Maternal restrictive feeding practices for child weight control and associated characteristics

OBJECTIVE

To identify associations between maternal restrictive feeding practices for child weight control and sociodemographic, behavioral, dietetic, and anthropometric characteristics.

METHODS

Cross-sectional study with mothers of children aged 2-8 years. Maternal feeding practices were measured by the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire, in private schools in Brazil. Bivariate and multivariate associations were performed, using nonparametric analyses to estimate odds ratios and significance levels.

RESULTS

Maternal restrictive feeding practices for weight control were independently associated with the mother's perception of her child being a little overweight/overweight/obese (OR=4.61, p=0.001), greater concern about the child's overweight (OR=2.61, p<0.001), child's overweight/obesity/severe obesity (OR= 2.18, p<0.001), and the child's greater intake of ultra-processed foods (OR=1.40, p=0.026).

CONCLUSION

In this study, the risk variables identified for the use of the maternal restrictive feeding practices to control the child's weight can be used to provide education and guidance interventions in health and education networks directed to groups with similar characteristics to those of the studied population.

[Dietary patterns of children and socioeconomical, behavioral and maternal determinants]

Objective:

To identify dietary patterns of children and to verify their association with socio-economical, behavioral and maternal determinants.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study with a random sample of 328 children aged 8 and 9 years. Dietary intake was assessed by food records in three nonconsecutive days and measured in grams of food groups and nutrients. Factor analysis and subsequent orthogonal rotation (varimax) were used to determine dietary patterns. Ordinal logistic regression was used to assess associations between dietary patterns and the studied determinants.

Results:

Five dietary patterns were observed: “Traditional,” “Sweetened beverages and snacks,” “Monotonous,” “Healthy” and “Egg-dairy.” A higher maternal level of education was directly associated with “Sweetened beverages and snacks” and “Egg-dairy' standards. Low income children who were submitted to greater food restriction by parents/guardians followed the more “Traditional” standard, represented by the consumption of rice, beans, vegetables, cooked roots and tubers and red meat. The “Monotonous” pattern, represented by a high consumption of milk and chocolate powder, was most followed by children from the middle class. Children living in rural areas consumed more foods from the “Egg-dairy” pattern, when compared to those from the urban area.

Conclusions:

Dietary patterns of children were associated with family socioeconomic status, maternal level of education, practice of food restriction by parents/guardians and location of residence in urban or rural area. Better socioeconomic conditions contributed to a more nutritionally inadequate dietary pattern.

[Children's eating behaviour: comparison between normal and overweight children from a school in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil]

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate differences in children's eating behavior in relation to their nutritional status, gender and age.

METHODS:

Male and female children aged six to ten years were included. They were recruited from a private school in the city of Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil, in 2012. Children´s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) subscales were used to assess eating behaviors: Food Responsiveness (FR), Enjoyment of Food (EF), Desire to Drink (DD), Emotional Overeating (EOE), Emotional Undereating (EUE), Satiety Responsiveness (SR), Food Fussiness (FF) and Slowness in Eating (SE). Age-adjusted body mass index (BMI) z-scores were calculated according to the WHO recommendations to assess nutritional status.

RESULTS:

The study sample comprised 335 children aged 87.9±10.4 months and 49.3% had normal weight (n=163), 26% were overweight (n=86), 15% were obese (n=50) and 9.7% were severely obese (n=32). Children with excess weight showed higher scores at the CEBQ subscales associated with "food approach" (FR, EF, DD, EOE, p<0.001) and lower scores on two "food avoidance" subscales (SR and SE, p<0.001 and p=0.003, respectively) compared to normal weight children. Differences in the eating behavior related to gender and age were not found.

CONCLUSIONS:

"Food approach" subscales were positively associated to excess weight in children, but no associations with gender and age were found.

Sociodemographic, anthropometric and dietary determinants of dyslipidemia in preschoolers

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the determinants of dyslipidemia in preschoolers.

METHODS

A total of 227 preschoolers residing in an urban area of the city of Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil were evaluated at age 5 years, using a cross-sectional design. Dietary intake from a food frequency questionnaire, anthropometric/biochemical parameters, and socioeconomic/behavioral information from a questionnaire were evaluated. 'Mixed diet', 'snack', and 'unhealthy' dietary patterns were identified using principal component analysis. The determinants of dyslipidemia were examined using Poisson regression analysis.

RESULTS

The prevalence of dyslipidemia in this study was 65.19%. Preschoolers who less frequently consumed foods in the 'mixed diet' dietary pattern had a higher risk of high concentrations of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (PR=2.30; p=0.004) when compared with those with more frequent consumption of the 'mixed diet' dietary pattern. Preschoolers whose mothers had lower levels of education presented a lower risk of high concentrations of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (PR=0.43; p=0.003), and preschoolers who were overweight/obese presented with greater risk of high concentrations of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (PR=2.23; p=0.003).

CONCLUSION

The determinants of dyslipidemia identified in this study were less frequent consumption of foods in the 'mixed diet' dietary pattern, higher body mass index, and lower level of maternal education. This study shows that despite the young age of the group under study, they already present a high prevalence of dyslipidemia, which is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease.