The factors associated with food fussiness in Irish school-aged children

Rahill, Stephanie; Kennedy, Aileen; Walton, Janette; McNulty, Breige A.; Kearney, John

The factors associated with food fussiness in Irish school-aged children

Files

8446.pdf(710.85 KB)

Published version

Date

2018-11-08

Authors

Rahill, Stephanie

Kennedy, Aileen

Walton, Janette

McNulty, Breige A.

Kearney, John

Publisher

Cambridge University Press (CUP)

Published Version

10.1017/S1368980018002835

Abstract

Objective: To establish the factors that determine food fussiness, to explore if child age determines the extent to which these factors influence food fussiness and to identify whether parental neophobia is an independent determinant of food fussiness. Design: Cross-sectional data from the National Children’s Food Survey (2003–2004). The Children’s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) assessed eating behaviours in children. The Food Neophobia Scale (FNS) assessed parental food neophobia. Young children were classified as 5–8 years old with older children classified as 9–12 years old. Setting: Republic of Ireland. Participants: Nationally representative sample of Irish children aged 5–12 years (n 594). Results: Parents identifying child’s food preferences as a barrier to providing their child with a healthy diet was significantly associated with increased food fussiness in younger (P<0·001) and older children (P<0·001). Higher levels of parental neophobia were significantly associated with an increase in food fussiness in younger (P<0·05) and older (P<0·001) children. Food advertising as a barrier to providing a healthy diet was inversely associated with food fussiness in younger children (P<0·05). In older children, there was a significant inverse association between child’s BMI and food fussiness (P<0·05), but not to the extent that a difference in weight status was noted. Family mealtimes in older children were associated with significantly lower levels of food fussiness (P<0·05). Conclusions: Findings from the present study identify that a child’s age does determine the extent to which certain factors influence food fussiness and that parental neophobia is an independent determinant of food fussiness.

Keywords

Food fussiness , Parental neophobia , Children , Determinants

Citation

Rahill, S., Kennedy, A., Walton, J., McNulty, B. A. and Kearney, J. (2018) 'The factors associated with food fussiness in Irish school-aged children', Public Health Nutrition, In Press, doi: 10.1017/S1368980018002835