Poster #47 - Exploring the Factors Underlying Parents’ Food Choice Decisions for their Preschool-Aged Child

• In Event: Poster Session 10

Abstract

Preschoolers in the United States are not meeting dietary guidelines to promote optimal growth and development, with consumption of vegetables being particularly poor (CDC, 2020). Parents of preschoolers are primarily responsible for the quality of their child’s diet (Russell et al., 2018). Despite the growing literature on the importance of parent feeding practices for child health outcomes, how and why parents make decisions regarding the foods they offer their young children are not fully understood. One approach for enhancing our understanding of predictors of food choice decisions, developed in the field of marking and consumer behavior, is means-end theory. This theory proposes that a product (or service or behavior) and its associated attributes represent the “means” that produce desired consequences or benefits, which in turn help fulfill desired values or “ends” (Klenosky, 2002). By uncovering these attribute-consequence-value linkages, via a semi-structured interview technique known as “laddering,” the means-end approach provides a valuable framework for developing a better understanding of the factors underlying decision-making and choice behavior. The current study uses this means-end perspective to explore why parents: 1) recently offered, or 2) avoided offering their child certain foods.
One-on-one phone interviews were conducted with parents (n = 33) of preschoolers (Mean age = 3.85 years ± 0.75 years) to first identify: 1) foods they offered, and 2) foods they avoided offering their child in the past 24 hours. Participants were then asked to identify attributes of each food item they had listed, and why that attribute was important to them. The interviewer then asked why the response given was important and continued this process until the respondent reached a value or could not go on. This technique is called laddering because it essentially forces respondents up the “ladder” of abstraction moving from concrete attributes to more abstract consequences, and ultimately to highly abstract personal values. The resulting data were transcribed, content analyzed, and summarized in a series of hierarchical value maps (Figures 1 and 2).
Responses to each prompt (foods offered, foods avoided) elicited varying attributes, consequences, and values, that can be viewed as involving parent, child, or family/relationship-centric themes. For example, “likelihood their child would eat a food” and “fight/battles with child” were considerations noted for foods parents recently offered and foods they avoided offering to their child. The factors “likelihood their child would eat a food” and “avoiding fights/battles” often led to differing values such as “quality time/connection,” “avoiding waste,” and “parent happiness/well-being.” The value “want child to be healthy” was also prevalent across both contexts, which was anticipated.
Results of this study indicate that although most parents identified trying to make food decisions because they want their child to be healthy, factors such as avoiding fights/battles and the likelihood their child would eat a food were identified as especially relevant for offering certain foods, particularly vegetables. These study findings enhance our understanding of the range of meanings underlying parents’ food choice decisions. Thus, providing insights to future interventions and nutrition education programs for parents, and ultimately toward efforts to improve early childhood nutrition.

Authors

• Elizabeth Irene Kielb, Purdue University, West Lafayette
  Presenting Author

• Kameron Moding, Purdue University, West Lafayette

• Carlyn Kimiecik, Purdue University

• David Klenosky, Purdue University