Changes in the nutritional content of children's lunches after the Food Dudes healthy eating programme.

Previous research into the effectiveness of healthy eating programmes has shown increases in healthful eating behaviour in primary schools; however, data collection methods have not been sufficiently sensitive to detect micronutrient changes. The present study extends the literature by measuring individual children's intake of macro- and micronutrients at lunchtime, before and after a programme targeting children's consumption of fruit and vegetables, to identify evidence-based health benefits of programme participation. Baseline data were collected over 4 d at lunchtime in two primary schools.

Using Nudges to Promote Healthy Food Choices in the School Dining Room: A Systematic Review of Previous Investigations.

Background: There is a growing interest in low-cost interventions that modify obesogenic environments and encourage positive behavior change. We conducted a systematic review of studies that used behavioral nudges to promote a healthy school cafeteria environment.

Methods: A literature search was conducted using 5 databases; of 381 papers noted, we included 25 and assessed them using the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies.

Measuring lunchtime consumption in school cafeterias: a validation study of the use of digital photography.

Objective: The present study tested the validity of a digital image-capture measure of food consumption suitable for use in busy school cafeterias.

Design: Lunches were photographed pre- and post-consumption, and food items were weighed pre- and post-consumption for comparison.

Setting: A small research team recorded children's lunchtime consumption in one primary and one secondary school over seven working days.

A low-cost Behavioural Nudge and choice architecture intervention targeting school lunches increases children's consumption of fruit: a cluster randomised trial.

Background: Research has consistently indicated that most children do not consume sufficient fruit and vegetables to provide them with a healthy, balanced diet. This study set out to trial a simple, low-cost behavioural nudge intervention to encourage children to select and consume more fruit and vegetables with their lunchtime meal in a primary school cafeteria.

Methods: Four primary schools were randomly allocated to either the control or the intervention condition and baseline data were collected over two days in each school.

Validity and reliability of the Fitbit Zip as a measure of preschool children's step count.

Objectives: Validation of physical activity measurement tools is essential to determine the relationship between physical activity and health in preschool children, but research to date has not focused on this priority. The aims of this study were to ascertain inter-rater reliability of observer step count, and interdevice reliability and validity of Fitbit Zip accelerometer step counts in preschool children.

Methods: Fifty-six children aged 3-4 years (29 girls) recruited from 10 nurseries in North Wales, UK, wore two Fitbit Zip accelerometers while performing a timed walking task in their childcare settings.

The impact of body-part-naming training on the accuracy of imitative performances in 2- to 3-year-old children.

A series of three experiments explored the relationship between 3-year-old children's ability to name target body parts and their untrained matching of target hand-to-body touches. Nine participants, 3 per experiment, were presented with repeated generalized imitation tests in a multiple-baseline procedure, interspersed with step-by-step training that enabled them to (i) tact the target locations on their own and the experimenter's bodies or (ii) respond accurately as listeners to the experimenter's tacts of the target locations. Prompts for on-task naming of target body parts were also provided later in the procedure.

Comprehension and production of body part labels in 2- to 3-year-old children.

This study examined which body part labels children could (i) produce when the experimenter touched different locations on her own body, asking each time 'What's this?' and (ii) comprehend by touching the correct locations on their own bodies in response to the experimenter asking 'Where's the [body-part label]?'. Seventeen children aged between 26 and 41 months, tested in a repeated measures procedure, were presented with 50 different body part stimuli in 200 test trials per child. Overall, the children produced fewer body part labels than they could comprehend.

Rapid word learning in 13- and 17-month-olds in a naturalistic two-word procedure: looking versus reaching measures.

This study investigated infants' rapid learning of two novel words using a preferential looking measure compared with a preferential reaching measure. In Experiment 1, 21 13-month-olds and 20 17-month-olds were given 12 novel label exposures (6 per trial) for each of two novel objects. Next, in the label comprehension tests, infants were shown both objects and were asked, "Where's the [label]?" (looking preference) and then told, "Put the [label] in the basket" (reaching preference).

Increasing pre-school children's consumption of fruit and vegetables. A modelling and rewards intervention.

Using a repeated measures design, in a nursery setting, a modelling and rewards intervention targeted preschool children's consumption of 8 fruit and 8 vegetables (presented as 4 different food sets, each comprising 2 fruit and 2 vegetables). During the 16-day Baseline 1, and subsequent baselines, the children received a different food set daily, first at snacktime and again at lunchtime; consumption of these foods was not rewarded. In the 32-day fruit intervention phase, Food Set 2 and Food Set 3 were presented on alternate days; rewards were presented only at snacktime, and only for consumption of the fruit components.

Effects of rewards, peer-modelling and pedometer targets on children's physical activity: a school-based intervention study.

This study evaluated a physical activity intervention for children that comprised peer-modelling, pedometer step goals and tangible rewards. A version of the intervention without the reward component was also tested. Participants (n = 386) were from three primary schools, which were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (i) full intervention, where children received "Fit 'n' Fun Dude" peer-modelling materials and were given daily pedometer goals to receive rewards, (ii) no-rewards intervention, where children received peer-modelling materials and pedometer goals but rewards were not used and (iii) control, where children wore pedometers with no further intervention.

The effects of modelling, local stimulus enhancement, and affordance demonstration on the production of object-directed actions in 6-month-old infants.

The present study investigated whether local stimulus enhancement and the demonstration of objects' affordances--both of which are inherent in modelling of object-directed target actions--are themselves sufficient to evoke the target behaviour on imitation test trials. Six-month-old infants were presented with a puppet wearing a removable mitten and observed either a demonstration of mitten removal (modelling group), the experimenter pointing at the mitten (stimulus enhancement group), the mitten falling off apparently by itself (affordance demonstration group), or no specific action directed at the mitten (control group). For all infants, the puppet was next presented without any accompanying demonstrations and infants' mitten removal behaviours in the response period were recorded.

Do infants show generalized imitation of gestures? II. The effects of skills training and multiple exemplar matching training.

The determinants of generalized imitation of manual gestures were investigated in 1- to 2-year-old infants. Eleven infants were first trained eight baseline matching relations; then, four novel gestures that the infants did not match in probe trials were selected as target behaviors. Next, in a generalized imitation test in which matching responses to baseline models were intermittently reinforced, but matching responses to target models were not eligible for reinforcement, the infants matched baseline models but not the majority of their target behaviors.

Positive- and negative peer modelling effects on young children's consumption of novel blue foods.

Objective: The effects of positive- and negative peer modelling on children's consumption of a novel blue food, presented in each of four snack meals during an "activity" day, were evaluated. It was predicted that: (i) novel food consumption would increase after positive modelling, but decrease after negative modelling; (ii) modelling effects would generalise to a second novel blue food when participants were alone when they ate their snack; (iii) that positive modelling would reverse the effects of negative modelling.

Design: A mixed design was employed with random assignment to either Groups A, B, or C (equal numbers of males and females per group).

Determinants of imitation of hand-to-body gestures in 2- and 3-year-old children.

Twenty children, ten 2-year-olds and ten 3-year-olds, participated in an AB procedure. In the baseline phase, each child was trained the same four matching relations to criterion under intermittent reinforcement. During the subsequent imitation test, the experimenter modeled a total of 20 target gestures (six trials each) interspersed with intermittently reinforced baseline trials.

Naming and categorization in young children: v. manual sign training.

Following pre-training with everyday objects, 8 children aged from 2 to 4 years learned to produce one manual sign (fists placed one above the other, in front of body) to one stimulus and an alternative manual sign (shoulders touched with ipsilateral hands) to the other stimulus, with each of three pairs of different arbitrary wooden shapes (Set 1). The six stimuli then were presented in category match-to-sample tests, which all subjects passed. Three of the children were next trained to produce the manual signs (denoted as fist/shoulder) for an additional six arbitrary stimuli, Set 2.

Do infants show generalized imitation of gestures?

Two experiments were conducted to investigate generalized imitation of manual gestures in 1- to 2-year-old infants. In Experiment 1, 6 infants were first trained four baseline matching relations (e.g.

Naming and categorization in young children: IV: listener behavior training and transfer of function.

Following pretraining with everyday objects, 14 children aged from 1 to 4 years were trained, for each of three pairs of different arbitrary wooden shapes (Set 1), to select one stimulus in response to the spoken word /zog/, and the other to /vek/. When given a test for the corresponding tacts ("zog" and "vek"), 10 children passed, showing that they had learned common names for the stimuli, and 4 failed. All children were trained to clap to one stimulus of Pair 1 and wave to the other.

Naming and categorization in young children: III. Vocal tact training and transfer of function.

Following pretraining with everyday objects, 10 children aged from 1 to 4 years were given common vocal tact training with a set of three pairs of arbitrary stimuli of differing shapes; Set 1. Nine children learned to tact one stimulus as "zog" and the other as "vek" in each pair, and all passed subsequent pairwise tests for the corresponding listener behavior to each listener stimulus (i.e.

Naming and categorization in young children: II. Listener behavior training.

Following pretraining with everyday objects, 1- to 4-year-old children received listener training with three pairs of arbitrary stimuli of differing shapes. For each pair, 9 children were trained to select one stimulus in response to the spoken word /zog/ and the other to the spoken word /vek/. Next, in the look-at-sample category match-to-sample test, none categorized the six stimuli correctly when asked to look at the sample before selecting from five comparisons.

Naming and categorization in young children: vocal tact training.

In three experiments, 2- to 4-year-old children, following pretraining with everyday objects, were presented with arbitrary stimuli of differing shapes. In Experiment 1A, 9 subjects were trained one common tact response, "zag," to three of these and a second tact, "vek," to another three. In category match-to-sample Test 1, 4 subjects sorted accurately when required only to look at the sample before selecting from five comparisons.