Eating Out

CHILDWISE have been involved in a number of projects relating to children's eating experiences outside the home.

childfooddrawing

In store observation and accompanied meals  

Understanding the dynamics of the occasion - the role of restaurant layout, queuing, ordering, toilets, what do children do whilst they're waiting, reconciling the different needs of parents and children - food, facilities, atmosphere.

To explore behaviour and motivations, we carried out a combination of researcher visits to different types of outlet, - plus pre-arranged visits with families - observing, experiencing this in practice, discussing what they do and why, and how they feel about this.  This gave valuable insight into the way that different outlet types meet the needs of families, and highlighted areas for improvement.

Eating out with children - Ongoing tracking

Regular interviews with parents and with children, to establish eating out behaviour over the preceding month, satisfactions, dissatisfactions, perceptions of key outlets.  Ongoing tracking data gives the opportunity to look at patterns that emerge, and to compare back over time - impact of school holidays, promotions and premiums, menu changes.