Exploring parental secretive eating of sugary foods and drinks, and its associations with food consumption in families.

As a way of modeling healthier eating habits for their children, parents may intentionally avoid consuming sugary foods and drinks (SFDs) in their presence but consume these on other occasions (later referred to as parental secretive eating). This study aimed to 1) explore the prevalence of parental secretive eating, 2) investigate the associations between parental secretive eating and SFD consumption in parents and children, and 3) qualitatively explore the reasons for parental secretive eating. Participants were Finnish mothers (n = 362), fathers (n = 123), and their 3-6-year-old children (n = 403); this data was collected in 2017 as part of the baseline assessment of the DAGIS intervention. Parents reported how often they avoided eating SFDs in the presence of their child, completed food frequency questionnaires for themselves and their child, and responded to an open-ended question of explaining reasons for secretive eating. The overall prevalence of parental secretive eating was 68%. It was more common among mothers than fathers (p < 0.001) and most prevalent in chocolate (61%) and sweets (59%). Parental secretive eating was positively associated with SFD consumption both among mothers (ꞵ = 0.274, p < 0.001) and fathers (ꞵ = 0.210, p = 0.028) in linear regression models adjusted for parents' and child's age, child's gender, parental education level, and number of household members. Mothers' or fathers' secretive eating and child's SFD consumption were not associated (ꞵ = 0.031, p = 0.562; ꞵ = -0.143; p = 0.167). Three themes describing reasons for parental secretive eating were found: family food rules, avoiding child's requests, and aspiration for healthy modeling. In conclusion, parental secretive eating may play an important role in determining SFD consumption in families with preschoolers. Additional research is needed to determine whether parents can prevent their own eating habits from influencing their child through secretive eating.

Associations between socioeconomic status, home food availability, parental role-modeling, and children's fruit and vegetable consumption: a mediation analysis.

BACKGROUND: Recent literature has suggested that associations and interactions between family socioeconomic status (SES) and home food environment influence children's diet, but little is known about the mediation roles of parental role-modeling and food availability in the socioeconomic inequalities of children's diet. This study aimed to determine the associations between family SES and children's fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption and to assess the mediation roles of parental role-modeling and food availability in the above associations. METHODS: Cross-sectional data of 574 Finnish children (aged 3 to 6) were analyzed. Parents completed an FFQ assessing their children's FV consumption frequency and a questionnaire assessing SES and home food environment. Two exposure variables: parental educational level ("low", "middle", and "high") and the relative family income tertiles of the family were used. The frequencies of parental role-modeling of FV and sugary food and drink (SFD) consumption, and the availability of FV and SFD at home were calculated. Single- and multiple-mediator models were created using IBM SPSS 27.0. RESULTS: The positive association between high parental educational level and children's FV consumption (direct effect coefficient: 2.76, 95% CI: 0.51-4.86) was partially mediated by more frequent parental role-modeling of FV consumption (indirect effect coefficient: 0.89, 95% CI: 0.10-1.76), higher availability of FV (indirect effect coefficient: 1.00, 95% CI: 0.35-1.77), and lower availability of SFD (indirect effect coefficient: -0.30, 95% CI: -0.72 - -0.01). The relative family income was not directly associated with the outcome. However, the higher relative family income level indirectly predicted the Children's FV consumption (full mediation) through more frequent parental role-modeling of FV consumption (indirect effect coefficient: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.06-1.83) and higher availability of FV (indirect effect coefficient: 0.98, 95% CI: 0.40-1.67). Parental role-modeling on SFD consumption did not mediate any of the above associations. CONCLUSIONS: Parental educational level showed more associations with children's FV consumption than relative family income. Our findings suggest that reducing the availability of SFD is as important as increasing the availability of FV to enhance children's FV consumption. Future interventions to improve children's dietary behaviors should pay greater attention to the lower SES segments of society. Longitudinal studies and intervention studies supporting these findings are needed for making meaningful recommendations for health promotion.