Selected determinants of eating behaviours among preschool children from the Kraków environment

Abstract

One of the factors determining the nutritional behaviour of children and adolescents is family socio-economic status. The aim of the study was to assess the nutritional behaviour of preschool children from the Kraków environment depending on the sex of the child and the mother’s level of education. The study was carried out among a group of mothers of 480 (240 girls and 240 boys) 4-6-yearolds, using the author’s questionnaire on dietary behaviours. Children of mothers with higher education accounted for 63.5%, and those with primary, vocational and secondary education constituted 36.5% of the group. Statistical analysis was carried out using the PQStat package 1.6.6.246 version, applying Pearson’s Chi-squared test (p<0.05). The girls consumed a significantly greater amount of: vegetables (p<0.01), fruit (p<0.05), wholemeal bread (p<0.001) as well as milk and dairy products (p<0.001), and boys: meat and cold-cuts from poultry (p<0.001) and sweets (p<0.05). Children of mothers with higher education more frequently consumed: vegetables (p<0.001), fruit (p<0.001), wholemeal bread (p<0.001), fish (p<0.01) and eggs (p=0.01), and children of mothers with secondary and vocational education: milk and dairy products (p<0.05), meat and cold-cuts from poultry (p<0.001) and sweets (p=0.001), salted snacks (p<0.001) and sweetened fizzy beverages (p<0.05). Diversity in some dietary choices of preschool children from the Kraków environment has been demonstrated, depending on the sex of children and the mother’s level of education. Furthermore, it is indicated that girls and the children of mother’s with higher education are characterised by a more favourable diet.