Observational studyAppetite2016
The Healthy Meal Index: A tool for measuring the healthfulness of meals served to children.
Observational study in Appetite, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed.
- Supporting family meal frequency: Screening Phase results from the Simply Dinner Study.Appetite · 2022Trial
- Effectiveness of differing levels of support for family meals on obesity prevention among head start preschoolers: the simply dinner study.BMC public health · 2017Trial
- Observed Mealtime Interactions, Meal Healthfulness, and Childhood Obesity Among Low-Income Families.Pediatric obesity · 2026Article
- Voicing residents' perception of (commercial) food cues in outdoor public spaces: a photovoice study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Associations Between Coparenting Quality, the Home Food Environment, and Child's Body Mass Index.Childhood obesity (Print) · 2025Article
- Temptation at every corner: exploring public perceptions of food cues and policy support for governmental food cue regulation in outdoor public spaces.BMC medicine · 2024Article
- Article
- Food availability, perceived food environment and social norm perceptions of healthy and vegetarian food consumption at a public music festival in the Netherlands: a cross-sectional study.BMJ nutrition, prevention & health · 2024Article
- A Narrative Review of Dietary Assessment Tools for Preschool-Aged Children in the Home Environment.Nutrients · 2022Review
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on elementary schoolers' physical activity, sleep, screen time and diet: A quasi-experimental interrupted time series study.Pediatric obesity · 2022Article
- Comparisons of Four Diet Quality Indexes to Define Single Meal Healthfulness.Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2022Observational
- Brief Report: Obesogenic Behaviors of Children with Developmental Disabilities During Summer.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2021Observational
- Studying Children's Eating at Home: Using Synchronous Videoconference Sessions to Adapt to COVID-19 and Beyond.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- The impact of summer vacation on children's obesogenic behaviors and body mass index: a natural experiment.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2020Observational
- Exploring the Provider-Level Socio-Demographic Determinants of Diet Quality of Preschool-Aged Children Attending Family Childcare Homes.Nutrients · 2020Article
- The impact of summer programming on the obesogenic behaviors of children: behavioral outcomes from a quasi-experimental pilot trial.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2020Article
- Child diet and health outcomes of the simple suppers program: a 10-week, 2-group quasi-experimental family meals trial.BMC public health · 2019Article
- Deconstructing the Family Meal: Are Characteristics of the Mealtime Environment Associated with the Healthfulness of Meals Served?Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2019Article
- Examining the impact of a summer learning program on children's weight status and cardiorespiratory fitness: A natural experiment.Evaluation and program planning · 2019Observational
- Beyond Nutrient Intake: Use of Digital Food Photography Methodology to Examine Family Dinnertime.Journal of nutrition education and behavior · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Family meals have been associated with higher diet quality and reduced risk of obesity in children. Observational studies of the family meal have been employed with increasing frequency, yet there is currently no tool available for measuring the healthfulness of food served during the meal. Here we present the development and validation of the Healthy Meal Index (HMI), a novel tool for scoring the healthfulness of foods served to children during a meal, as well as sociodemographic predictors of meal scores. Parents of 233 children, aged 4-8 years, self-recorded three home dinners. A research assistant obtained a list of foods available during the meal (meal report) via phone call on the night of each video-recorded meal. This meal report was coded into component food groups. Subsequently, meals were scored based on the availability of more healthy "Adequacy foods" and the absence of "Moderation foods", (of which reduced consumption is recommended, according to pediatric dietary guidelines). Adjusted linear regression tested the association of sociodemographic characteristics with HMI scores. A validation study was conducted in a separate sample of 133 children with detailed meal data. In adjusted models, female children had higher HMI Moderation scores (p = 0.02), but did not differ in HMI Adequacy or Total scores. Parents with more education served meals with higher HMI Adequacy (p = 0.001) and Total scores (p = 0.001), though no significant difference was seen in HMI Moderation score (p = 0.21). The validation study demonstrated that the HMI was highly correlated with servings of foods and nutrients estimated from observations conducted by research staff. The HMI is a valuable tool for measuring the quality of meals served to children.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.