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Abstract

Self-Perceived Parental Dietary Behavior Relates to Diet Quality and Weight Status of Children †

by
Kirsi Laitinen
1,*,
Irene Mäkelä
1,
Tero Vahlberg
2,
Monique Raats
3 and
Ella Koivuniemi
1
1
Research Centre for Integrative Physiology and Pharmacology, Institute of Biomedicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland
2
Department of Biostatistics, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku, 20014 Turku, Finland
3
Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health (FCBH) Research Centre, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
Presented at the 14th European Nutrition Conference FENS 2023, Belgrade, Serbia, 14–17 November 2023.
Proceedings 2023, 91(1), 143; https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091143
Published: 31 January 2024
(This article belongs to the Proceedings of The 14th European Nutrition Conference FENS 2023)
Versions Notes

Abstract

:
Background: Parents’ own dietary habits have an impact on the diet quality and health of their children. Yet, the relationship between parental self-perceived health consciousness and health in preschool-aged children is not known. Thus, the aim was to study the relation of self-perceived dietary behavior of parents with their pre-school aged children’s dietary quality and body adiposity. Methods: Parents of 2–6-year-old children (n = 738) were recruited from child health clinics across Finland. Parents were divided into health-conscious (HC, n = 396) and non-health-conscious (non-HC, n = 342) according to a self-perceived report of following a healthy diet. Semi-structured questionnaires on parental views on their child’s diet were collected. Children’s diet quality was evaluated with the Children’s Index of Diet Quality (CIDQ). Anthropometrics of the children were recorded during the child’s health clinic visit. BMI was converted to a BMI standard deviation score (BMI-SDS) and categorized according to the Finnish growth reference curves as well as the categories of the International Task Force (IOTF). Results: Children of HC parents had better diet quality compared to children of non-HC parents (11.4 ± 2.6 vs. 10.6 ± 2.6, p = 0.01). They also presented lower BMI-SDS values compared to children of non-HC parents (−0.02 ± 1.12 vs. 0.19 ± 1.09 p = 0.015). Categories of BMI-SDS according to the Finnish growth charts did not differ between the children of HC and non-HC parents. Yet, the categories of BMI-SDS according to cut-offs defined by the IOTF differed significantly between the HC and non-HC parents: the number of children with underweight was 44 (13.6%), normal weight 233 (72.1%), overweight 30 (9.3%) and obese 16 (5.0%), while the number of children of HC parents who were underweight was 69 (18.6%), normal weight 255 (68.7%), overweight 44 (11.9%) and obese 3 (0.8%). Conclusion: Parental self-perceived health consciousness in terms of healthy eating is related to adiposity and diet quality in children. Self-perceived healthy eating in parents could be one factor to consider when monitoring a child’s health in health clinics.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, K.L. and I.M.; methodology, K.L. and M.R.; formal analysis, I.M., E.K. and T.V.; investigation, I.M. and E.K.; resources, K.L.; data curation, writing, K.L.; All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

Partially funded from the State research funding for university-level health research of the Turku University Hospital Expert Responsibility Area (no grant number). The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the abstract, or in the decision to publish the results.

Institutional Review Board Statement

The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Turku, Finland (statement 36/2015) on 26th October 2015.

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Data Availability Statement

The data are not publicly available as they contain information that could compromise the privacy of the research participants.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Laitinen, K.; Mäkelä, I.; Vahlberg, T.; Raats, M.; Koivuniemi, E. Self-Perceived Parental Dietary Behavior Relates to Diet Quality and Weight Status of Children. Proceedings 2023, 91, 143. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091143

AMA Style

Laitinen K, Mäkelä I, Vahlberg T, Raats M, Koivuniemi E. Self-Perceived Parental Dietary Behavior Relates to Diet Quality and Weight Status of Children. Proceedings. 2023; 91(1):143. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091143

Chicago/Turabian Style

Laitinen, Kirsi, Irene Mäkelä, Tero Vahlberg, Monique Raats, and Ella Koivuniemi. 2023. "Self-Perceived Parental Dietary Behavior Relates to Diet Quality and Weight Status of Children" Proceedings 91, no. 1: 143. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091143

APA Style

Laitinen, K., Mäkelä, I., Vahlberg, T., Raats, M., & Koivuniemi, E. (2023). Self-Perceived Parental Dietary Behavior Relates to Diet Quality and Weight Status of Children. Proceedings, 91(1), 143. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091143

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