Maternal attitudes, beliefs and practices related to the feeding and nutritional status of schoolchildren

ABSTRACT Objective To analyze the relationship between the maternal attitudes, beliefs and practices and the children’s food consumption and nutritional status. Methods A cross-sectional study of 563 mother-child pairs. Mothers answered an online questionnaire that collected the following information: sociodemographic data, maternal nutritional status, the child’s food consumption (evaluated through the Food Frequency Questionnaire and the School Child Diet Index), and maternal attitudes, beliefs and practices about the schoolchildren’s eating (assessed through the Child Feeding Questionnaire). Children had their anthropometric measurements evaluated for the interpretation of the nutritional status. Results Mothers who considered their children to be bigger (ORaj=6.60) and who worried more about their children’s weight (ORaj=3.47) presented greater chances of having overweight children. Mothers with a greater perception of responsibility (ORaj=0.57) and who put more pressure in their children to eat (ORaj=0.38) presented lower chances of having overweight children. The majority of children consumed high-quality food (77.4%). Mothers who more closely monitored their children’s food consumption were 2.79 times more likely to have their children eating high-quality food. Conclusion Nutritional interventions should focus on stimulating the parents’ sense of responsibility for the child’s nutrition, as well as on promoting the frequent monitoring of the child’s food intake.

摘要
目的：分析母亲的喂养态度、信念与行为，与儿童食物摄入及营养状况之间的关联。
方法：开展一项纳入563对母婴的横断面研究。母亲填写在线问卷，收集以下信息：社会人口学资料、母亲自身营养状况、儿童食物摄入情况（通过食物频率问卷（Food Frequency Questionnaire）与学龄儿童饮食指数（School Child Diet Index）进行评估），以及母亲针对学龄儿童饮食的态度、信念与行为（通过儿童喂养问卷（Child Feeding Questionnaire）进行评估）。同时对儿童进行人体测量学指标检测，以判断其营养状况。
结果：认为自己孩子体型偏大（校正比值比ORaj=6.60）、且更担忧孩子体重的母亲，其子女发生超重的风险更高（校正比值比ORaj=3.47）。而感知喂养责任更强（校正比值比ORaj=0.57）、且对孩子进食施加更多压力的母亲，其子女发生超重的风险更低（校正比值比ORaj=0.38）。大部分儿童摄入优质食物（占比77.4%）。对儿童食物摄入监管更为严格的母亲，其子女摄入优质食物的概率是其他儿童的2.79倍。
结论：营养干预应聚焦于强化家长对儿童营养的责任意识，同时推广对儿童食物摄入的常态化监管。