title: Healthy eating for infants--mothers' attitudes.
abstract: Mothers' perceptions of desirable nutritional practices in infant feeding were examined using a questionnaire consisting of open and closed questions. A total of 1004 mother-infant pairs were recruited from a mixture of urban and rural areas in England. The sample represented a cross-section of socioeconomic groups and educational backgrounds. Mothers' attitudes to healthy eating for infants revealed some misconceptions; 83% felt that a high fibre intake was important or very important and 87% that a low fat intake was important or very important, while 20% considered that plenty of calories was not important. Other health guidelines were appropriately applied and most mothers considered a wide variety of foods, plenty to drink and a low sugar and salt intake to be important. These beliefs were representative of the sample population, irrespective of the socioeconomic group, location, age and education of the mother.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Kimber
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Redfern
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Stordy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors