Parental influence on girls' fruit and vegetable intake - Fruit and Vegetable Intake - study shows parents' own intake of produce has biggest influence - Brief Article

Nutrition Research Newsletter, Feb, 2002

Fruit and vegetable intake among children is low, with data from the Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals (CSFII), 1989-1991, showing that only 20 percent of preschool-age children consume the recommended five or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Parents influence children's food preferences and intake patterns through the foods they make available to the child, the types of child feeding practices they use and their own eating behavior. Research is needed to investigate the influence of parents' eating patterns and child feeding practices on children's fruit and vegetable intake.

Parents' "do as I say" pressure on children to "finish your vegetables" is one method of encouraging children to eat fruits and vegetables. An alternative parental influence on children's intake may be the "do as I do" approach, where parents act as models of fruit and vegetable intake. A current research study from Pennsylvania State University evaluated parents' eating behaviors and use of pressure in child feeding on 5-year-old girls' fruit and vegetable intakes. Because dietary recommendations regarding fruit and vegetable intake are based on the premise that this should increase intake of selected micronutrients and decrease dietary fat intake, these outcome variables were included in the model.

In this study 191 five-year-old girls and their parents participated. Parents' use of pressure in child feeding was measured using the Child Feeding Questionnaire. Parents' typical fruit and vegetable intake over the previous three months was evaluated by a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), while children's fruit and vegetable, micronutrient and energy intake were measured using three 24-hour recalls. These recalls were conducted with mothers in the presence of their daughters. Nutrient data were averaged across the three days to obtain an estimate of average energy and micronutrient intake.

Girls' total fruit and vegetable intakes were lower than the recommended 5 daily servings; the majority of girls consumed 3 or less total servings. Parents' reported fruit and vegetable intake was low: parents reported consuming 0.9 servings of fruit and 1 serving of vegetables per day. Daughters' fruit and vegetable intake was positively related to their parents' reported fruit and vegetable intake. Most parents tended to report low levels of pressure, with a mean of 2.5 on a scale of 1 to 5. However, more than 25 percent had responses that were in agreement with statements about using pressure in child feeding. Parents who consumed fewer fruits and vegetables tended to report greater pressure in child feeding and had daughters who consumed fewer fruits and vegetables and micronutrient intakes. The reported fruit and vegetable intake of the daughters were positively associated to their micronutrient intakes and negatively associated with fat intake, as expected.

These findings provide new evidence that girls' fruit and vegetable intake and its relationship to nutrient intake is positively associated with parents' own fruit and vegetable intake and negatively correlated with their use of pressure in child feeding practices. The data show that interventions to increase children's fruit and vegetable intake should clearly target parents' own intake and feeding practices involving fruits and vegetables. With the dam on the negative role that pressure plays, children should be encouraged to try, rather than to always "finish" their fruits and vegetables.

Jennifer Orlet Fisher, Diane C. Mitchell, Helen Smiciklas-Wright and Leann Lipps Birch, Parental Influences on Young Girls' Fruit and Vegetable, Micronutrient and Fat Intakes, JADA 102(1): 58 - 64 (January 2002) [Address correspondence to: Leann L. Birch, PhD, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, 211 Henderson South Bldg, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802]