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To assess children's food-related behaviours and their relationships with eating while watching television (TV), data were collected from 534 ten-year-old French-Canadian children. A self-administered questionnaire was used. Almost 18% of girls and over 25% of boys reported eating in front of the TV every day. Although, overall, the boys’ eating pattern was less healthy than the girls’, all of the children's food choices deteriorated with increased frequency of eating in front of the TV. Compared with girls, boys gave more importance to coloured and attractive foods, and to selecting foods similar to those eaten by others. Over 50% of children reported always receiving negative weight-related comments from family members. For boys, significant correlations were found between the frequency of eating in front of the TV, the importance given to a food's appearance, and their requests to parents for advertised foods. Significance was at the p<0.05 level for all findings. These results suggest that gender should be considered in attempts to understand children's food motivations and behaviours. The findings also indicate the need to document children's eating environments, and to inform children and their families about eating behaviours that may be associated with a given environment.

Chronic malnutrition and growth failure are frequent consequences of feeding difficulties in neurodevelopmentally disabled children. Gastrostomy feeding has been used successfully to alleviate chronic malnutrition as well as distress and frustration associated with feeding. Unfortunately, caregivers are often resistant to gastrostomy placement. In order to determine the impact of gastrostomies in 20 children with neurodevelopmental disability (NDD), a questionnaire was used to collect caregivers’ perceptions both before and after gastrostomy. The questionnaire assessed caregivers’ retrospective perceptions of quality of life, feeding difficulties, and the burdens and benefits of gastrostomies. To determine impact on growth, height and weight were measured once before and three times after gastrostomy (at six, 12, and 24 months). The number of times a child was fed and the amount of time spent feeding decreased significantly following gastrostomy (p<0.001 and p<0.05, respectively). Growth for all children improved following gastrostomy (p<0.001). Pregastrostomy problems improved significantly following gastrostomy, as did caregivers’ perceptions of quality of life for both themselves and their child (p<0.001). These results indicate that gastrostomy has a positive impact on growth for neurodevelopmentally disabled children, and on quality of life for both children and caregivers. Caregivers may find these results encouraging if they are faced with a decision about gastrostomy placement for their child.

To identify barriers to following calcium recommendations among women with reduced bone mineral density (BMD), four focus group sessions were held with 30 postmenopausal women diagnosed with low BMD. Key concepts and themes were derived from transcripts. Participants were aware of the importance of calcium to their bone health, and were attempting to follow calcium intake recommendations. Several major themes associated with the ability to obtain adequate calcium were identified, including knowledge and confidence in actions, lifestyle and food preferences, and side effects and conflict with other health conditions. Participants reported that they obtained information in an effort to make a confident decision about calcium intake, but were easily confused by conflicting information. Daily routines and family and personal food preferences influenced dietary behaviours. Women indicated that side effects, particularly those associated with perceived lactose intolerance, caused them to restrict their calcium intake. Our data provide important insight into factors that women believe affect their ability to reach recommended calcium intakes. To optimize osteoporosis prevention and treatment, dietitians should focus on individualized patient assessments to identify factors affecting adherence to dietary calcium recommendations.