Dear Madam,
We thank Dr Julia Jahansooz for responding to our paper ‘Relationships Between Children’s Sugar Consumption at Home and Their Food Choices and Consumption at School Lunch’ published in Public Health Nutrition in January 2020(Reference Baghlaf, Muirhead and Pine1). Dr Jahansooz commented on our findings that highlighted the important relationship between eating practices at home and at school and the long-term impact of children’s eating preferences.
We also support her comments about the significant role played by parents in guiding children’s food choices. Our paper is part of a larger research study that also interviewed the parents of children who had high and low sugar intakes based on the WHO recommendation that free sugars should be <10 % of an individual’s daily total energy intake(2). Our qualitative study found that 6–7-year-old children who had high sugar intakes were the primary decision-makers, determining their food choices, influencing the family shopping purchases and meal patterns(Reference Baghlaf3). We look forward to presenting this research in a forthcoming publication.
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements: The author would like to thank Dr Vanessa Muirhead for reviewing a draft of this manuscript. Financial support: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. Conflict of interest: There are no conflicts of interest. Authorship: K.B. was responsible for the entirety of this manuscript. Ethics of human subject participation: Not applicable.
