Eating rates (bites per interval) and other meal behaviors (number of chews, sips, talks with a neighbor, and chews per bite) were observed for 30 normal and 30 overweight white preschool children in their school cafeterias. Children were classified according to weight (overweight or normal), age (1 1/2--2 years, 3--4 years, or 5--6 years) and sex. Analysis of variance revealed that overweight preschool children demonstrated a somewhat higher rate of distinctly fewer chews per bite. Boys showed increasing chew rates with increasing age. Talk rates also increased with age but were unrelated to sex or weight status. Sip rates were not significantly associated with age, sex, or weight status. These results support the hypothesis that overweight persons are characterized by an increased eating rate and show that it is apparent even around the time of first self-feeding.

128 children between ages of 5 and 6 years were shown 4 films depicting all possible combinations of female and male physicians and nurses. Results showed that when confronted with counter-stereotypical occupational portrayals, children were likely to relabel them into the typical instance of the male physician and the female nurse. There was a stronger tendency for the subjects to relabel the male nurse than to relabel the female physician. The children's relabeling of the roles presented was not due to inattention to the stimulus materials (videotapes). Neither sex, nor age, nor the number of physician visits in the last year were related to the frequency of relabeling. Maternal employment and exposure to real male nurses were related to correct identification of the male nurse and the female physician. The results suggest that the relabeling and its asymmetric character may be due to the differential exposure of children to female physicians and male nurses.

Eating rates (bites per interval) and other meal behaviors (number of chews, sips, talks with a neighbor, and chews per bite) were observed for 30 normal and 30 overweight white preschool children in their school cafeterias. Children were classified according to weight (overweight or normal), age (1 1/2--2 years, 3--4 years, or 5--6 years) and sex. Analysis of variance revealed that overweight preschool children demonstrated a somewhat higher rate of distinctly fewer chews per bite. Boys showed increasing chew rates with increasing age. Talk rates also increased with age but were unrelated to sex or weight status. Sip rates were not significantly associated with age, sex, or weight status. These results support the hypothesis that overweight persons are characterized by an increased eating rate and show that it is apparent even around the time of first self-feeding.

128 children between ages of 5 and 6 years were shown 4 films depicting all possible combinations of female and male physicians and nurses. Results showed that when confronted with counter-stereotypical occupational portrayals, children were likely to relabel them into the typical instance of the male physician and the female nurse. There was a stronger tendency for the subjects to relabel the male nurse than to relabel the female physician. The children's relabeling of the roles presented was not due to inattention to the stimulus materials (videotapes). Neither sex, nor age, nor the number of physician visits in the last year were related to the frequency of relabeling. Maternal employment and exposure to real male nurses were related to correct identification of the male nurse and the female physician. The results suggest that the relabeling and its asymmetric character may be due to the differential exposure of children to female physicians and male nurses.

No abstract