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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition, Psychology and Brain Health
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1281686
This article is part of the Research Topic The Effects of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Food Supply, Dietary Patterns, Nutrition, and Health: Volume 3 View all 4 articles

Examining Child Schooling/Care Location and Child Temperament as Predictors of Restaurant-Related Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from a Nationally Representative Survey

Provisionally accepted
Juliana Goldsmith Juliana Goldsmith 1Mackenzie J. Ferrante Mackenzie J. Ferrante 1Sara Tauriello Sara Tauriello 1Leonard H. Epstein Leonard H. Epstein 1,2Lucia A. Leone Lucia A. Leone 2,3Stephanie Anzman-Frasca Stephanie Anzman-Frasca 1,2*
  • 1 Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, United States
  • 2 Center for Ingestive Behavior Research, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, United States
  • 3 School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Purpose: Emerging research highlights impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. families, including changes in eating behavior and increased child body mass index. Aims of the present study were to examine whether child temperament and at-home vs. out-of-home childcare/school predicted families' restaurant-related behaviors during the pandemic. Examining energy balancerelated behaviors, like restaurant patronage, during the pandemic can help better understand lasting impacts on child health behaviors and health outcomes.Methods: An online survey was administered to U.S. parents with a 4-to-8-year-old child in October 2020 (n=1000). Linear and logistic regression examined whether child temperament and at home vs. out-of-home childcare/school predicted: 1) the frequency the child consumed restaurant meals (take-out, delivery, dine-in), 2) who chose the child's restaurant meal, and 3) parent-reported reasons for the child's meal choice. Income, education, employment, race/ethnicity, and regional COVID-19 restrictions were tested as covariates.Results: Parents with children higher on negative affectivity reported more frequent restaurant use in-person (p<.05) and via delivery (p<.05) compared to parents of children lower on negativity. Child negativity was also linked with parent-reported reasons for children's restaurant meal choices. Parents of children receiving at-home childcare/schooling used delivery services less frequently than those receiving out-of-home care or schooling (p<0.01).Conclusions: These findings suggest that individual and family factors may impact restaurant use and the meal selection process for children using restaurants during and beyond the COVID-19 era. Continued examination of individual differences in the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic can facilitate intervention and policy approaches that fit with different families' needs.

    Keywords: Temperament, Restaurants, Children, COVID-19, Childcare

    Received: 22 Aug 2023; Accepted: 04 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Goldsmith, Ferrante, Tauriello, Epstein, Leone and Anzman-Frasca. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Stephanie Anzman-Frasca, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, 14214-3013, New York, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.