A Qualitative Exploration of Parents' Food Choices During Early Childhood

Abstract

Objective: To explore parents' accounts of the goals they seek when choosing foods for their young children through the lens of goal-systems theory.

Design: In-depth interviews with parents of children aged from 6 months to 5 years.

Setting: Montevideo, Uruguay.

Participants: Forty-two parents (aged 19-44 years, 90% female).

Phenomenon of interest: Parents' personal experiences, feelings, and opinions related to how they choose foods for their children.

Analysis: Content analysis based on deductive-inductive coding.

Results: Parents' accounts confirmed they intended to pursue different goals when choosing foods for their children. Health-related goals mainly motivated the selection of healthy foods, but they also drove the selection of some ultra-processed products because of misconceptions about their healthiness. Pleasure and enjoyment motivated the selection of ultra-processed products, whereas stress avoidance was associated with selecting convenient foods. The selection of unhealthy foods raised conflicts between goals, which were solved using goal shielding, changes in risk perception and/or compensatory health beliefs.

Conclusions and implications: Results point to the need for communication campaigns and community-based interventions to introduce changes in how ultra-processed products are conceptualized and increase the associations between healthy foods and children's pleasure and enjoyment to promote healthier eating patterns during infancy and early childhood.

Keywords: childhood obesity; food choice; parental feeding practices; ultra-processed food.