Parental influences on dairy intake in children, and their role in child calcium-fortified food use.
OBJECTIVE
To understand how parental influences on dairy food intake relate to early adolescent children's use of calcium-fortified food.


METHODS
Content analysis of qualitative interviews to identify parental influences on dairy intake; calcium-fortified food survey to identify children as either calcium-fortified food users or nonusers.


METHODS
A convenience sample of Asian (n = 56), Hispanic (n = 61), and white (n = 74) parents of children 10-13 years old, including boys (n = 86) and girls (n = 105). VARIABLES MEASURED AND ANALYSIS: Cluster analysis to identify groups with similar coded parental influences and chi-square analysis to determine associations between these groups and calcium-fortified food use.


RESULTS
Two dominant patterns of parental influences: Cluster 1 (n = 128), with positive parental influences related to availability of dairy, milk, and cheese; positive health beliefs for dairy, and child preferences for dairy and cheese, included parents whose children were more likely to use calcium-fortified food. Cluster 2 (n = 63), with positive influences for availability of dairy and milk, included parents whose children were equally likely to be either users or nonusers of calcium-fortified food (P < .05).


CONCLUSIONS
Strategies to improve parental influence on children's dairy intake might also encourage calcium-fortified food intake and improve calcium nutriture.
Olson
Beth H
BH
Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1224, USA. olsonbe@msu.edu
Chung
Kimberly R
KR
Reckase
Mark
M
Schoemer
Stephanie
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002136:Calcium, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002648:Child; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003611:Dairy Products; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States; D016885:United States Department of Agriculture
D002136:Calcium, Dietary