Mothers' Dietary Behaviors are Associated with Nutritional Status in their Children

Abstract

Mothers play an important role in establishing eating habits in children thus understanding the influence of motherseating habits on children is important for childrens lifelong health and nutrition. The aim of this study was to identify eating behavior patterns of mothers based on their dietary behaviors and examine the overall effect on childrens dietary intake. Subjects were sampled from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES, 2007-2010). All mothers with children 6-18 years of age were selected using household information. A total of 2,585 pairs were selected for analysis. Eating behavior patterns consisting of dietary behaviors of mothers included eating-out frequency, family meal frequency, family breakfast status, and meal skipping status. Based on frequency of desirable dietary behaviors practiced, the type of eating behavior pattern followed by mothers was identified as healthy and unhealthy patterns. Generalized Linear Model was used to compare mean intakes of food groups and nutrients in mothers and children by mothers eating behavior patterns. Percentage of individuals consuming nutrients below the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) were observed by Chi-square test. Children were observed by sex and age group – younger boys and girls in the 6-11yr age group and older boys and girls in the 12-18yr age group. Mothers following a healthy pattern had higher intake of grains, meatfishbeanseggs and vegetables than mothers of unhealthy pattern. Younger boys had significantly higher intakes of grains and vegetables while older girls showed higher fruits and lower oilsfatssugars consumed when their mothers followed a healthy pattern. Among children whose nutrients were below EAR, the proportion of older boys whose vitamin C and niacin intakes were below EAR was significantly smaller when mothers followed a healthy pattern compared to boys whose mothers had an unhealthy pattern. Younger boys tended to resemble mothers dietary intake the most, where both showed higher grains and vegetable intake and lower riboflavin nutrient when mothers followed a healthy pattern. As these results suggest, healthful dietary behaviors practiced by mothers may induce positive dietary intakes in children that can enhance their overall nutritional status. Studies that explore the effect of mothers dietary behaviors not just limited to nutritional status of children but also on health indicators are recommended in the future.