Family influence on the nutritional status and eating habits of six to nine year-old children

• Autor(a) principal: Pap da Silva, Gabriela
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: de Sousa Almeida, Sebastião, Braga Costa, Telma Maria
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista de Nutrição
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.puc-campinas.edu.br/nutricao/article/view/5916
• topic: Child nutrition; Feeding behavior; Food consumption; Nutritional status; Pediatric obesity

ObjectiveTo investigate whether caregivers’ attitudes, beliefs, practices, alimentary habits, and nutritional status influence the alimentary habits and nutritional status of children aged six to nine years.MethodsThis cross-sectional study included 164 children and a family member (caregiver) each (n=164), carried out in the family health units of the municipality of Ribeirão Preto (SP), Brazil. Weight and height measurements were performed; each child was then evaluated by the application of both the Child Feeding Questionnaire and 24h recall (for calculating the Healthy Eating Index Revised), in addition to the assessment of adherence to healthy eating steps of the Ministry of Health, through a questionnaire.ResultsThe results showed that the prevalence of being overweight was 18.3% in children and 32.9% in caregivers, and the prevalence of obesity was 15.9% and 37.9%, respectively. Most of the 56 children categorized as overweight also had overweight caregivers (82.1%; n=46). Concerns regarding children’s weight control were higher among caregivers responsible for overweight children (3.6±1.29). In contrast, caregivers responsible for children below or at normal weight demonstrated a greater tendency toward getting children to eat (3.3±0.97 and 3.9±0.99, respectively). The average score; of the children’s Brazilian Healthy Eating Index Revised (50.0±13.6) was similar to that of their caregivers (56.5±12.1).ConclusionCaregivers have a direct influence on the nutritional status and eating habits of children; therefore, they should be targeted in the processes of nutritional intervention for the prevention and treatment of childhood obesity.