title: Maternal feeding behaviour and young children's dietary quality: a cross-sectional study of socially disadvantaged mothers of two-year old children using the Theory of Planned Behaviour.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Having breakfast, eating food 'cooked from scratch' and eating together as a family have health and psychosocial benefits for young children. This study investigates how these parentally determined behaviours relate to children's dietary quality and uses a psychological model, the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), to investigate socio-cognitive predictors of these behaviours in socially disadvantaged mothers of young children in Scotland.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three hundred mothers of children aged 2 years (from 372 invited to participate, 81% response rate), recruited via General Practitioners, took part in home-based semi-structured interviews in a cross-sectional survey of maternal psychological factors related to their children's dietary quality. Regression analyses examined statistical predictors of maternal intentions and feeding behaviours.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mothers of children with poorer quality diets were less likely than others to provide breakfast every day, cook from 'scratch' and provide 'proper sit-down meals'. TPB socio-cognitive factors (intentions, perceived behavioural control) significantly predicted these three behaviours, and attitudes, norms, and perceived behavioural control significantly predicted mothers' intentions, with medium to large effect sizes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Interventions to improve young children's dietary health could benefit from a focus on modifying maternal motivations and attitudes in attempts to improve feeding behaviours.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK. vivien.swanson@stir.ac.uk
authors.forename: Vivien
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Swanson
authors.forename: Kevin G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Power
authors.forename: Iain K
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Crombie
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Irvine
authors.forename: Kirsty
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kiezebrink
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wrieden
authors.forename: Peter W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Slane
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003296:Cooking; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000523:psychology* / Q000592:standards; D004041:Dietary Fats; D019422:Dietary Sucrose; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D002149:Energy Intake; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences; D005638:Fruit; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016014:Linear Models; D016015:Logistic Models; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D016487:Parenting; D012606:Scotland; D020377:Self Efficacy; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014675:Vegetables; D035862:Vulnerable Populations; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats; D019422:Dietary Sucrose