Abstract
Overweight and obesity, as well as their associated risk factors for diseases, are already prevalent in childhood and, therefore, promoting healthy eating is important. Parental self-efficacy (PSE) and early health-promotion can be helpful in promoting healthy eating. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of PSE on children’s nutrition behavior and identify PSE as a mediator between an intervention and children’s nutrition. The kindergarten-based health-promotion program “Join the Healthy Boat” was evaluated in a randomized controlled trial with 558 children (4.7 ± 0.6 years; 52.3% male) participating at both times. Linear and logistic regressions as well as mediation analyses with potential covariates such as parental outcome expectancies or parental nutrition were carried out using questionnaire data. In children, PSE was positively associated with fruit and vegetable intake (β = 0.237; p < 0.001) and showed a protective effect on soft drink consumption (OR 0.728; p = 0.002). Parental nutrition was a stronger predictor of children’s intake of fruit, vegetables (β = 0.451; p < 0.001), and soft drinks (OR 7.188; p < 0.001). There was no mediator effect of PSE. However, outcome expectancies were associated with PSE (β = 0.169; p = 0.032). In conclusion, interventions should promote self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, and healthy nutrition for parents as well in order to strengthen the healthy eating habits of children.
Highlights
Non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, or diabetes are one of the main causes of global deaths [1]
A healthy diet is vital for children because, on one hand, it contributes to a healthy cognitive development [10,11,12] or even a higher IQ and memory [13]
The second aim of the study was to show whether parental self-efficacy was a mediator between the intervention “Join the Healthy Boat” and children’s nutrition behavior
Summary
Non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, or diabetes are one of the main causes of global deaths [1]. The risk factors of these diseases are overweight and obesity as well as hypertension, lack of physical activity, and an unhealthy diet, which all contribute to one other [2]. In 2017, an unhealthy diet was the cause of 11 million deaths and 255 million disability-adjustedlife-years [3]. Increasing the consumption of fruit and vegetables could help prevent overweight [4], diabetes [5], cancer [6], and cardiovascular diseases [7]. It can prevent risk factors for overweight and obesity in children and already prevalent consequences such as problems
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