Elsevier

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

Volume 41, Issue 5, September–October 2009, Pages 360-364
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

Research Brief
Fruits and Vegetables at Home: Child and Parent Perceptions

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2008.08.003Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

Examine child and parent perceptions of home food environment factors and associations with child fruit and vegetable (FV) intake.

Design

Research staff administered surveys to children during after-school sessions, and parents completed surveys by mail or over the phone.

Setting

Four urban elementary schools in St. Paul, Minnesota, serving primarily low-income populations.

Participants

Seventy-three children (55 girls, 18 boys) and 1 parent/guardian per child participated in a theater-based intervention aimed at obesity prevention.

Main Outcome Measures

Perceptions of home food environment factors (home FV availability, home FV accessibility; parental encouragement to eat FV; family meal frequency).

Analysis

Descriptive statistics and paired t tests.

Results

On average, child and parent perceptions of the home food environment were similar. When comparing child-parent dyad perceptions of home food environment, a moderate to high level of agreement (56%-86%) was found. Child report of home FV availability, home FV accessibility, parental encouragement to eat FV, and family meal frequency explained 26.7% of the variance in child FV intake, whereas parent report of these factors explained 4.9% of the variance.

Conclusions and Implications

It is important to understand both child and parent perceptions of the home food environment when developing interventions aimed at increasing child FV intake.

Introduction

Despite the evidence in support of health benefits associated with fruit and vegetable (FV) intake,1 national data indicate that fewer than 25% of boys and girls ages 9-13 consume 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily.2 Furthermore, youth from families with low socioeconomic status may consume the fewest daily servings of fruits and vegetables.3 Efforts are currently underway to investigate the most effective approaches for promoting increased FV intake among youth. A variety of factors within the home environment may be associated with youth FV intake; the strongest include home availability and accessibility of FV,3, 4, 5 parental FV intake,3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and family meal frequency.9, 10, 11

When evaluating the impact of home environmental influences, it may be important to consider both child and parent perceptions. Research suggests that children and parents may perceive the home environment somewhat differently.4, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 In a study with sixth- and seventh-grade Norwegian students and parents, parents perceived their children's FV accessibility to be better than what was reported by the children.14 Similarly, van Assema and colleagues found that, on average, parents reported higher fruit availability/accessibility than their 12- to 14-year-old children; however, they also found that the majority of parents and children shared similar views on fruit accessibility.12 It is important to identify whether parents and children perceive the home environment differently, because if parents perceive a higher level of home FV availability and accessibility, they may be less likely to engage in behaviors to change the home environment to facilitate children's FV intake.

Although some studies evaluating similarities and differences between child and parent perceptions of the home food environment have been conducted,4, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 few have explored child-parent perceptions among youth from low-income, ethnically diverse families at increased risk for low FV intake. The objectives of this study were to (1) identify relationships between child report and parent report of home food environment factors (home availability and accessibility of FV; parental encouragement to eat FV; family meal frequency) and (2) identify whether child or parent report of home food environment variables is more strongly correlated with child FV intake. The present study extends previous research by reporting child and parental perceptions of the home food environment using data from an ethnically diverse, primarily low- income sample of male and female public elementary school children and their parents within an urban area in the United States.

Section snippets

Study Population and Design

The study population for these analyses included 73 children (55 girls and 18 boys) and 1 parent or guardian per child who participated in an evaluation of the Ready. Set. ACTION! (RSA) program, a theater-based pilot study aimed at obesity prevention.17 Baseline data from the RSA study included 108 fourth- through sixth-grade students; however, data from the 35 children whose parents did not complete the baseline survey were excluded from these analyses. Children were recruited from 4 urban

Lessons Learned

The majority of children and parents perceived a high overall level of home FV availability (74.6% children, 81.7% parents). A slightly lower proportion perceived a high overall level of home FV accessibility (64.4% children, 72.3% parents). Parental encouragement to eat FV was reported by 52.8% of children and 65.3% of parents. Regular family meals were reported by 41.4% of children and 48.6% of parents (Table). No statistically significant differences were found between children and parents

Discussion

The present study compared child and parent perceptions of the home fruit and vegetable environment. In general, child and parent perceptions of the home food environment were similar. A large percentage of both children and parents reported high FV availability and accessibility (Table). When comparing child-parent dyads, the majority (56% to 86%) shared similar perceptions of home FV availability and accessibility, parental encouragement to eat FV, and family meal frequency. Although the

Implications for Research and Practice

In designing studies to examine determinants of children's dietary intake and exploring the potential influence of the home environment on intake, the question often emerges as to whether investigators need to collect data from both children and parents. Findings from the current study suggest the importance of both. Although the majority of parents and children may share similar perceptions of the home food environment, a moderate proportion of parents and children may not perceive their home

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and by the National Institutes of Health grant number R21 DK072972 (PI: Neumark-Sztainer). The first author's time was supported by the Adolescent Health Protection Program (School of Nursing, University of Minnesota) grant number T01-DP000112 (PI: Bearinger) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not

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