title: Reasons Low-Income Parents Offer Snacks to Children: How Feeding Rationale Influences Snack Frequency and Adherence to Dietary Recommendations.
abstract: Although American children snack more than ever before, the parental role in promoting snacking is not well understood. In 2012-2013 at baseline in an intervention study to prevent childhood obesity in low-income Massachusetts communities, n = 271 parents of children aged 2-12 years completed surveys regarding nutritive and non-nutritive reasons they offered children snacks, demographics, and dietary factors. An analysis of variance demonstrated that parents reported offering snacks (mean/week; standard deviation (SD)) for nutritive reasons like promoting growth (x̄ = 2.5; SD 2.2) or satisfying hunger (x̄ = 2.4; SD 2.1) almost twice as often as non-nutritive reasons like keeping a child quiet (x̄ = 0.7; SD 1.5) or celebrating events/holidays (x̄ = 0.8; SD 1.1). Parents reported giving young children (2-5 years) more snacks to reward behavior (1.9 vs. 1.1, p < 0.001), keep quiet (1.0 vs. 0.5, p < 0.001), and celebrate achievements (1.7 vs. 1.0, p < 0.001) than parents of older children (6-12 years). Multivariable logistic regression models were used to obtain adjusted odds ratios, which indicated reduced child adherence to dietary recommendations when parents offered snacks to reward behavior (Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.83; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.70-0.99), celebrate events/holidays (OR = 0.72; 95% CI 0.52-0.99), or achievements (OR = 0.82; 95% CI 0.68-0.98). Parental intentions around child snacking are likely important targets for obesity prevention efforts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, California State University, Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd, FCS FA-15, Long Beach, CA 90840, USA. rachel.blaine@csulb.edu.|Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave, Building 2, Boston, MA 02115, USA. rachel.blaine@csulb.edu.
authors.forename: Rachel E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Blaine
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Center for Obesity Research and Education, Temple University College of Public Health, 3223 N. Broad Street, Suite 175, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA. jofisher@temple.edu.
authors.forename: Jennifer Orlet
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.affiliation: Division of General Academic Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, MassGeneral Hospital for Children, 100 Cambridge Street, 15th floor, Boston, MA 02114, USA. elsie.taveras@mgh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Elsie M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Taveras
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Kresge 718, 677 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA. ageller@hsph.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Alan C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Geller
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave, Building 2, Boston, MA 02115, USA. erimm@hsph.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Eric B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Rimm
authors.affiliation: Office of Data Management and Outcomes Assessment, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Boston, MA 02108, USA. thomas.land@state.ma.us.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Land
authors.affiliation: Division of General Academic Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, MassGeneral Hospital for Children, 100 Cambridge Street, 15th floor, Boston, MA 02114, USA. meperkins@mgh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Meghan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perkins
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave, Building 2, Boston, MA 02115, USA. kdavison@hsph.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Kirsten K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Davison
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004032:Diet; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting; D010290:Parents; D011203:Poverty; D062410:Snacks; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: child feeding; childhood obesity prevention; parenting; snacks