Food portion at ages 8-11 and obesogeny: The amount of food given to children varies with the mother's education and the child's appetite arousal

During childhood, the amount of food consumed, associated with adiposity and overweight risk, depends mainly on the amount of food that is served, especially by parents. This study focuses on the food amount served by parents (Portion), with two objectives: 1/to confirm (or not) its link with the food amount eaten (Intake) by their child; 2/to identify some of its correlates, i.e., maternal education, and child's appetite arousal. Five hundred and three French children aged between 8 and 11 years and one of their parents completed different self-administrated questionnaires online. Results indicated that Portion and Intake were highly correlated, and that mothers with lower levels of education gave larger portions to their child, especially if he/she had a high appetite arousal. Moreover, these mothers, compared to others, were more concerned by taste preferences and less by health with regard to their child's diet. Such differences in taste and health considerations may contribute to underlie the educational inequality in food portion size.