At-home and Away-from-home Eating Patterns Influencing Preadolescents’ Intake of Calcium-rich Food as Perceived by Asian, Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White Parents

Abstract

Objective To explore at-home and away-from-home eating patterns influencing Asian, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white preadolescents’ intake of calcium-rich food from a parental perspective. Design Individual semistructured interviews. Setting Home or community site. Participants Convenience sample (n = 201) of self-reported Asian (n = 54), Hispanic (n=57), and non-Hispanic white (n = 90) parents of 10- to 13-year-old children recruited from community youth programs. Phenomenon of Interest Description of at-home and away-from-home family eating patterns. Analysis NVivo software to code and sort transcript segments, qualitative data analysis procedures. Results Participants from all groups shared common at-home and away-from-home meal patterns. A lack of time often resulted in negative factors that impacted intake of calcium-rich food and beverages including breakfast on the run, fewer home-prepared or shared family meals, and more frequent meals eaten away from home. Asian and Hispanic parents indicated eating out less frequently than non-Hispanic white parents. Parents from all groups lacked expectations for their child to drink calcium-rich beverages with meals. Conclusions and Implications Practical strategies are needed to facilitate intake of calcium-rich food and beverages through more frequent family meals at home and parental expectations for children’s intake of calcium-rich beverages with meals.