Parental feeding practices and ultra-processed food consumption in preschool children

• Autor(a) principal: PRATES, Carolina Bottini
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: PASSOS, Maria Aparecida Zanetti, MASQUIO, Deborah Cristina Landi
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista de Nutrição
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.puc-campinas.edu.br/nutricao/article/view/8650
• topic: Food intake; Child nutrition; Parenting; Preschool children; Ultra-processed foods; Ingestão de alimentos; Nutrição da criança; Relação parental; Pré-escolar; Alimentos ultraprocessados

Objective To investigate the association between parental feeding practices and the consumption of ultra-processed foods in preschool children. Methods Cross-sectional study with 140 parents (father and mother) and their children (2-6 year-old). Parental feeding practices were assessed using the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire. Children’s body weight and height were measured, and body mass index z-score per age was calculated. Parental anthropometric measurements (body weight and height) were obtained by self-report, and body mass index was calculated. The consumption of ultra-processed foods was assessed through the Child Food Frequency Questionnaire and the daily intake score was calculated. Multivariable linear regression analyses were performed to investigate the association between parental feeding practices and the consumption of ultra-processed foods. Results Children’s ultra-processed food consumption was negatively associated with the “Monitoring” parental feeding practices. On the other hand, “Emotion Regulation” and “Health restriction” parental feeding practices were positively associated with the ultra-processed food consumption score. Conclusion Ultra-processed food consumption was associated to the “Monitoring”, “Emotion regulation” and “Health restriction” parental feeding practices in preschool children. These results support the importance of using successful parental feeding practices to promote healthy eating in preschoolers.