Parental control attitudes over their pre-school children’s diet

Abstract

It is during childhood that eating behaviors begin to form, with parents being the main agents in this process. Parents have eating habits that shape their children’s diet, both in terms of variety and quantity of food eaten. The aim is to analyze sociodemographic factors related to parental control over their children’s diet. Descriptive-correlational and cross-sectional study, with a sample of 46 parents of preschool children. An online questionnaire was used to collect data, with data processing carried out using SPSS, using descriptive and inferential statistics. The majority of respondents were mothers (89.1%), belonged to the 20–44 age group (89.1%), and were married (89.1%). The mean of the subscales of the children’s food questionnaire food restriction, pressure to eat, and monitoring was 3.266 ± 0.570, 3.109 ± 1.206, and 4.268 ± 0.848, respectively. The mean rank score for the food restriction subscale differed significantly between parents with different age groups (Mann–Whitney: p < 0.014), with the 45–64 age group having the highest mean rank, i.e., they restricted their children more in food. The age group is a factor related to food restriction, making it essential to take a closer look at the parents of that age group, during the health education process.