Purpose: Numerous studies have investigated the relationship between healthy and unhealthy home food availability and food behavior among children. However, as the home food availability mainly reflects the choices of the parents rather than the children’s, we aimed to 1) examine data-driven dietary patterns among parents of preschoolers and to 2) study the association between home food availability and dietary patterns among fathers and mothers separately.

Methods: The participants were 510 fathers and 622 mothers of 3–6-year-old Finnish preschoolers who participated in the cross-sectional DAGIS study in 2015–2016. Parents filled in food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) enquiring the consumption frequencies of 49 food items during the past week. Dietary pattern scores were derived using principal component analysis. Parents also reported how often they had certain food items in the home, and a composite score describing the availabilities of fruits and vegetables (5 items) and sugar-enriched foods (6 items) was calculated. Linear mixed models were used to examine the association between quarters of home food availability and dietary pattern scores.

Results: We identified two major dietary patterns, which were named ‘health-conscious’ (high loadings of e.g. berries, natural yogurt, plain nuts, fresh fruit, and fresh vegetables) and ‘sweet-tooth’ (high loadings of e.g. sweet pastries, biscuits, wholemeal bread, chocolate, and potatoes). In multivariate models, the availability of fruits and vegetables was positively and that of sugar-enriched foods inversely associated with the health-conscious pattern both among fathers and mothers. The availability of sugar-enriched foods was positively associated with the sweet-tooth pattern among fathers and mothers. The associations seemed to be stronger among mothers than fathers.

Conclusions: This study suggests that the associations between home food availability and dietary patterns are fairly similar among fathers and mothers. Based on the results, the role of the unhealthy home food environment is substantial, and by restricting the availability of unhealthy foods in the home the parents could possible improve both their own and their children’s diets, as the children are dependent on the foods provided by the parents.

Purpose: Snacking among children is a major source of discretionary calories. Given the childhood obesity epidemic, this study examined associations between obesogenic home food environmental factors and number of snacks consumed by 7-10 year old children living in rural communities.

Methods: The present study analyzed 2017/2018 baseline data from 106 parent/child dyads participating in the NU-HOME randomized controlled trial. Snacking data were collected via ecological momentary assessment surveys that were sent via text to parents’ cell phones on seven evenings over a two-week period (random schedule) asking parents about the types of snacks their child ate that day. Parents responded (yes/no) if their child ate a snack that day and then (yes/no) to a list of 11 common snacks, including sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB). Mean number of snacks were calculated over the total number of days measured (4-7 days). Home food environmental factors were measured by the validated Home Food Inventory and included the number of unhealthy foods available in the home and number of unhealthy foods accessible in refrigerator. Children’s dietary quality (HEI 2015 scores) were collected via dietary recalls. Demographics (child age, food security, parent education) were collected from parent surveys. General linear modeling examined associations between average number of snacks children consumed per day with unhealthy food items in refrigerator (1=0-1; 2=2; 3=≥3 items) and demographics. Correlations examined associations between number of snacks consumed and unhealthy home food environment, demographics, and children’s diet quality.

Results: On average, children consumed 2.4 snacks per day (SD=1, range=0.17-4.71). Number of unhealthy foods available at home was significantly correlated with average number of snacks consumed per day (r=0.35; p=0.0002). There were no significant associations between average number of snacks consumed by demographics or diet quality (HEI 2015).

Conclusions: Real-time snack consumption findings suggest that children consume a greater number of snacks when more unhealthy foods are available at home. However, a higher total number of snacks consumed does not mean overall diet quality is poorer.

Purpose:  Food parenting practices affect children’s dietary intake and are often used in combination, although they generally are studied independently.  Hence, the purpose of this study was to determine patterns of food parenting practices regarding junk food and sugary drinks (JS) and explore their associations with demographic characteristics and dietary intake in parents and their children (12-17 years).  Unique aspects of this study include the use of a person-centered analytic approach and data from a large sample of children and parents that purposely included fathers.

Methods:  Dyadic survey data from Family, Life, Activity, Sun, Health and Eating, a cross-sectional, Internet-based study conducted in 2014, were analyzed using latent class analysis to identify patterns of parent- and child-reported JS parenting practices (n=6).  Model covariates included parent and child sex, body mass index, intake of sugar from sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB), and beliefs about whether it is okay for a parent to make rules about a child’s behavior like JS intake (JS legitimacy of parental authority [LPA]).

Results:  Based on 1,657 parent-child dyads, five latent classes were identified – Complete Influencers (28%), Indifferent Influencers (21%), Negative Influencers (20%), Minimal Influencers (18%), and Disagreeing Influencers (13%).  Compared to older child dyads, younger child dyads had 77% and 65% lower odds of belonging to Indifferent and Minimal Influencers versus Complete Influencers.  Odds of belonging to Negative Influencers were 3% higher for every teaspoon increase in parent intake of sugar from SSB while odds for Minimal Influencers were 8% lower for every teaspoon increase in child intake of sugar from SSB versus Complete Influencers.  Dyads with low compared to high parental and child agreement with JS LPA had between 2 and 27 times the odds of belonging to one of the other classes versus Complete Influencers.

Conclusions:  This study’s findings indicate that distinct patterns of JS parenting practices exist and are associated with dyadic demographic characteristics, dietary intake, and JS LPA.  Because parents are not all the same in their use of and the number of parenting practices used to influence their child’s dietary intake, a more personalized approach may be needed when designing family-based nutrition interventions.

Purpose: Different energy balance-related behaviors (EBRBs) exert combined effects on children’s health. Therefore, factors associated with the co-occurrence of EBRBs need to be identified. We examined whether parental happiness and perceived wellbeing are associated with the co-occurrence of preschoolers’ healthy EBRBs.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 647 pairs of parents (88% mothers) and children (mean age 4.7±0.9 years) from the DAGIS study. The parents completed the validated Subjective Happiness Scale and answered other wellbeing-related questions. Children wore an ActiGraph wGT3X-BT accelerometer, and the parents filled in a sedentary behavior diary and a food frequency questionnaire on behalf of the children. We defined four healthy EBRBs: meeting the WHO physical activity or screen time guidelines; high consumption frequency of vegetables, fruits and berries; and low consumption frequency of sugary foods, treats and drinks. We conducted multinomial logistic regression analyses.

Results: Among the children, 27%, 37% and 36% had 0−1, 2 and 3−4 healthy EBRBs, respectively. After adjusting for parental gender, education and BMI, research season, and children’s gender and age, parents with higher happiness scores had higher odds of having children with 2 (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.06–1.57) or 3−4 (OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.04–1.54) healthy EBRBs than children with 0−1 healthy EBRBs. Similarly, parents who perceived physical activity as quality time for the family had higher odds of having children with 2 (OR 1.25, 95% 1.02–1.55) or 3−4 (OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.19–1.87) healthy EBRBs, and parents who perceived eating together as quality time for the family (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.10–1.92) or had better perceived economic wellbeing (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.02–1.59) had higher odds of having children with 3−4 healthy EBRBs. In contrast, parents who perceived having bigger problems than child’s EBRBs had lower odds of having children with 2 (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.90–1.00) or 3−4 (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.88–0.98) healthy EBRBs than children with 0−1 healthy EBRBs.

Conclusions: Parental happiness and better perceived wellbeing are associated with preschool children engaging in multiple healthy EBRBs. Targeting wellbeing of the whole family should be considered when promoting children’s health.

Purpose: The association between sedentary behaviour and obesity in childhood is complex and may be moderated by parental characteristics. This study investigates the association between sedentary behaviour and obesity in a pooled sample of New Zealand children and whether parental characteristics moderate any associations.

Methods: Cross-sectional child and adult data from the New Zealand Health Survey were pooled for the years 2013/14–2016/17 (n=9,022 children aged 2-14 and adults aged 15-70). Each adult survey participant was recorded as being the parent of the participating child. Sedentary behaviour for children was estimated using parental self-reported television (TV) time. Parents were asked for the average time the participating child spent watching TV each weekday and weekend. Childhood body mass index (BMI) and obesity was defined using measured height (cm) and weight (kg) and the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) cut-off values. Parental participant characteristics, including ethnicity and education-level, were also collected as part of the survey. Effect modification was assessed by stratifying binary logistic regression analyses by parent education (low, moderate, high) and ethnicity (Asian, European/other, Māori, Pacific). Data are shown as Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) (95% Confidence Intervals (CI)).

Results: Watching ≥2 hours TV on average per day in the past week, relative to <2 hours TV viewing, was associated with a higher risk of childhood obesity (AOR=1.26 [1.06, 1.51]). Stratification showed that the association between ≥2 hours TV and obesity was most pronounced for parents of low education (AOR=1.36 [1.01, 1.85]) and high education (AOR=1.50 [1.03, 2.20]), and European/other parent ethnicity (AOR=1.85 [1.36, 2.52]).

Conclusion: Higher levels of sedentary behaviour in childhood was associated with higher risk of obesity. However, we found some support for a moderating role of parent education and ethnicity. This suggests a more complex relationship exists between child sedentary behaviour and obesity than is sometimes suggested.

Purpose: Toddlerhood is a crucial period for developing eating habits. Evidence about the association between maternal feeding practices and children’s food neophobia is lacking. This study was conducted to explore the relationship between maternal feeding practices and toddlers’ food neophobia among a sample in Ireland.

Methods: This was a follow up to the DIT-Coombe Hospital cohort study in Ireland. Mothers in the original cohort were contacted by telephone call. Postal questionnaires were distributed to those who agreed to participate in the current follow up. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the association between maternal feeding practices and toddlers’ food neophobia.

Results: There were 205 participants included in the study of which 98 (47.8%) toddlers had high degree of food neophobia (score>12). Children’s food neophobia was positively associated with maternal practices of coaxing the children to eat at refusal (OR=2.279, 95% CI:1.048-4.955), maternal unpleasant feelings at mealtime (e.g. stressful or hectic for themselves, or tearful for children) (OR ranged between 1.618 and 1.952), and mothers’ own degree of food neophobia (OR=1.036, 95% CI: 1.001-1.072). Mothers who were not anxious when confronted with food refusal of the child, was a protective factor for child’s food neophobia (OR=0.251, 95% CI: 0.114-0.556).

Conclusions: The determinants of high level of child’s food neophobia revealed in this study suggests that responsive feeding for the toddlers; and mothers remaining calm and patient with the child at mealtime be recommended.