Home food availability mediates associations between mothers’ nutrition knowledge and child diet

Abstract

Evidence suggests that mothers' nutrition knowledge and home food availability (HFA) are directly and independently associated with children's food intakes. In this study we test the hypothesis that HFA mediates the association between maternal nutrition knowledge and child diet. In this cross-sectional study of Australian women living in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Melbourne, Australia, mothers with dependent children (aged 5-12 years) provided data on their child's diet, HFA, nutrition knowledge and a range of sociodemographic characteristics. To test our hypothesis we assessed associations between nutrition knowledge and HFA, and between HFA and child food intake (adjusting for nutrition knowledge and child age). In all instances significant associations were found. HFA was found to mediate relationships between mother's nutrition knowledge and children's intake of fruit, vegetables, salty foods and soft drink. Our analyses showed that HFA was a mediator of the associations between maternal nutrition knowledge and child's diet in this population. This supports a focus on nutrition education that expands mothers' understanding of what foods to buy, prepare and serve. Further exploration of these associations will provide a stronger evidence base upon which to inform 'best bets' for parent-focussed nutrition promotion seeking to promote children's healthy eating.

Parental influences on the diets of 2–5-year-old children: systematic review of interventions

“…Some research has associated restrictive practices with increased child weight Spruijt-Metz, Lindquist, Birch, Fisher, & Goran, 2002) and/or increased consumption of energy-dense foods (Fisher & Birch, 1999a, 1999b, 2000Lee, Mitchell, Smiciklas-Wright, & Birch, 2001). However, recent research has refuted this, associating higher maternal restriction with reduced consumption of energy-dense food and drinks in 4-6-year-old children (Sud, Tamayo, Faith, & Keller, 2010) and showing that restrictive feeding practices were protective against increased z-body mass index (BMI) in 5-6-year-old children, although no impact in 10-12-year-old children (Campbell, Crawford, Abbott, McNaughton, & Ball, 2010). Similar associations have been reported in 'pressure to eat', which has been (a) negatively associated with child weight Francis, Hofer, & Birch, 2001;Lee et al, 2001), fat mass (Spruijt-Metz et al, 2002), and fruit and vegetable consumption and (b) positively associated with fat intake , energy-dense food consumption, and child weight (Lee, Murry, Brody, & Parker, 2002).…”

Estado nutricional de escolares de 4.° año de enseñanza básica y su relación con el ingreso económico, conocimiento en alimentación saludable, nutrición y percepción de sus madres

“…Toda esta información promueve la elección de los alimentos más saludables por parte del consumidor regulando la publicidad, etiquetas y mejorando la oferta disponible de alimentos más saludables en los colegios como una estrategia fundamental para disminuir la obesidad y la malnutrición por exceso en el país (35,36). Campbell et al (37) demuestran que la disponibilidad de alimentos y los conocimientos de nutrición están asociados directa e independientemente con la ingesta de alimentos en los niños. Además de ser un mediador de las asociaciones entre los conocimientos sobre nutrición materna y la elección de los alimentos del niño para promover una alimentación saludable.…”

Household food availability in Pelotas, Brazil: An approach to assess the obesogenic environment

“…In Brazil, there are no published studies about the frequency of home availability of fruits and vegetables, but in other countries with distinct socioeconomic characteristics, such as Australia and the USA, the frequency of availability exceeded 90% 8,21 . Some authors 14,15 have highlighted the importance of having fruits and vegetables frequently available at home, demonstrating that even when preference for these foods is low, their availability may favor intake 22 .…”

“…The home food availability has been directly or inversely associated with the intake of many foods and food groups 8,12,14,15 . The presence of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods at home characterizes the home as an obesogenic environment 2,6 .…”