Poster #73 - Parental self-efficacy in nutrition and eating behavior among economically disadvantaged children during the COVID-19 pandemic

• In Event: Poster Session 11

Abstract

Introduction:
The COIVD-19 pandemic and social distancing efforts have significantly and disproportionally increased household food insecurity and poorer eating habits, especially for low-income households that often lack sufficient economic resources to access healthy food choices. Loss of employment and under-employment increased economic hardship that is found to have adverse effects on household dietary consumption, eating habits, mealtime behaviors, parent self-efficacy, and family stressors among low-income families with children. Parental self-efficacy in nutrition and healthy eating has been shown as a key factor that promotes child eating behaviors in low-income families (e.g., Hughes et al., 2021). That is, parents who confident with the food choice and endeavors to feed their children with healthy balanced meals facilitated positive child eating behaviors beyond health-related outcomes. In contrast, stressed parents with low levels of confidence in nutrition and food preparation tend to use more coercive parenting practices during mealtimes and feeding. The COIVD-19 pandemic and its associated challenges have significantly impacted food insecurity, food consumption, eating behavior, and parenting practices in food and meal time (Jansen et al., 2021). However, little is known about parental self-efficacy in nutrition and child eating behavior, food habits, mealtime interactions, especially for low-income families with very young children. It is critical to identify the pandemic-specific urgent issues of concern to parents and young children from low-income families. Thus, the present study sought to examine the association between parental self-efficacy in nutrition and child eating behaviors among low-income families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method:
Participants for this study (N = 47 mothers and fathers who provided informed consent) were drawn from a larger study using a mixed methods approach (online survey and qualitative interview) that has been approved by the University IRB. Racially and ethnically diverse mothers and fathers with children aged 0 to 3 years attending local Early Head Start centers reported their parental self-efficacy in nutrition, food consumption, and their child’s eating behavior including mealtime interactions and food and snack habits.

Results:
Preliminary analyses revealed that higher levels of parental self-efficacy (e.g., confidence in encourage your family to enjoy healthy foods) were associated with their children’s positive eating behaviors (e.g., my child likes to taste new foods; vegetable intake). Further, this study will discuss the extent to which COVID-19 has impacted parent self-efficacy in nutrition and children’s eating behavior in households with children 0-3 years old from low-income families.
The findings from this study will be used to inform efforts to develop an appropriate, timely intervention that will significantly improve parents’ ability and confidence to provide nourishing meals to their children in the critical early years, especially during the challenging conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic among economically disadvantaged families.

Authors

• Shuwen Li, Texas Tech University
  Presenting Author

• Seowon Song, Texas Tech University

• Joanna Cayla Tadena Rivera, Texas Tech University

• Stephanie Shine, Texas Tech University

• Wonjung Oh, Texas Tech University