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Maternal and Child Health Journal
Published in: Maternal and Child Health Journal 1/2017

01-01-2017

Strategies Low-Income Parents Use to Overcome Their Children’s Food Refusal

Authors: L. Suzanne Goodell, Susan L. Johnson, Amanda C. Antono, Thomas G. Power, Sheryl O. Hughes

Published in: Maternal and Child Health Journal | Issue 1/2017

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Abstract

Introduction Parents play a key role in the development of eating habits in preschool children, as they are the food “gatekeepers.” Repeated exposure to new foods can improve child food preferences and consumption. The objective of this study was to determine parent feeding strategies used to influence child acceptance of previously rejected foods (PRF). Methods We conducted eighteen focus groups (total participants = 111) with low-income African American and Hispanic parents of preschool children (3- to 5-year-olds) in Texas, Colorado, and Washington. Through thematic analysis, we coded transcripts and analyzed coded quotes to develop dominant emergent themes related to strategies used to overcome children’s food refusal. Results We found three major themes in the data: parents most often do not serve PRF; parents value their child eating over liking a food; and parents rarely use the same feeding strategy more than once for a PRF. Desiring to reduce waste and save time, parents said they most often intentionally decided not to purchase or serve PRF to their children. Discussion Because parents’ primary goal in child feeding is getting children to eat (over acceptance of a variety of foods), strategies to help parents promote consumption of less easily accepted foods could help parents with child feeding struggles and improve children’s dietary quality.
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Metadata
Title
Strategies Low-Income Parents Use to Overcome Their Children’s Food Refusal
Authors
L. Suzanne Goodell
Susan L. Johnson
Amanda C. Antono
Thomas G. Power
Sheryl O. Hughes
Publication date
01-01-2017
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Maternal and Child Health Journal / Issue 1/2017
Print ISSN: 1092-7875
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6628
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-016-2094-x

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