Browsing by Author "Tallberg, Hanna"

Background: The role of parents in the development of children’s long term eating patterns and food preferences is significant. Although the role of fathers in child upbringing is known to have changed during the past decades, are studies conducted about the role of fathers in food parenting still lacking. Aims: The aim of this study is to increase knowledge about the role fathers have in food parenting and the factors that affect fathers’ food choice motives (FCMs) when making food choices for their children. We examined the nutrition knowledge of fathers, how much they participate in food parenting, what is the food choice motives for fathers when selecting foods for their child and are the importance of different motives explained by the studied factors. Material and methods: The empirical part of the study was conducted by a quantitative study method using a web questionnaire. The FCMs of 281 fathers of 2-6-year-old children was examined by a modified version of Steptoe’s et al. Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ). In addition, fathers reported how many times during a normal week they eat together with their children and how often they carry responsibility about the buying and/or preparation of food for their child. Fathers were also asked to answer 12 questions measuring their nutrition knowledge. The FCMs were conducted through principal component analysis. The relationships between variables were examined by non-parametric statistical tests, Spearman -correlation test and linear regression analysis. Results: Health, sensory amiability, nutrition quality and convenience were the key FCMs for fathers in this study. They ate together with their child in average 3 times a day. 77 % of the respondents answered that they carry often or always responsibility of the organization of food for their child. The averaged percentage of answers in line with the recommendations in the nutrition knowledge questions was 73 %. The higher education level was associated with a better nutrition knowledge. The higher importance of the health motive was associated with fathers younger age, living in the metropolitan region and the bigger participation in feeding of the child. The higher the fathers’ nutrition level was, the less their food choices for children was driven by what the child wanted and more by the nutrition level of the food. Conclusion: The fathers in this study are actively involved in the food parenting of children. The FCMs of fathers were for most part in line with previous studies conducted with parents and according to previous literature the FCMs of fathers in this study are supporting the development of healthy eating patterns of children. The causality of the association between nutrition knowledge and the child mood and wants -motive would be an important next step in examining if, by increasing fathers nutrition knowledge, it is possible to drive them into making healthier food choices for their children.