Korean J Community Nutr.  2017 Feb;22(1):13-21. 10.5720/kjcn.2017.22.1.13.

Mother's Parenting Style at Meal Time and Their Preschooler's Dietary Behavior

• Park S
• Lee Y

• KMID: 2371814
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5720/kjcn.2017.22.1.13

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study was conducted to evaluate the nutrition quotient (NQ) by mother's parenting style which may influence the NQ in preschool children.
METHODS
Subjects were 310 mothers and their 4-6 year old children. The questionnaire composed of demographic characteristics, mother's parenting style at meal time and eating behavior as measured by NQ questions. The NQ questions consisted of 19 food behavior checklist items and all items were grouped into 5 factors: balance, diversity, moderation, regularity, and practice. Mother's parenting style was classified by using words for nutrition education at meal time. All data were statistically analyzed by SPSS program (Ver. 23) and the statistical differences in variables were evaluated by Student's t-test, χ²-test, One-way ANOVA.
RESULTS
We observed that in children whose mothers use the parenting style at meal time of "˜explanation' and "˜compliment & cheer up' had high dietary regularity, diversity, practice. The children of mothers who use the parenting style at meal time of "˜persuasion' and "˜reward' were found to have a lower degree of balance, diversity, and practice. Especially, children of "˜reward' style mothers had lower moderation of dietary life. On the other hand, among the parenting style at meal time of "˜comparison & demand', "˜treating' and "˜faire', there was no significant difference in the NQ factor by each group. NQ grade was higher among those who used more explanation (p < 0.001) and persuasion (p < 0.01) and with use of less persuasion (p < 0.01) and reward (p < 0.01). The positive association observed between the frequency of dietary education of mothers and higher NQ grade indicated the degree of dietary practices of those children. On the other hand, the children of mothers who rarely practice the dietary education at home had lower NQ grade (p < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS
In order to promote children's proper dietary behaviors, it is important to provide nutrition education to children as well as provide guidance on parenting style at meal time.

Keyword

parenting style; dietary behavior; preschool children; nutrition quotient; nutrition education

MeSH Terms

Checklist
Child
Child, Preschool
Education
Feeding Behavior
Hand
Humans
Meals*
Mothers
Parenting*
Parents*
Persuasive Communication
Reward

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Mother's parenting style at meal time (total N = 310)

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