data and how to structure the data base. The methods team (Karina Lora, Alex Anderson and Siew Sun Wong)  reviewed and updated the methods used in Objective 1 to be extracted for use in papers to be published from this work.

2)   We reviewed and revised rough drafts of items for the parent and child surveys. We discussed the process and timeline of conducting cognitive interviewing to test surveys and made assignments for conducting these interviews.

3)   We discussed plans for pilot testing the surveys via Qualtrics after cognitive interviews and edits are made. We will pilot the measures with 100 parent-child dyads at two time points. We agreed to move child eligibility from ages 10-13 to 11-14 due to the fact that older children are more likely to be able to answer the FFQ accurately.

4)   We reviewed and revised the list of papers and authors to be worked on this next year and discussed upcoming conference presentation deadlines and ideas.

5)   We assigned a core writing team and began to develop objectives for the project renewal (W-4003).

6)   The study timeline was reviewed and modified: 

7)   Members nominated Glade Topham (Chair), Karina Lora (Chair-Elect), and Alex Kojo Anderson (Secretary) to serve in leadership positions for the 2018-19 term. Blake Jones will serve as Past Chair.  The next annual meeting is scheduled for the Arizona State University March 13-16, 2018. Vanessa da Silva will serve as meeting host and Glade Topham will chair the 2019 meeting.

Background.  There is limited evidence about how adolescents eat when they are making food choices without the direct influence of their parents, who are primary influencers of their choices and consumption behavior as children (Savage et al., 2007). US children and adults are consuming food more frequently throughout the day and more at each occasion (Popkin and Duffey, 2010); a rise that parallels the rise in obesity and increases in portion sizes (Piernas and Popkin, 2011). That consumption is occurring as primary eating or meal occasions but increasingly as secondary eating which may or may not be mealtime eating. Additionally, while evidence shows that most families (58%) consume about 5 or more meals/week together, (National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), 2011), others report the percentage consuming shared family meals decreases among lower SES groups (Neumark-Sztainer et al., 2013). The 1994-96 CFSII data reveal a mean of 4.5 daily eating occasions/day (Ritchie, 2012). Adolescents (10-13 years old) who are at the age of becoming more independent are likely making food choice decisions on their own at some of those other daily eating occasions. However, frequency of eating and snacking are both increasing and what and how much food adolescents choose and consume when they are outside of their parental influence is not known. The work exploring parental practices and their impact on children’s intakes, weight and eating behaviors is not well established. In particular, a focus on what occurs in those occasions when the child is making independent choices and not in the presence of the parent needs more clarity. What strategies do parents use to model healthy food intake? How can the behavior of modeling or creating rules and expectations be measured and how do those behaviors impact children’s food intake? How often do early adolescents make independent food choices and are there parental expectations for choices that they make? How compliant are they with their parental rules? How do role modeling, food choice rules or expectations and food availability translate into food choices when a child is on their own or with peers or siblings at an eating occasion? How can parents be more motivated and overcome the barriers they perceive to practicing positive eating related parental behaviors? Having a greater understanding of this phenomenon fosters the ability to communicate and promote effective practices and strategies to parents for managing healthy eating among their youth.

Project Objectives. Explore and identify key parental practices (role modeling, making healthy foods available, and setting rules/expectations and other practices) that may impact eating behaviors and food choices during independent eating occasions and weight among low-income, multi-ethnic early adolescents. 2. Examine the association between key parental practices and positive eating behaviors during independent eating occasions among low-income, multi-ethnic early adolescents 3. Examine the association between key parental practices and early adolescents’ weight. 4. Develop communications for parents and nutrition professionals

Main Accomplishments for 2017-2018

The main accomplishment of the 2017-2018 of the W3003 group was cleaning and analyzing data from Objective 1. For Objective 1 we collected data from approximately 5 parent-child dyads, including parent surveys, child surveys, anthropometric measurements (heights, weights, waist circumferences), parent interviews, and child interviews at each site. This yielded a sample of over 50 parent-child dyads, with rich, in-depth data from interviews and pictures of foods eaten, as well as surveys and objective anthropometric measurements. The quantitative team developed methods for entering food data and built, cleaned, and conducted analyses on the quantitative data set. Two researchers independently coded the children’s food photos into broader categories, which were then used for data analyses for professional meeting abstracts. 

The qualitative team independently coded several of the same parent interview transcripts in order to establish interrater agreement using the codebook developed by the team. After coding the transcript, team members discussed codes and updated the code book. This was repeated until satisfactory interrater agreement was achieved. Next, each of the five qualitative team members coded 10 transcripts, one after the other so each would have the most up to date code book when coding. After the coding was complete and themes were identified, two team members were assigned to create items for each theme, with a primary item developer and a secondary reviewer who suggested edits or additional items. The team then reviewed all items and made edits together to the items in preparation for the annual meetings and survey development. Two researchers also reviewed the child interview transcripts to ensure consistency between parent and child themes.

The methods team collated the methods employed in data collection, coding and analyses into one document. Progress throughout the year was facilitated through monthly web conferences with the full group and additional sub group meetings as necessary.

Reicks M., Davey, C., Anderson, A. K., Banna J., Cluskey M., M., Gunther, C., Jones, B., Richards, R., Topham, G. L., Wong, S. S. (Under review). Frequency of Eating Alone among Adolescents is Associated with Dietary Intake, Perceived Parent Support and Weight Status: Cross-sectional FLASHE Study Results. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.

Papers and posters presented last year:

Suzuki A, Anderson A, Choi SY, Cluskey M, Gunther C, Hongu N, Jones B, Lora K, Misner S, Monroe-Lord L, Penicka C, Reicks M, Richards R, Topham G, Wong SS, Banna JC. Characterizing Eating Behaviors of Adolescents Ages 10-13 in Hawaii While Eating Alone. University of Hawai‘i College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources Research Symposium. Honolulu, Hawai‘i; 2018, oral presentation by Asuka Suzuki (PhD student). 

Suzuki A, Anderson A, Cluskey M, Ganganna P, Gunther C, Hongu N, Jones B, Litchfield R, Lora K, Misner S, Monroe-Lord L, Penicka C, Reicks M, Richards R, Topham G, Wong SS, Banna JC. Characterizing eating behavior during independent eating occasions among early adolescents in Hawaii. East-West Center International Graduate Student Conference. Honolulu, Hawai‘i, 2018, oral presentation by Asuka Suzuki (PhD student).  

Papers and Posters to be Presented During the Upcoming Year

Richards R, Jones B, Anderson A, Banna JC, Cluskey M, Gunther C, Hongu N, Lora K, Misner S, Monroe-Lord L, Reicks M, Topham G, Wong SS. Parental practices and its impact on 10-13 year-old children. Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo, 2018, Washington, D.C., presentation by Rickelle Richards.

Suzuki A, Anderson A, Choi SY, Cluskey M, Gunther C, Hongu N, Jones B, Lora K, Misner S, Monroe-Lord L, Penicka C, Reicks M, Richards R, Topham G, Wong SS, Banna JC. Characterizing eating behavior during independent eating occasions among early adolescents in Hawaii. Nutrition 2018, Boston, Massachusetts, poster presentation by Asuka Suzuki (PhD student).  

Banna JC, Richards R, Jones B, Anderson A, Cluskey M, Gunther C, Hongu N, Lora K, Misner S, Monroe-Lord L, Reicks M, Topham G, Wong SS, Lim E. Describing independent eating occasions among low-income adolescents ages 10-13 in the United States: a multi-state study. Nutrition 2018, Boston, Massachusetts, poster presentation by Jinan Banna.

Anderson AK, Richards R, Jones B, Banna J, Gunther C, Hongu N, Lora K, Misner S, Monroe-Lord L, Reicks M, Topham G, Wong SS. Challenges in collecting pictorial data and identifying foods in dietary assessment of early adolescents. Dietary Intake 2018: Workshop on Innovative Technologies for Dietary Intake Measurements. September 17, Imperial College, United Kingdom, presentation by Alex Anderson

Reicks M, Davey C, Anderson AK, Banna J, Cluskey M, Gunther C, Jones B, Richards R, Topham G, Wong SS. Frequency of eating alone among adolescents, perceptions of parenting practices, and dietary intake: results from the FLASHE Study. Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior Annual Meeting July 2018, Minneapolis.