Family Style Meal Service

1
Family Style Meal Service

• Some people call it family style service and
  others call it children feeding
  themselveswhatever you call it, it means that
  containers of food are put on the table, then
  children pass a common container around the
  table, and each child takes some food for his/her
  plate.

2
Children Get 2/3 of Daily Nutrients in Child Care

• 13 million kids under 6 get 2/3 of daily
  nutrients when in child care
• Studies show eating habits food preferences
  developed during childhood stay with a child
  throughout adulthood

3
Purpose of the Study

• Determine frequency of family style meals in
  Colorado child care homes
• Determine if meal style affects childs
  consumption
• Determine if meal style affects plate waste
• Discover barriers to family style meal service in
  child care homes
• Determine frequency of family style meals in
  homes

4
Methods

• Child care provider survey (Tier 1)
• Family survey
• Plate waste study
• Mealtime observations
• Literature review

5
Child Care Provider Survey

• 280 surveys distributed to Front Range Colorado
  Tier 1 Child Care Providers enrolled in CACFP
• 117 surveys completed and returned
• gtMailing lists provided by A Childs Choice,
  ACE Child Care Food Program, Kid Care Nutrition
  and Wildwood

6
Child Care Provider Survey ResultsPrefered Style
of Meal Service(63 report sitting down to eat
with children)
7
Mixed Meals

• Sometimes a whole meal is available for children
  to serve themselves, and sometimes only part of a
  meal is available for self-serve.
• Providers use a variety of routines around
  self-serving depending on the age the skills of
  the children.

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Question 1
9
Question 2
10
Question 3
11
Perceived Risks of Family Style Service

• Overeating
• Food waste due to self-serving too much
• Food safety
• Mess/spillage

12
Plate Waste Study Design

• Participants 12 Tier 1 child care homes, with
  69 children in attendance
• Children were 1-6 yrs with an average age of
  3.3 years

13
Plate Waste Protocol

• Each home was visited 6 times in 2 weeks.
• 3 lunch menus were served.
• Each menu was served twice, once family style
  once pre-plated.

• Order of service style was random in each home.
• Breakfast/AM. Snack menus consistent during
  testing.
• Breakfast/ AM. Snack times consistent and at
  least 2 hours before lunch during testing.

14
Within-subjects crossover design used to
evaluate the effects of family style vs.
pre-plated meal service on

• Food intake
• Plate waste
• Total time required for lunch

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AM Snack/Breakfast Menus

• Graham crackers, banana, (milk if counted as
  breakfast)
• Blueberry muffin, sliced apples (milk if counted
  as breakfast)
• Yogurt parfaits (yogurt, strawberries,
  blueberries and granola), (milk if counted as
  breakfast)

16
Lunch Menus

• Tortilla roll-ups (1/2 tortilla, 1 oz cheese ½
  oz turkey), sliced cored apples, green beans,
  milk.
• Macaroni cheese, cubed ham, spinach salad w/
  tomatoes and dressing, green seedless grapes,
  milk.
• Chicken nuggets, biscuit,raw broccoli heads
  w/ranch dressing, canned peaches, milk.

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Aggregate vs. individual measures simplified data
collection and minimized interruption of children

• Each food was weighed before and after lunch, and
  collected from table and floor.
• If milk spilled paper towels were weighed before
  and after cleanup.
• Behavioral observations were recorded at each
  lunch session.
• Total time for lunch was defined as the time
  elapsed from when all children were seated until
  the last child finished eating.

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Data Analysis

• Plate waste for each menu item was calculated.
• Average food consumed per child (in ounces) was
  calculated for each menu item.

• Plate waste for each style of service was
  calculated by averaging individual values.
• Statistical Analyses were performed using
  SPSS12.0 for windows.

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Plate Waste Results
20
Plate Waste by Serving Style
21
Average Calories Consumed by Serving Style
22
Common Themes Observed During Plate Waste Study

• Childrens food preferences were influenced by
  other children.
• Family style meals increased childrens interest
  in food served.
• Children enjoyed the process, sense of
  accomplishment and control gained by serving
  themselves.

• Children under 2 had difficulty serving
  themselves, especially if they could not reach
  the table.
• Children under 2 enjoyed the process of family
  style but did not understand the concept of take
  what you will eat.

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Additional Observations

• Children loved using child sized serving bowls,
  pitchers and serving utensils.
• Once kids made the decision to put some food on
  their plate with the cool tools, they were
  mentally committed to at least trying the food.
• Often not enough table space for plates serving
  dishes
• Some child care providers did not follow food
  safety guidelines and in some cases may have put
  childrens health at risk.

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Food SafetyWhat we observed

• Holding food at wrong temperature for too long
• Provider children tasting food from serving
  utensils
• Heating jarred baby food in microwave
• Serving child from the baby food jar
• Children touching food in serving bowls
• Not properly cooling storing food after the
  meal due to busy schedule.

25
Hand Washing A Simple Message

• It takes 20 seconds of rubbing your hands with
  soap and water to get them clean. Try singing
  the ABCs or Happy Birthday.

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Previously Known Advantages of Family Style Meal
Service

• Enhances motor development
• Provides opportunities for making food choices
• Language development
• Self-esteem
• Social skills
• Table manners
• Independence
• Provides opportunity to practice table manners

27
Demonstrated Advantages ofFamily Style Meal
Service in Child Care Homes

• May foster development of healthy eating habits
  in young children by creating an environment that
  encourages children to listen to internal hunger
  vs. external cues, as noted in larger standard
  deviation of intake.

• Increases consumption of food.
• Decreases plate waste.
• Does not significantly increase meal time.
• Provides good opportunity to develop food
  handling skills.
• Increases vocabulary about food and nutrition

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Possible Causes of Overweight in Young Children

• Genetics
• A medical condition
• Medication
• Lack of exercise
• Not recognizing satiety cues
• High fat or high kcal. intake
• Cultural or family imperatives
• to overeat
• Eating for non-nutritional reasons

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Skills Children Developed by Serving Themselves

• Passing bowls or pitchers so that someone else
  successfully receives them.
• Direct requests and needs to people using give
  take of conversation.
• Wait their turns.
• Judge space for the bowls or pitchers on the
  table.
• Balance serving containers while serving from
  them.
• Efficiently use serving utensils.

30
Skills Children Developed by Serving Themselves
(cont.)

• Learn the difference between serving utensils and
  personal eating utensils.
• Keep themselves and others safe from cross
  contamination.
• Judge how much to put on their plates.
• Broaden their tastes. Children are often
  reluctant to try new foods. Studies show that it
  takes 7-10 times for a child to acquire a taste
  for something new and different.

31
Activities that Promote Family Style Eating

• Use interesting plates, cups, place mats, cloth
  or paper napkins and eating utensils.
• Allow children to set the table the way they
  want.
• Allow children to take turns setting the table
  for snack as well as meals.
• Let children make choices when you set the
  tableDo you want the red cup or the blue cup?

32
Factors to Consider Before Initiating Family
Style Service

• Have a variety of age- appropriate serving
  utensils and containers.
• Ensure all children can reach the table.
• Have enough table space to accommodate serving
  bowls.

33
Factors to Consider Before Initiating Family
Style Service (cont.)

• Child care provider should be available to
  supervise ensure sanitary food handling.
• It may require patience for children to learn to
  take what they will eat.
• It can be messy at first.

34
Questions and Comments

• What else can providers do to promote family
  style meals in their businesses and with the
  families they provide services for?

35
For More Information Contact

• Sheila Gains,
• Colorado State University Cooperative Extension
• Family Consumer Sciences Extension Educator
• Arapahoe County Office, 303-730-1920
• Ann Zander,
• Colorado State University Cooperative Extension
• Family Consumer Sciences Extension Educator
• Boulder County Office
• 303-678-6238