title: Reasons Parents Buy Prepackaged, Processed Meals: It Is More Complicated Than "I Don't Have Time".
abstract: To investigate reasons why parents purchase prepackaged, processed meals and associations with parental cooking self-efficacy, meal-planning ability, and home food availability.
  
  
  
  This secondary data analysis uses Healthy Home Offerings via the Mealtime Environment Plus study data from parents of children aged 8-12 years (n = 160). Associations between reasons why parents purchase prepackaged, processed meals and the outcomes were assessed with chi-square, Fisher exact, and t tests.
  
  
  
  The most frequently endorsed reasons for purchasing prepackaged, processed meals included lack of time (57%) and family preferences (49%). Five of 6 reasons were associated with lower parental cooking self-efficacy and meal-planning ability. Some reasons were associated with less-healthful home food environments; few reasons varied by socio-demographic characteristics.
  
  
  
  Because lower cooking self-efficacy and meal-planning ability are associated with most reasons reported for purchasing prepackaged, processed meals, strategies to increase these attributes for parents of all backgrounds may reduce reliance on prepackaged processed meals for family mealtimes.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. Electronic address: horn0199@umn.edu.
authors.forename: Melissa L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Horning
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
authors.forename: Jayne A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Fulkerson
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Friend
authors.affiliation: Community and Family Medicine and Global Health, Duke University, Durham, NC.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Story
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D057140:Fast Foods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D062407:Meals / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D020377:Self Efficacy; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: child; food environment; meal-planning; parents; processed food; self-efficacy