ARS | Publication request: Cross-country comparison of professionals' perceptions of ineffective or counter-productive fruit and vegetable parenting practices among preschool children

Submitted to: International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: February 1, 2009
Publication Date: June 1, 2009
Citation: O'Connor, T., Watson, K., Beltran, A., Campbell, K., Juvinya-Canal, D., Jago, R., Perez-Lizaur, A.B., Zacarias, I. 2009. Cross-country comparison of professionals' perceptions of ineffective or counter-productive fruit and vegetable parenting practices among preschool children [abstract]. In: The International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Abstract Book, June 17-20, 2009, Lisbon, Portugal. p. 290-291.

Technical Abstract: Fruit and vegetable (FV) intake may reduce the risk of some chronic diseases and obesity. Parents are considered an important influence on children's FV intake and ineffective parenting practices (PP) may inhibit child FV consumption. Furthermore, there may be differences in perceived ineffectiveness across countries. We compare health and nutrition professionals' perceptions regarding the ineffectiveness of parenting practices (PP) to promote FV consumption in preschool children across 6 countries. We used a cross-sectional sample of health and nutrition professionals from 6 Spanish and English-speaking countries. An internet survey was distributed to health and nutrition organizations within the US and 5 additional countries with the help of collaborators (Australia, Chile, Mexico, Spain and UK). Participants rated how effective/ineffective 39 PP were in promoting preschool children to eat FY. Responses were analyzed using Item Response Modeling and Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analyses. We had 889 participants (55.0% US, 22.6% Mexico, 10.9%Australia, 4.4% Spain, 3.3% Chile, 2.2% UK, 1.6% other countries) complete the survey; 14 of the 39 PP were perceived as ineffective or counter-productive, of which 13 provided external control. Only 3 items showed moderate to large differences between multiple countries. Health and nutrition professionals from several countries perceived externally controlling FV-PP as ineffective or counterproductive. Overall, little variation existed by country among health and nutrition professionals for ineffective or counterproductive FV-PP items. Further research needs to evaluate overall and country specific associations between parental use of ineffective FV-PP and posited lower FV consumption among children.