The Effect of Mothers’ and Fathers’ Food Preferences on Children’s Preferences with Their Attitude.

Aims: Early childhood is most crucial for establishing eating habits; therefore, controlling the preferences of young children is critical. This study investigated the relationship between mothers’ and fathers’ food preferences in their childhood and their children’s present food preferences. Study Design: This was a cross-sectional study. Methods: Questionnaires were provided to the parents of children in the age group of 3-5. The association between children’s preferences, their food concerns and mothers’ and fathers’ preferences during their childhood and the present was examined using a multiple logistic regression analysis. A questionnaire was given to the parents of 1,010 children aged between 3 and -5 years and who attended 5 private kindergartens and nursery facilities in Japan. The children’s preferences were significantly related to their mothers’ and fathers’ preferences during childhood, (but not current parental food preferences), as well as children’s enjoyment of school lunches and their consumption of traditional Japanese food. Results: Primarily, the mother’s preferences during childhood were most intensively related to children’s preferences (4.21 [2.47-7.19], P<0.001: Odds Ratio [95% confidence intervals], probability). The children’s preferences were affected not only by mothers’ and fathers’ preferences during their childhood, which cannot be changed, but also by children’s enjoyment of their school lunches and their consumption of traditional Japanese food. Conclusion: These acts can be modified and may have a key role of improving children’s food preferences.

A Retrospective Study on the Relationship of Changes in Likes/Dislikes with Food Habits in 4- and 6-Year-Old Children.

Objective: This is a retrospective cohort study to investigate children’s food habits, affecting changing their likes/dislikes, on the basis of questionnaires answered by the mothers of 222 children. Methods: The questionnaire data was analyzed on 4 years old children at the beginning of the first year of kindergarten and on the same children at the end of the second year, when they were 6 years old. The questionnaire included 18 questions regarding their children’s lifestyle, likes/dislikes, attitude toward foods and guardian’s food habits. The Kruskal Wallis test was performed to compare the ordered categorical outcomes among four groups of changes in likes/dislikes: “(+) to (−)” means that the children disliked some foods as 4 year olds, and that as 6 year olds they disliked no foods, “(+) to (+)”, “(−) to (+)”, and “(−) to (−)”. Results: In total, 71.0% results reported (+) to (+), 10.0% reported (+) to (−), 6.5% reported (−) to (+) and 12.5% reported (-) to (-). Among the four groups, “Respect for food” (p<0.001), “Enjoying school lunches” (p<0.01), and “Family’s deviated food habits” (p<0.01) significantly varied. Children in the “(+) to (−)” group showed significantly more favorite behaviors than in the “(+) to (+)”. Conclusion: Changes in children’s likes/dislikes during kindergarten 2 years’ course may be related to “Respect for food”, “Enjoying school lunch” and “Family’s deviated food habits”. Therefore, managing these habits may be important when trying to change children’s likes/dislikes.