Diet, Nutrition, and Oral Health: What Influences Mother’s Decisions on What to Feed Their Young Children?

Amit Arora, Louise Chew, Kaye Kang, Lily Tang, Mohamed Estai, Jack Thepsourinthone, Navira Chandio, Jinal Parmar, Ashish M. Doyizode, Vipin Jain K. and Sameer Bhole
Additional contact information
Amit Arora: Campbelltown Campus, School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
Louise Chew: Sydney Dental School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Surry Hills, NSW 2010, Australia
Kaye Kang: Sydney Dental School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Surry Hills, NSW 2010, Australia
Lily Tang: Sydney Dental School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Surry Hills, NSW 2010, Australia
Mohamed Estai: Australian eHealth Research Centre, CSIRO, Floreat, WA 6014, Australia
Jack Thepsourinthone: Campbelltown Campus, School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
Navira Chandio: Campbelltown Campus, School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
Jinal Parmar: Campbelltown Campus, School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
Ashish M. Doyizode: Campbelltown Campus, School of Health Sciences, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
Vipin Jain K.: Department of Public Health Dentistry, KLE’s Institute of Dental Sciences, Bangalore 560022, India
Sameer Bhole: Oral Health Services, Sydney Dental Hospital, Sydney Local Health District, NSW Health, Surry Hills, NSW 2010, Australia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 15, 1-15

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to learn about mothers’ experiences with food choices for their pre-school children in underprivileged communities in Greater Western Sydney (GWS). A total of 20 mother-child dyads living in GWS were recruited to a qualitative study from an ongoing birth cohort study. Participants’ houses were visited for semi-structured interviews, which were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed thematically. The interviews yielded five main themes: (i) food choices, nutrition, and health; (ii) accessibility and availability of foods (iii) buying time for parents; (iv) child’s age and their preference on food choices; (v) conditioning certain behaviours by family and cultural factors. Nutrition literacy, child’s preferences, unhealthy food intake by family members, child’s demand, advertising and availability of harmful foods, and time constraints were all mentioned as hurdles to mothers making appropriate meal choices for their children. However, some identified facilitators were promoting parents’ knowledge, increasing access to health educational materials, upskilling mothers to providing healthier alternatives, regulating the marketing of unhealth foods. Although, the present study identified critical factors that influence mothers’ food choices for their young children, making healthy food choices is a complex practice as it is shaped by individual, social and environmental influences.

Keywords: preschool children; diet; food preferences; oral health; life course (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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