Paper-based motivation-to-eat visual analogue scales (VASs) developed for adults are widely used in the pediatric age range. The VAS is comprised of four domains: hunger, fullness, desire to eat, and prospective food consumption. The purpose of the present study was to determine agreement between the traditional paper-based VAS and a novel digital VAS (with and without images), as well as the novel digital VAS’s predictive validity for subsequent food intake (FI) in 9–14-year-old children and adolescents. Following an overnight fast and 3 h after consuming a standardized breakfast at home, children and adolescents (n = 17) completed three different VAS instruments (VAS_paper, VAS_images, VAS_no-images) in a randomized order at five time-points: 0 min (baseline), 5 min (immediately after consuming a 147 kcal yogurt treatment), 20 min, 35 min (immediately before an ad libitum lunch), and 65 min (immediately post ad libitum lunch). All three instruments were comparable, as shown by low bias and limits of agreement on Bland–Altman plots, moderate to excellent intraclass correlation coefficients for all domains at all time-points (ICC = 0.72–0.98), and no differences between the incremental area under the curve for any of the domains. All three instruments also showed good predictive validity for subsequent FI, with the strongest relationship observed immediately before the ad libitum lunch (p = 0.56–0.63). There was no significant association between subjective thirst and water intake, except with VAS_no-images at baseline (r = 0.49, p = 0.046). In conclusion, the present study suggests that a novel image-based digital VAS evaluating motivation-to-eat is interchangeable with the traditional paper-based VAS, and provides good predictive validity for next-meal FI in 9–14-year-old normal weight children and adolescents.

Background: Although packaged foods sold in retail stores must follow food labelling regulations, there are no e-grocery food labelling regulations to mandate and standardize the availability and presentation of product information. Therefore, the objective of the study was to evaluate the availability and quality of food labelling components in the Canadian e-grocery retail environment. Methods: A sample of fresh and pre-packaged products was identified on eight leading grocery retail websites in Canada, to assess the availability and quality of food labelling components. Results: Out of 555 product searches, all products were accompanied by product images with front-of-pack images more readily available (96.0%) than back-of-pack (12.4%) and other side panel images (3.1%). The following mandatory nutrition information was available for 61.1% of the products: nutrition facts table (68.8%), ingredient (73.9%), and allergen (53.8%) information. The majority of the nutrition information was available after scrolling down, clicking additionally on the description page, or viewing only as an image. Date markings were not available; packaging material information was available for 2.0% of the products. Conclusions: There was wide variability and inconsistencies in the presentation of food labelling components in the e-grocery retail environment, which can be barriers in enabling Canadians to make informed purchasing decisions.

Dietary carbohydrates have been shown to influence cognitive performance and satiety in children. However, it remains unclear whether the carbohydrate source is a primary determinant of cognitive performance and satiety. The objective was to compare the effects of white potatoes and other carbohydrate-containing foods on cognitive performance, glycemic response, and satiety in children. On 6 separate mornings, in random order, children (n = 22) consumed 50 g of available carbohydrates from microwaved mashed potatoes (prepared from fresh potatoes then frozen), deep-fried potato strips (French fries), hash browns, white rice, white beans, or skipped a meal. Cognitive performance, glycemic response, and satiety were measured over 180 min. Cognitive performance was measured using a battery of tests assessing verbal declarative memory, spatial memory, short-term memory, working memory, and information processing speed. Although cognitive performance after the treatment meals did not differ from meal skipping, children recalled more words after French fries (9.1 ± 0.4 words) compared with mashed potatoes (8.2 ± 0.3 words; p = 0.001) and white rice (8.4 ± 0.3 words; p = 0.04) on the verbal declarative memory test. Blood glucose concentrations were higher after white rice compared with white beans, mashed potatoes, and hash browns (p < 0.05). Change from baseline subjective average appetite (mm/kcal) was lower after mashed potatoes compared with all other treatment meals (p < 0.05). In conclusion, verbal declarative memory was higher after French fries and subjective average appetite was lower after mashed potatoes. Future longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these short-term findings and to elucidate the mechanism of action.