Mothers’ perceptions of their own diets and the diets of their children at 2–3 years of age

Broilo, Mônica Cristina; Vitolo, Márcia Regina; Stenzel, Lucia Marques; Levandowski, Daniela Centenaro

doi:10.1186/s41155-017-0067-7

Mônica Cristina Broilo ^** Correspondence: monicabroilo@gmail.com

Graduate Program in Health Sciences, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre—UFCSPA, Sarmento Leite 245, Porto Alegre, RS 90050-170, Brazil.

Márcia Regina Vitolo

Department of Nutrition, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre—UFCSPA, Sarmento Leite 245, Porto Alegre, RS 90050-170,Brazil.

Lucia Marques Stenzel

Department of Psychology, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre—UFCSPA, Sarmento Leite 245, Porto Alegre, RS 90050-170, Brazil.

Daniela Centenaro Levandowski

Department of Psychology, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre—UFCSPA, Sarmento Leite 245, Porto Alegre, RS 90050-170, Brazil.

* Correspondence: monicabroilo@gmail.com

Authors’ contributions

All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This major study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee (protocol nos. 748-11 and 921-12). The participants signed informed consent forms in which they were informed of the study’s objectives and procedures and had their questions answered. The participants’ names were kept confidential. In addition, participation in the study could be interrupted without obligation by the participants and/or compromising the care they received at the PHC.

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Perception of own diet as healthy (n= 197, 43%)			Perception of own diet as unhealthy (n= 267, 57%)

Themes/examples of responses	n	%	Themes/examples of responses	n	%
Quality “Because I don’t drink sodas or eat junk food” “I avoid unhealthy foods, I avoid oils” “I eat healthy things” “Because I try to eat little sugar and salt” “I don’t eat much fried food and I don’t mix carbohydrates” “I eat homemade food”	135	70.7	Quality “I eat a lot of bread” “I don’t like fruits and vegetables much” “I eat a lot of junk food” “Because I eat more junk food than healthy food”	186	74.1
Variety “I eat everything” “I eat everything, I’m not picky” “Because I try to vary my diet”	28	14.7	Regularity or routine “I don’t eat lunch or breakfast” “I don’t have a fixed eating schedule, I don’t eat breakfast” “I eat few meals during the day”	75	29.9
Regularity or routine “I am eating regularly” “I am eating all the time” “I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner” “I make lunch and dinner every day”	17	8.9	Quantity “I eat very little” “I eat way too much” “I don’t eat much…”	20	08
Perceived health outcomes “Because I go to the doctor and I don’t have any problems” “I’m trying to lose weight”	15	7.9	Perceived health outcomes “After finding out I have cancer, I haven’t eaten properly” “I’m about 10 kg overweight”	09	3.6
Does not know “I don’t know” “It’s healthy but I don’t know why”	11	5.8	Variety “Because I spend the day eating bread and coffee” “Because I’m not used to it and I don’t like some foods” “I only eat the basics: rice and beans”	03	1.2
Quantity “I eat normally, I usually don’t eat much” “Because I eat a lot” “I don’t eat much”	07	3.7	Does not know “I don’t know”	02	0.8

Perception of child’s diet as healthy (n= 334, 72%)			Perception of child’s diet as unhealthy (n= 130, 28%)

Themes/examples of responses	n	%	Themes/examples of responses	n	%
Quality “He always eats vegetables and meat” “He avoids salty snacks, ‘snacks, soft drinks, instant noodles” “Because he eats the main foods with iron and vitamins” “Because I try to give him healthy food”	210	68.6	Quality “He eats a lot of fried foods” “He should have more fruits and vegetables” “Because he eats a lot of junk food” “He doesn’t eat well, he was eating a lot of snacks, sweets, junk food”	95	78.5
Variety “He eats everything” “He eats everything, he’s balanced” “He eats everything, he doesn’t refuse anything”	46	15	Quantity “Because he doesn’t eat anything” “He only eats a little of everything” “Because he doesn’t eat enough to be healthy”	14	11.6
Regularity or routine “He eats breakfast, lunch, an afternoon snack and, before going to sleep, drinks from his milk bottle” “Because he eats at the time” “Because he eats and makes all the meals of the day”	26	8.5	Variety “He doesn’t eat everything he should” “Because he doesn’t eat anything, practically only milk” “He only likes to drink milk”	12	9.9
School meals “Because he eats well at school” “Meals aren’t made at home, only at school”	21	6.9	Regularity or routine “Because there is no routine for the preparations, for making vegetables every day” “He doesn’t have a regular diet”	12	9.9
Perceived health outcomes “Because he is gaining weight” “Because he is always well when he sees the doctor”	17	5.6	Perceived health outcomes “He has a stomach ache” “He is lactose-intolerant”	03	2.5
Quantity “He eats a lot” “Because he eats well, he eats a lot” “Because he eats everything”	16	5.2	Does not know “I don’t know”	02	1.7
Does not know “I don’t know”	06	02

	Mothers’ perception of diet as healthy (n= 197, 43%)		Univariate Poisson regression			Multivariate Poisson regression

	n	%	PR	95% CI	p value	PR	95% CI	p value
Group^a
Control	82	36.8
Intervention	115	48.9	1.331	1.072–1.652	0.010	1.320	1.063–1.640	0.012
Age
<20 years	35	43.2
≥20 years	162	43	0.994	0.755–1.310	0.969	–	–	–
Schooling
<8 years	107	49.8
≥8 years	90	37	0.744	0.602–0.920	0.006	0.707	0.569–0.880	0.002
Marital status
Does not have partner	51	48.6
Has partner	146	41.4	0.852	0.675–1.075	0.176	0.918	0.723–1.164	0.479
Mother’s occupation
No formal employment	121	40.5
Formal employment	76	47.8	1.181	0.955–1.461	0.125	1.225	0.987–1.519	0.065
Family income^b
<2 Brazilian minimum wages^c	88	42.9
≥2 Brazilian minimum wages^c	101	42.4	0.989	0.796–1.227	0.917	–	–	–
Parity
Primiparous	83	41.9
Multiparous	114	43.8	1.046	0.844–1.296	0.681	–	–	–

	Maternal perception of child’s diet as healthy (n = 334, 72%)		Univariate Poisson regression			Multivariate Poisson regression

	n	%	RP	95% CI	p value	RP	95% CI	p value
Group^a
Control	154	69.1
Intervention	180	74.7	1.082	0.964–1.213	0.180	1.063	0.946–1.194	0.306
Age
<20 years	52	63.4
≥20 years	282	73.8	1.164	0.977–1.387	0.089	1.139	0.951–1.364	0.158
Schooling
<8 years	143	66.2
≥8 years	191	77	1.163	1.035–1.308	0.011	1.136	1.011–1.278	0.033
Marital status
Does not have partner	80	75.5
Has partner	254	70.9	0.940	0.828–1.068	0.341	–	–	–
Mother’s occupation
No formal employment	213	70.1
Formal employment	121	75.6	1.079	0.962–1.210	0.192	1.035	0.919–1.165	0.575
Family income^b
<2 Brazilian minimum wages^c	150	71.8
≥2 Brazilian minimum wages^c	176	73.3	1.022	0.911–1.145	0.712	–	–	–
Parity
Primiparous	151	74.8
Multiparous	183	69.8	0.934	0.835–1.046	0.239	–	–	–

[1] * Correspondence: monicabroilo@gmail.com

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Mothers’ perceptions of their own diets and the diets of their children at 2–3 years of age

Abstract