Healthy eating for preschool children: parents’ needs to promote this practice
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29352/mill0220e.40076Abstract
Introduction: Parental food literacy plays a crucial role in shaping healthy eating habits during childhood, with the family being the main agent of food socialization in the preschool years.
Objective: To understand parents’ needs in the process of promoting healthy eating, recognizing their central role in the development of eating habits in preschool-aged children.
Methods: Qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive study, based on semi-structured interviews with parents of preschool-aged children attending a Family Health Unit in Alto Minho. Content analysis followed Bardin’s procedures, with approval from the Ethics Committee.
Results: Four main categories emerged: access to healthy foods (including physical and economic accessibility and availability at home); motivational factors and time management (related to parents’ availability and involvement in meals); strategies for dealing with children’s eating behaviors; and absence of perceived needs.
Conclusion: The main difficulties experienced by parents are not due to a lack of knowledge, but rather to practical and contextual constraints, such as time management, economic access to healthy foods, and challenges related to children’s eating behaviors. It is essential to develop support strategies focused on practical skills and the strengthening of parenting competencies, adapted to families’ daily realities, in order to promote healthy and sustainable eating habits in preschool-aged children.
Keywords: healthy diet; parents; children; preschool
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