Maternal and Child Dietary Intake:The Role of Maternal Healthy-Eater Self-Schema

University Of Rochester, Rochester NY

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Abstract

? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Nearly one-quarter of preschool children aged 2 to 5 are overweight or obese. Excess weight gain in young children has been associated with increased dietary intake of fats and added sugars, which displace other important foods, like fruits and vegetables, from the diet. Mothers are a key influence in shaping the dietary intakes of their young children through their own dietary intake, nutrition knowledge, and by making foods available at home. Therefore, identifying factors that influence maternal food choices are crucial for the development of interventions to promote healthy diets and prevent excess weight gain in children. Recent qualitative studies have shown that a mother's cognitions about herself as a healthy eater have been linked to food choices, but this relationship has not been systematically examined. This study builds on the self-schema theory, and research that has shown that adults with a healthy-eater self-schema (HESS) partake in healthier eating behaviors, including the consumption of more fruits and vegetables and less fats. Self-schemas are defined as chronically accessible knowledge structures about the self that are formed in specific behavioral domains that influence information processing and predict reliable schema-consistent behaviors over time. The following central hypotheses will be tested: (1) the availability of a HESS in mothers will be negatively associated with saturated fat and added sugars, and positively associated with fruits and vegetables in maternal and child diets, (2) the association between a maternal HESS and child dietary intake will be mediated through maternal dietary intake, nutrition knowledge, and home food availability, and (3) maternal HESS will demonstrate a negative association with their child's body mass index. A cross-sectional, correlational design will be used to investigate the relationship between maternal HESS and maternal and child dietary intake and child body mass index in a sample of 124 racially diverse mothers and their 2 to 5 year old children. Participants will be recruited from 18 urban and suburban preschools. A valid and reliable measure based on Markus' methodology will be used to measure availability of the HESS in mothers. The Block Fat/Sugar/Fruit/Vegetable Screener and the 2007 Block Kids Food Screener will be used to measure dietary intake in mothers and children. BMIs will be calculated based on measured heights and weights. All data collection will be completed during one face-to-face session. The proposed study is significant because it addresses a theoretically derived mechanism underlying dietary intake patterns of preschool aged children, and holds potential for guiding development of new approaches to improve nutrition and prevent excess weight gain in young children.