Parental family food choice motives and children’s food intake

Nutrient profile of packaged foods according to the degree of processing

An increased consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) leads to a rising prevalence of chronic noncommunicable diseases. This study aims to characterise the nutrient profile of white-label pre-packaged foods and bakery products available in a market leader Portuguese food retail chain, according to the extent of processing proposed by NOVA classification system. The nutrient profile (energy, sugar, total fat, saturated fat and sodium) according to processing degree was analysed using non-parametric tests. UPF were the most energy dense (278 kcal/100 g, p < .001) and the highest in sugar (15.9 g/100 g, p < .001). Processed foods were the highest in sodium (538 mg/100 g, p < .001). Processed and UPF showed significantly higher total (12.4 and 10.8 g/100 g, respectively) and saturated fat content (6.10 and 4.61 g/100 g, respectively) than unprocessed/minimally processed foods (p < .001). Regarding the variation of the nutritional value across the extent of processing, different results were observed for some categories suggesting the importance of a stratified analysis. The consumption of less processed foods and the manufacture of processed/UPF with better nutrient profile should be promoted.

Parental food selection questionnaire - Infant version

PURPOSE

Complementary feeding practices (CFPs) are associated with health outcomes (e.g., obesity and food allergies). Understanding how parents select foods for their infant is limited. This study's purpose was to develop a psychometrically sound measure of parents' food selection motives for their infant during the complementary feeding period.

METHODS

Development and testing of the Parental Food Slection Questionnaire-Infant Version (PFSQ-I) occurred in three phases. English-speaking, U.S. mothers of healthy infants, aged 6-19 months old participated in a semi-structured, face-to-face interview (Phase 1) or a web-based survey (Phases 2 & 3). Phase 1 was a qualitative study of maternal beliefs and motives surrounding complementary feeding. Phase 2 involved adaptation and exploratory factor analysis of the original Food Choice Questionnaire (Steptoe et al., 1995). Phase 3 involved validity testing of the relationships among PFSQ-I factors and CFPs (timing/type of complementary food introduction, frequency of feeding method, usual texture intake, and allergenic food introduction) using bivariate analyses, and multiple linear and logistic regression analyses.

RESULTS

Mean maternal age was 30.4 years and infant age was 14.1 months (n = 381). The final structure of the PFSQ-I included 30 items and 7 factors: Behavioral Influence, Health Promotion, Ingredients, Affordability, Sensory Appeal, Convenience, and Perceived Threats (Cronbach's α = 0.68-0.83). Associations of factors with CFPs supported construct validity.

DISCUSSION

The PFSQ-I demonstrated strong initial psychometric properties in a sample of mothers from the U.S. Mothers who rated Behavioral Influence as more important were more likely to report suboptimal CFPs (e.g., earlier than recommended complementary food introduction, delayed allergenic food introduction, and prolonged use of spoon-feeding). Additional psychometric testing in a larger, more heterogenous sample is needed, along with examination of relationships between PFSQ-I factors and health outcomes.

Parental influences on children's dairy products consumption: a narrative review

OBJECTIVE

To review research on the influence of parent-related factors on children's dairy products consumption.

DESIGN

A search of electronic databases and a narrative synthesis of the literature were conducted. English-language articles were included if they reported data relating to parental influences on children's consumption of dairy products and if statistical significance was reported.

SETTING

Studies were carried out in the USA (n 8) and in a range of countries across Europe (n 12) and Asia (n 5).

PARTICIPANTS

The subjects of this research were children aged between 2 and 12 years of age, from a range of geographical locations.

RESULTS

Twenty-five studies met the inclusion criteria. The studies examined children's dairy products consumption in relation to parental socio-economic status (education level and income) (n 12), home availability (n 2), home food environment (n 3), parental dairy products consumption (n 4), parent feeding practices (n 3), parents' beliefs and attitudes (n 3) and parental nutrition knowledge (n 3). Results on the association between socio-economic status and children's dairy products consumption varied; however, studies reporting a significant association generally observed a positive relationship. Fifteen studies reported children's total dairy products intake as an outcome measure, with the remaining studies reporting intake of milk or other dairy products as individual foods.

CONCLUSIONS

This review identified literature exploring a range of parental factors in relation to children's dairy products intake. However, there were limited numbers of studies published within each category of modifiable factors. Further research on the parent-related determinants of dairy products consumption in children is required in order to identify potential intervention targets in this age group.

Psychometric properties of the Persian version of the food choice questionnaire (FCQ) and food choice motives among the study samples

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the food choice questionnaire (FCQ) and determine food choice motives among different study subgroups.

DESIGN

This cross-sectional study was conducted using self-administered questionnaires, including socio-demographic information and body weight and height data. In addition, study samples were asked to complete the Persian version of the FCQ.

SETTING

Educational and medical centers under the coverage of the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran.

PARTICIPANTS

Study samples were 871 adults (60.5% female) selected using a convenience sampling method.

RESULTS

Mean±SD age and BMI were 33.4±10.7 years and 24.3±5.2 kg/m2, respectively. More than one-third of the study samples were overweight/obese (35.8%). A 9-structure model including 32 items of the original FCQ showed acceptable fit indices as follows: χ2/df= 3.39, GFI= 0.905, IFI= 0.92, CFI= 0.92, RMSEA(90%CI)=0.052(0.049-0.055). Regarding food choice motives, the three most important motives for food choice ranked by study samples were Sensory appeal, Natural Content, and health, respectively. Study samples ranked ethical concern as the least important food choice motive.

CONCLUSION

These findings support the reliability and validity of the Iranian version of the FCQ. Additionally, results indicate the most important motives for food choice across various socio-demographic and weight status groups which can provide beneficial information for marketing practices in Iran and promote the food choices of Iranians.

Determinants of healthy and sustainable food choices in parents with a higher and lower socioeconomic status: A qualitative study

Establishing healthy and sustainable dietary habits in childhood is necessary for the prevention of obesity and chronic diseases, as well as for the growing pressure on our ecosystems. Considering that parents are the most important actors in affecting dietary behaviors of their children, and that there is a social gradient for obesity, this study aims to investigate differences in determinants of both healthy and sustainable food choices among parents with a higher and lower socioeconomic status (SES). Fifteen focus groups and four individual interviews (n = 78) with parents of children aged 6 to 12 were conducted in Belgium. A semi-structured interview guide based on a socioecological model was used. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and thematic content analysis was performed using NVivo 1.0. Findings indicate some differences in determinants of healthy and sustainable food choices among higher and lower SES parents. Generally, higher SES parents reported more barriers for sustainable than for healthy food choices. They showed more positive attitudes towards healthy than sustainable food choices, and reported low knowledge and self-efficacy to make sustainable food choices, while a lack of time was a barrier to cook both healthy and sustainable meals. Lower SES parents, like higher SES parents, showed more positive attitudes towards healthy food choices. They reported high prices and a lack of inspiration and skills as barriers for both food choices, while also being influenced by their cultural backgrounds. For both SES types of parents, children had a strong influence on their healthy and sustainable food choices. The findings suggest socioeconomic differences in determinants of healthy and sustainable food choices. Hence, these differences should be taken into account when developing intervention strategies to improve food choices in parents.

A thematic cluster analysis of parents' online discussions about fussy eating

Food fussiness is associated with non‐responsive parent feeding practices, such as persuasive and instrumental feeding. Although most children described as ‘fussy eaters’ are likely exhibiting developmentally typical behaviours, up to half of the parents of children 2–5 years old express concerns. Concern for fussy eating may mediate the use of non‐responsive feeding practices and so must be addressed in parent feeding interventions. Therefore, it is critical to better understand parents' concerns and how they may relate to feeding practices. This study aimed to explore how parents' feeding practices and the social cognitive factors that may drive them clustered based on parents' concern for fussy eating. Data were collected from parent discussions of fussy eating on a Reddit forum (80,366 posts). Latent Dirichlet allocation was used to identify discussions of fussy eating. Relevant posts (1542) made by users who identified as a parent of a fussy eater (n = 630) underwent qualitative coding and thematic analysis. Five clusters of parents were identified, ranging in size from 53 to 189 users. These were primarily characterised by parents' degree of concern and feeding practices: (1) High concern, nonresponsive; (2) Concerned, nonresponsive; (3) Low concern, responsive; (4) Low concern, mixed strategies; (5) Low concern, indulgent. Parents who used responsive practices tended to be less concerned for fussy eating, have greater trust in their child's ability to self‐regulate hunger, have longer‐term feeding goals, and exhibit greater ability for personal self‐regulation. Future research should further examine how these constructs may be leveraged in parent feeding interventions.

Parents using nonresponsive practices to manage fussy eating may have more concerns about fussy eating, less trust in their child's ability to self‐regulate hunger, shorter‐term feeding goals, and less developed self‐regulation skills.

As most children described as “fussy eaters” are likely exhibiting developmentally typical behaviours, interventions addressing nutrition and feeding practices in early childhood should aim to alleviate parental concern for fussy eating, for example, by helping them recognise developmentally normal eating behaviours.

Early childhood feeding interventions may also be enhanced by helping parents to develop long‐term feeding goals and improved self‐regulation skills in the context of their feeding practices.

Food Purchase Behavior during The First Wave of COVID-19: The Case of Hungary

Coronavirus disease (SARSCoV-2) appeared in 2019 was confirmed as pandemic by the WHO on 11 March 2020. Stay-at-home order had an impact on consumers’ food purchase habits, as people around the world were able to leave their homes solely in extremely severe or urgent cases. In our research, we delve into the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on consumers’ food purchase habits. The research involved 3000 consumers during the first wave of coronavirus. The sample represents the Hungarian population by gender and age. To achieve the research goals, we applied multivariate statistical tools. The findings suggest that the pandemic could not change consumer attitude significantly, but the order of factors influencing purchases changed. Consumer motivation factors were organized into four well-distinguished factors: Healthy, domestic, and environmentally friendly choice; Usual taste and quality; Reasonable price; Shelf life. Due to the lack of outstanding data during segmentation, we developed four segments by hierarchical cluster analysis: Health- and environment-conscious women; Price sensitive young people; Taste-oriented men; Quality-oriented intellectuals. The results confirm that food manufacturers and traders need to be prepared for further restrictions in the future.

Parental Food Choices and Engagement in Raising Children's Awareness of Sustainable Behaviors in Urban Poland

Promoting sustainable food consumption patterns and understanding factors driving environmentally-friendly food choices is one of the challenges of public health nutrition policies in the 2020s and crucial for the future wellbeing of humans, food systems and the planet as a whole. To assess the impact of sustainability issues on the behaviors of parents living with young school-aged children in Poland a CAWI survey of 1035 adults in urban areas was conducted. A clustering procedure revealed that two of the identified clusters (73% of the sample) rated sustainability factors as important when purchasing food for children but only one of these clusters (29% of the sample) was actively engaged in raising their child’s awareness about sustainable behaviors. The third cluster (27% of the sample) had no intentions to teach their children about food sustainability because of lack of time or distrust in these topics. More than 80% of the sample agreed that parents share a responsibility in teaching children about the links between food, health and environment. Principles of healthy and sustainable diets should be incorporated into public health programmes to empower family members to engage in raising their children’s awareness and adopt more healthy and environmentally-friendly food consumption practices.

Visual attention towards food during unplanned purchases - A pilot study using mobile eye tracking technology

This pilot study aims to investigate the relationships between consumers' weight status, energy density of food and visual attention towards food during unplanned purchase behavior in a real-world environment. After more than a decade of intensive experimental eye tracking research on food perception, this pilot study attempts to link experimental and field research in this area. Shopping trips of participants with different weight status were recorded with mobile eye tracking devices and their unplanned purchase behavior was identified and analyzed. Different eye movement measurements for initial orientation and maintained attention were analyzed. Differences in visual attention caused by energy density of food were found. There was a tendency across all participants to look at low energy density food longer and more often.

Understanding the influence of physical resources and social supports on primary food providers' snack food provision: a discrete choice experiment

BACKGROUND

Snack eating occasions contribute approximately a third of children's energy intake, with approximately half of all unhealthy foods consumed during snack times. Therefore, it is critical to understand the drivers of primary food providers' snack provision. The study aims were to determine the relative importance of physical resources and social supports when primary food providers are choosing snacks to provide to their child, and to investigate how these attributes differ in social versus non-social occasions, and between subgroups of primary food providers based on socio-economic position.

METHODS

Primary food providers of three to seven-year olds completed an online discrete choice experiment, by making trade-offs when completing repeated, hypothetical choice tasks on the choice of snacks to provide to their child in: 1) non-social and 2) social condition. Choice tasks included two alternatives consisting of varying attribute (i.e. factor) levels, and an opt-out option. The order of conditions shown were randomized across participants. Multinomial logit model analyses were used to determine utility weights for each attribute.

RESULTS

Two-hundred and twenty-five primary food providers completed the study, providing 1125 choice decisions per condition. In the non-social condition, the top three ranked attributes were type of food (utility weight 1.94, p < 0.001), child resistance (- 1.62, p < 0.001) and co-parent support (0.99, p < 0.001). In the social condition, top ranking attributes were child resistance (utility weight - 1.50, p < 0.001), type of food (1.38, p < 0.001) and co-parent support (1.07, p < 0.001). In both conditions, time was not a significant influence and cost was of lowest relative importance. Subgroup analyses revealed cost was not a significant influence for families from higher socio-economic backgrounds.

CONCLUSIONS

Type of food, child resistance and co-parent support were of greatest relative importance in primary food providers' snack provision decision-making, regardless of social condition or socio-economic position. In designing future interventions to reduce unhealthy snacks, researchers should prioritize these influences, to better support primary food providers in changing their physical and social opportunity.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry no. ACTR N12618001173280.

Associations between parental food choice motives, health-promoting feeding practices, and infants' fruit and vegetable intakes: the Food4toddlers study

Background

Parents influence their infants’ diets and are the providers of healthy foods such as fruit and vegetables. Parental motives can influence infant’s diets directly or through parental feeding practices.

Objective

This study aimed to assess the associations between parental food choice motives and infants’ fruit and vegetable intakes and to examine whether parental feeding practices mediated these associations.

Design

A total of 298 parents participated in the Norwegian Food4toddlers study. Before the child’s first birthday (mean age = 10.9 months), the parents completed an online baseline questionnaire. Five parental food choice motives were assessed: health, convenience, sensory appeal, price, and familiarity. Infants’ fruit and vegetable intakes and three health-promoting feeding practices were also assessed. For each food choice motive and its relation to fruit or vegetable intake, three single mediation models were conducted. Mediation effects were examined using MacKinnon’s product of coefficients procedure, and bootstrap confidence intervals (CIs) were used for inferential testing.

Results

Higher scores on the motive of health were positively associated with infants’ vegetable intake (τ = 0.394, P < 0.001). No other significant associations were found between food choice motives and fruit or vegetable intake. The feeding practice of shaping a healthy environment mediated the relationships between health motive and both fruit (αβ = 0.067, CI: 0.001–0.146) and vegetable (αβ = 0.105, CI: 0.042–0.186) intakes. The feeding practice of encouraging balance and variety mediated the relationships between health motive and vegetable (αβ = 0.085, CI: 0.030–0.150) intake and between sensory appeal motive and vegetable intake (αβ = 0.047, CI: 0.005–0.103).

Conclusion

High levels of parental health motive are associated with higher infant vegetable intake. Our study contributes to understand the structure of parental feeding behaviors that may have implication for nutrition interventions targeting parents.

The Association of Demographic Characteristics and Food Choice Motives with the Consumption of Functional Foods in Emerging Adults

The functional food market is one of the fastest growing segments of the global food industry. The aims of this study were to understand the association of demographic characteristics and food choice motives (FCMs) with (a) attitudes toward functional foods and (b) consumption of functional foods in Australian emerging adults. Data were collected through a paper-based and online questionnaire completed by 370 young adults aged between 17 and 29 years. A binomial logistic regression was used to determine the association between demographic characteristics and FCMs with attitudes towards functional foods. The logistic regression model was statistically significant at χ2(11) = 48.310 (p < 0.001) and explained 18.1% of the variance in attitude towards functional food. Of the several predictors, only the FCMs natural content and weight control were statistically significant. A binomial logistic regression was also used to determine the association between demographic characteristics and FCMs with the consumption of functional foods. The logistic regression model was statistically significant at χ2(9) = 37.499 (p < 0.001) and explained 14.1% of the variance in functional food consumption. Of the eight predictors, three were statistically significant: living situation, natural content and health. Findings highlight that when targeting emerging adults, functional food companies could benefit from promoting the natural and health properties of their products. Furthermore, consumption can be increased by targeting the parents of emerging adults and by designing functional foods that attract emerging adults interested in controlling weight.

Poor child complementary Feeding Practices in northwest Ethiopia: Finding from the Baseline Survey of Nutrition Project, 2016

Background

Improving infant and young child feeding practices is critical to improved nutrition, health, and development of children. Ethiopia adopted the WHO recommendations of child feeding practices and developed the national guideline. In spite of this fact, only few children start and received appropriate complementary feeding based on the recommendation. Therefore, the study aimed to determine dietary diversity score and its associated factors among under five children at Dabat Health and Demographic Surveillance System site (HDSS), northwest Ethiopia.

Methods

A cross-sectional community based study was carried out from February to June 2016. All children aged 6–59 months old who lived in HDSS site were included in the survey. Odds ratio (OR) with the corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated to show the strength of association. Finally, variables with a P-value of < 0.05 were considered statistically significant..

Results

In this study, a total of 3433 children were included. About 34.87% (95%CI: 33.27, 36.49%) of the children received adequately diversified diet. The odds of receiving adequately diversified diet was higher among children whose mother had secondary and above education (AOR = 6.51; 95%CI: 4.95, 8.56), had antenatal care (AOR = 1.90; 95%CI: 1.60, 2.26) and postnatal care visits (AOR = 1.31; 95%CI: 1.00, 1, 72), and children who feed with their family (AOR = 1.39; 95%CI: 1.17, 1.65). However, a lower dietary diversity score was observed among younger children; 6–11 months old (AOR = 0.59; 95%CI: 0.41, 0.85), and children from food insecure household (AOR = 0.76; 95%CI: 0.63, 0.92).

Conclusions

Diversified diet feeding practice is low in Dabat HDSS site. Age of the child, maternal education, antenatal and postnatal care visits, and household food insecurity were significantly associated with dietary diversity of children. Hence, ensuring household food security and enhancing the coverage of maternal health care utilization are recommended to increase dietary diversity of children.

Development of a Parental Feeding Goal Measure: The Family Mealtime Goals Questionnaire

It is well established that parents' feeding practices predict children's eating behaviors. However, there has been little research into parents' mealtime goals-their desired outcomes for family mealtimes. These goals, and potential conflicts between them, may be important both in explaining parents' feeding practices and improving children's eating behaviors, as health behavior change is more likely to be achieved by programmes and interventions that are aligned with an individual's goals. The objectives of this study were to develop a reliable and valid measure that captures parental mealtime goals, and to describe parents' endorsement of these goals. Online questionnaire methods were used to design and test the Family Mealtime Goals Questionnaire with 1,140 parents and carers of at least one child aged from 1 to 16 years. Exploratory qualitative analysis, Principal Components Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and test-retest analysis (using intraclass correlations) were conducted to establish the psychometric properties of the instrument. An 18-item questionnaire was produced with seven dimensions: stress/conflict avoidance, homemade food, shared family food, family involvement in mealtimes, price, occasional treats, and high/low fat regulation. Some differences were found in the goal structure of parents of children of different ages but stress/conflict avoidance was the most strongly endorsed mealtime goal for all age groups. The Family Mealtime Goals Questionnaire provides a useful measure of parents' feeding motivations. It will facilitate large-scale research into the relationships between parents' feeding goals and practices and could inform the design of more effective healthy eating interventions that target specific feeding goals.

Accuracy of food preference predictions in couples

The goal of this study was to identify and empirically test variables that indicate how well partners in relationships know each other's food preferences. Participants (n = 2,854) lived in the same household and were part of a large, nationally representative panel study in Germany. Each partner independently predicted the other's preferences for several common food items. Results show that predictive accuracy was higher for likes and for extreme and stereotypical preferences as compared to dislikes and for moderate and idiosyncratic preferences. Accuracy was also higher for couples with a high similarity in preferences and with longer relationship duration but was independent of participants' age after controlling for relationship duration. The data also show that relationship duration was accompanied by higher similarity in couples' food preferences. There was a small positive correlation between partner knowledge and both partner similarity and satisfaction with family life, but no correlation between partner knowledge and general life satisfaction. The results reconcile both valence and base-rate accounts of preference prediction accuracy.

Importance of Health Aspects in Polish Consumer Choices of Dairy Products

In general, dairy products are well regarded for their nutritional value. Consumer perception of dairy products is influenced by many interrelated factors but healthiness remains one of the key attributes and values for consumers. Furthermore, contemporary consumers increasingly seek out dairy products with additional health benefits and, therefore, it is essential to explore which attributes are important drivers of food choices and how producers can better respond to shifting consumer values and needs in each dairy product category. Therefore, the aims of the study were: (a) to identify consumer segments based on the importance they attached to selected attributes of dairy products, (b) to explore differences between the identified segments in their perceptions of health-related attributes of dairy products, (c) to determine if health-related aspects influenced consumers decisions to buy high-quality dairy products, and (d) to identify if consumers were open to novelties in dairy products. The data were collected within a CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interview) survey on a representative sample of 983 adult Polish consumers. The non-hierarchical K-means clustering method was used to identify four clusters of consumers, namely: Enthusiastic, Involved, Ultra-involved and Neutral. Enthusiastic consumers attach more importance to the influence of dairy products on immunity and are more willing to agree with the opinion that dairy products are a source of mineral nutrients as well as vitamins. Ultra-involved and Involved consumers pay less attention to some health aspects of dairy products compared to other clusters; however, the Ultra-involved are more quality-oriented than are the Involved. Neutral consumers are more open to accept changes on the dairy product market and are relatively more inclined to choose new dairy products. However, these consumers have scored lower on those aspects related to the healthiness of dairy products and, in order to target them effectively, it is essential to develop well-tailored communication strategies highlighting the health benefits of dairy products. These results relate to the Polish market and are important for the development of new dairy products and for targeting public nutrition as well as for directing marketing communication. The results may provide important insights for those who develop educational strategies and campaigns.

Adaptation of the Food Choice Questionnaire: the case of Hungary

PURPOSE

The purpose of this paper is to examine the applicability of the original 36-item Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ) model developed by Steptoe et al. (1995) in Hungary.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH

The national representative questionnaire involved 1,050 individuals in Hungary in 2015. Several multivariable statistical techniques were applied for the analysis of the data: confirmatory factor analysis, principal component analysis, and cluster and Log-linear analysis.

FINDINGS

The results indicate that the original nine-factor model is only partially applicable to Hungary. This study successfully managed to distinguish the following factors: health and natural content, mood, preparation convenience, price and purchase convenience, sensory appeal, familiarity, and ethical concern. The FCQ scales proved to be suitable for the description of clusters based on specific food choices and demographic characteristics. By using the factors, the following five clusters were identified: modern food enthusiast, tradition-oriented, optimizer, easy-choice and un-concerned, all of which could be addressed by public health policy with individually tailored messages.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE

The Hungarian testing process of the FCQ model contributes to an examination of its usability and provides the possibility of fitting the model to different cultures.

Friday Night Is Pizza Night: A Comparison of Children's Dietary Intake and Maternal Perceptions and Feeding Goals on Weekdays and Weekends

Childhood obesity is a serious issue in the U.S. While obesity is the result of a multitude of factors, a great deal of research has focused on children's dietary intake. While children's eating patterns vary throughout the week, not much else is known about weekday-weekend differences. Therefore, the current study examined differences in the frequency and portion size of school-age children's consumption of common foods and beverages, as well as mothers' perceptions of those items and their child feeding goals, on weekdays and weekends. A total of 192 mothers of children aged 7 to 11 were recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Results showed a consistent pattern of more frequent consumption and larger portions of unhealthy foods and beverages on weekends. This aligned with mothers' perceptions of those foods and beverages as weekend items, as well as their feeding goals of health and price being less important on weekends. It is quite possible that weekends are viewed as having less structure and facilitate schedules that allow children to consume more meals away from home. These findings shed light on additional risk factors in children's eating patterns and highlight the serious implications that day of the week can have on childhood obesity.

Influence of maternal feeding goals and practices on children's eating behaviors

Parents are highly influential in shaping their children's dietary habits. This study examined whether negative feeding practices mediated the relationship between feeding goals (health and convenience) and children's eating behaviors. One hundred ninety-two mothers (mean age = 34.2; mean BMI = 27.0) of 7-11 year old children participated via Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Results showed that negative feeding practices fully mediated the relationship between convenience feeding goals and children's eating behaviors (goals to healthy/unhealthy eating behaviors: β = -0.08/.09, n.s.; goals to feeding practices: β = 0.27, p < 0.01; feeding practices to healthy/unhealthy eating behaviors: β = -0.57/.48, p < 0.05). On the other hand, negative feeding practices did not fully mediate the relationship between health feeding goals and children's eating behaviors (goals to healthy/unhealthy eating behaviors: β = 0.66/-0.29, p < 0.01; goals to feeding practices: β = -0.28, p < 0.001; feeding practices to healthy/unhealthy eating behaviors: β = -0.26/.44, p < 0.05). In other words, children whose mothers emphasized health goals consumed more healthy food and less unhealthy food, above and beyond the use of negative feeding practices. Because parents are on the front lines of shaping children's eating habits, understanding the best point of intervention for parents (e.g., shaping parents' goals, changing parents' feeding practices) might be especially fruitful, considering that childhood obesity has become a global public health crisis and energy intake is one of the key factors contributing to this problem.

Factors associated with parents' attitudes to unhealthy foods and beverages

AIM

Previous research has identified convenience, enjoyment, value for money and perceived goodness as primary dimensions of parents' attitudes to foods and beverages. The aim of the present study was to examine the factors associated with parents' scores on each of these attitudinal dimensions to identify key issues for future interventions designed to improve parents' food provision behaviours and children's diets.

METHODS

A sample of 1302 Australian parents of children aged 8 to 14 years completed an online survey relating to their food-related beliefs. Linear regression analyses were undertaken to examine factors associated with parents' attitudes to soft drinks and energy-dense nutrient-poor foods.

RESULTS

Consistent factors were identified for both energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods and soft drinks, indicating that similar approaches could be adopted in interventions for both product categories. The primary factors were social norms, child pestering, television viewing and exposure to food advertising.

CONCLUSIONS

Food advertising represents a common link between the primary factors, indicating that it constitutes a critical component of future interventions designed to modify parents' attitudes to unhealthy food products and to reduce the frequency with which these foods are consumed by children.

Parents’ food choice motives and their associations with children’s food preferences

Objective

The objective was to investigate parents’ motives for selecting foods for their children and the associations between these motives and children’s food preferences.

Design

Cross-sectional survey. A modified version of the Food Choice Questionnaire was used to assess parents’ food choice motives. Parents also reported children’s liking/disliking of 176 food and beverage items on 5-point Likert scales. Patterns of food choice motives were examined with exploratory principal component analysis. Associations between motives and children’s food preferences were assessed with linear regression while one-way and two-way ANOVA were used to test for sociodemographic differences.

Setting

Two Australian cities.

Subjects

Parents (n 371) of 2–5-year-old children.

Results

Health, nutrition and taste were key motivators for parents, whereas price, political concerns and advertising were among the motives considered least important. The more parents’ food choice for their children was driven by what their children wanted, the less children liked vegetables (β =−0·27, P<0·01), fruit (β=−0·19, P<0·01) and cereals (β=−0·28, P<0·01) and the higher the number of untried foods (r=0·17, P<0·01). The reverse was found for parents’ focus on natural/ethical motives (vegetables β=0·17, P<0·01; fruit β=0·17, P<0·01; cereals β=0·14, P=0·01). Health and nutrition motives bordered on statistical significance as predictors of children’s fruit and vegetable preferences.

Conclusions

Although parents appear well intentioned in their motives for selecting children’s foods, there are gaps to be addressed in the nature of such motives (e.g. selecting foods in line with the child’s desires) or the translation of health motives into healthy food choices.

Pork in good company? Exploratory analysis of side dishes, beverages, foodscapes and individual characteristics

The objective of this study is to explore the association between pork as the main meal component and the choice for side dishes and beverages depending on foodscape and individual characteristics, including overweight and obesity among fresh pork consumers (n=2156) in five European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece and Poland). Males were found to combine pork more with caloric drinking (odds ratio=1.32) and low levels of vegetable intake (odds ratio=1.32) compared to females. Younger consumers were more likely to combine pork with low levels of vegetable intake but less likely to combine pork with sauces or condiments. Heavy users of pork were more likely (odds ratio=1.43) to combine pork with sauces or condiments. The study also found an association between being overweight or obese and higher consumption of carbohydrate rich staple foods (odds ratio=1.30) and caloric drinks (odds ratio=1.30) as side dishes to pork meat. Substantial cross-cultural differences were revealed in line with typical pork consumption and meal composition habits in the respective countries. Finally, this study found that the company of family plays a significant role when choosing side dishes for pork as meal center, thus constituting a relevant venue for the positioning and marketing of pork, as well as for future public health information about meals with pork as main meal component.

Association between parental motives for food choice and eating patterns of 12- to 13-year-old Norwegian children

Objective

To determine (i) the importance of parents’ motives for everyday family food choices; and (ii) the relationship between parental food choice motives and eating patterns of 12- to 13-year-old children.

Design

Cross-sectional study. A modified version of the Food Choice Questionnaire was used to determine parental motives for food choices. The children's food and drink intake was reported by their parents using a retrospective FFQ. Eating patterns were derived using principal component analysis. The association between food choice motives and eating patterns was examined using multiple linear regression analysis.

Setting

Primary schools, Telemark County, Norway.

Subjects

In total, 1095 children aged 12–13 years and their parents.

Results

The parental motive ‘sensory appeal’ was the most important for food choice, followed by ‘health’, ‘convenience’, ‘natural content’ and ‘weight control’. The food choice motives were associated with the eating patterns of the children, independent of background variables. The motive ‘health’ was most strongly associated with a ‘varied Norwegian’ eating pattern, representing a diverse diet and regular meals, while the motive ‘convenience’ appeared to be the most important barrier to this eating pattern. ‘Weight control’ was not associated with the ‘varied Norwegian’ eating pattern.

Conclusions

To encourage parents to make healthy food choices for their children, health promotion activities should focus on the health benefits of a diverse diet and regular meals, rather than weight control. Recommended food products should be made more convenient and easily available for families with children.