Perceptions and parenting practices associated with food consumption and nutritional status in preschool children

Abstract

Understanding infant diet is of great importance to elucidate its determining factors. It is known that parents exert great influence on the formation of their children's eating behavior and are able to define their children's eating patterns at other moments in their future life cycles. However, the effects of parental practices and perceptions on the food consumption and nutritional status of their children need to be elucidated more clearly. This study aimed to verify the association of parental practices and perceptions with food consumption and nutritional status of children. This is a cross-sectional study, conducted with parents and children aged two to six years old. Questionnaires were applied using the Google Forms® platform to investigate parental practices and perceptions, sociodemographic data, weight and height, child food consumption, and family food routine. The instruments used in data collection were the Child Feeding Questionnaire, the Child Feeding Frequency Questionnaire, and the authors’ own questions. For statistical analysis, p<0.05 was considered significant. Sixty-eight parents of children were interviewed, of which 89.7% were mothers and 72.1% worked outside the home. Among children, 54.4% were male and 60.3% eutrophic. Among those parents who worked outside the home, preschoolers had most of their meals at school. There was an association between the parents' perception of the child's weight and nutritional status, frequency of parental responsibility in deciding the right type of food with the child's nutritional status, and parents' education. Controlling the intake of sweets was associated with parental age. Snack consumption by children was associated with parental education. It was concluded that parental practices and perceptions were associated with the nutritional status of preschoolers, but there was no association with food consumption.