An Interaction Path of Mothers’ and Preschoolers’ Food- and Physical Activity-Related Aspects in Disadvantaged Sicilian Urban Areas

Abstract

Background: The relationship between mothers and their children’s lifestyle is still unclear, especially in disadvantaged areas. Consequently, the study aims to identify a path explaining the extent to which maternal eating habits and physical activity (PA) level predict food-related aspects, PA practice and Quotient of Gross Motor Development (QGMD) in preschoolers from disadvantaged urban areas. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 79 dyads of mothers and children were recruited from kindergartens. Information related to family socio-demographic aspects, mothers’ and children’s dietary intake frequencies and PA/sedentariness, mothers’ weight and height, mothers’ perception on children’s food intake, and children’s food literacy (FL) was collected with a questionnaire and the Food Literacy Assessment Tool (preschool-FLAT), while gross-motor skills were measured with the Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD); weight and height of children were directly collected. Results: Associations were found between mothers’ and children’s food habits; mothers’ and children’s fruit/vegetables consumption, and intake of the other items; mothers’ education or PA level and children’s FL; mothers’ PA or sedentariness and children’s QGMD; mothers’ BMI and food habits and children’s BMI; education and food habits. Conclusions: These findings can be useful to plan effective interventions targeted both to preschoolers and their mothers of disadvantaged urban areas for promoting healthy lifestyles, which have become increasingly difficult to achieve during COVID-19 pandemic.

Health Literacy in Early Childhood: A Systematic Review of Empirical Studies

“…After removing the duplicates, 513 studies remained. The 12 studies reviewed in the analysis present different domains of health literacy pertaining to children [ 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ], which deal with different areas of health literacy among children under eight years old ( Table 1 ).…”

“…The general characteristics of the included studies are summarized in Table 1 . Eight of the studies were published in the last four years (2018–2022) [ 42 , 44 , 45 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ]. Seven of them were conducted in Europe ( Table 1 ) [ 44 , 45 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 ].…”

“…Eight of the studies were published in the last four years (2018–2022) [ 42 , 44 , 45 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ]. Seven of them were conducted in Europe ( Table 1 ) [ 44 , 45 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 ]. Four studies contained interventions among children [ 42 , 43 , 50 , 53 ] ( Table S4 ).…”

“…During the analysis of the studies we found that most of them were good quality studies and had a high-evidence research level. Tabacchi et al [ 51 ] authored the best quality cross-sectional quantitative study from the selected 12 studies [ 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ]. Among the qualitative research studies, we did not find any that rated worse than medium quality [ 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 ].…”

“…Despite the fact that in recent years, examining the effects of interventions during early childhood has become a priority for researchers [ 40 , 41 ], only a few studies deal with the HL level of children under the age of eight [ 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ]. However, studying this field is essential because the establishment of a preventive health attitude and the formation of health-related good habits occur in early childhood [ 15 ].…”