Parental Encouragement of Healthy Lifestyles for Their Children and Personally Caring about Healthy Lifestyles Is Positively Associated with Children Using Vitamin D Supplements.
Supplement users have better vitamin D status, and parenting is key to promoting a child's healthy behaviours. We examined the association of parental encouragement of and caring about healthy lifestyles with children's use of vitamin D supplements and multivitamins. A provincially representative sample of grade 5 students (n = 2686; 10-11 years) and their parents across the province of Alberta, Canada, was surveyed in 2014. Students were asked about use of multivitamins and/or vitamin D supplements. Parents were asked whether they cared about and encouraged healthy lifestyles. Mixed effect multiple logistic regression identified the association of parental responses with children's use of supplements; 29% and 54% of children took vitamin D supplements and multivitamins, respectively. They were more likely to take vitamin D supplements if their parents cared 'very much' vs. 'not at all/a little bit' about eating healthy foods (OR = 1.43; 95% CI = 1.08, 1.89), cared 'quite a lot' (OR = 1.55; 95% CI = 1.17, 2.04) and 'very much' (OR = 1.67; 95% CI = 1.26, 2.21) vs. 'not at all/a little bit' about physical activity, and encouraged 'very much' vs. 'not at all/a little bit' their children to eat healthy foods (OR = 1.51; 95% CI = 1.05, 2.17). Children whose parents personally cared for eating healthy foods were more likely to take multivitamins ('quite a lot' and 'very much' compared to 'not at all/a little bit' (OR = 1.60; 95% CI = 1.13, 2.28 and OR = 1.46; 95% CI = 1.04, 2.06, respectively). Education and parental encouragement of healthy lifestyles should be part of the public health initiatives to promote supplementation of vitamin D among children.
School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Population Health Intervention Research Unit, 3-50 University Terrace, 8303 112 Street, Edmonton, AB T6G2T4, Canada. lalani.m@ualberta.ca.
Lalani L
LL
Munasinghe
School of Public Health, University of Alberta, 3-299 Edmonton Clinic Health Academy, 11405 87 Avenue, Edmonton, AB T6G1C9, Canada. yan.yuan@ualberta.ca.
Yan
Y
Yuan
School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Population Health Intervention Research Unit, 3-50 University Terrace, 8303 112 Street, Edmonton, AB T6G2T4, Canada. efaught@ualberta.ca.
Erin L
EL
Faught
Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, 4-378 Edmonton Clinic Health Academy, 11405 87 Avenue, Edmonton, AB T6G1C9, Canada. nwillows@ualberta.ca.
Noreen D
ND
Willows
School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Population Health Intervention Research Unit, 3-50 University Terrace, 8303 112 Street, Edmonton, AB T6G2T4, Canada. paul.veugelers@ualberta.ca.
Paul J
PJ
Veugelers
D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D003625:Data Collection; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D016487:Parenting; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000008:administration & dosage*
D014807:Vitamin D
behavior; child; dietary supplements; parenting; vitamin D
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