Maternal influence on consumption of unhealthy snack foods among 6-24 months children in Kathmandu Metropolitan City of Nepal

Abstract

Despite the importance of healthy eating, unhealthy energy dense food consumption have been tremendously rising globally and high consumption of snacks have become one of the leading contributors to childhood obesity and non-communicable diseases. The study aimed to exhibit the prevalence and level of unhealthy snack food consumption among 6-24 months children and determine factors associated with it. This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted across three hospitals (public, private and community) of Kathmandu city among 323 mothers and their 6-24 months children, who visited the hospitals for the immunization purpose. Participants were selected using proportionate and simple random sampling assigning inclusion and exclusion criteria. Face to face interview was adopted using valid questionnaire consisting of 79 general and simple questions. Data were gathered from March to April, 2017 with the help of experienced research assistants. Then it was analyzed using chi-square and multiple logistic regression in SPSS version 21 to find out the association between independent variables and consumption of unhealthy snack foods. The result indicated the prevalence of unhealthy snack foods to be 56.7% and high consumption which is >= 2 times/day was 27.6%. Total 18 variables were significantly associated in bivariate analysis, after adjusting total 10 variables were associated in full model of multiple logistic regression and final model concluded that age of children (AOR=4.793, 95% CI, 2.168-10.597, p<0.01), self-efficacy (AOR=1.875, 95% CI, 1.108-3.172, p<0.05), hours of watching T.V (AOR=3.542, 95% CI, 1.854-6.766, p<0.01), food to calm (AOR=2.403, 95% CI, 1.442-4.005, p<0.01), restriction (AOR=1.704, 95% CI, 1.028-3.825, p<0.05), household income (AOR=1.769, 95% CI, 1.067-2.934, p<0.05) and picky eating (AOR=1.930, 95% CI, 1.180-3.158, p<0.01) were the strong predictors of snack consumption among children. In conclusion, the health professionals should be aware and educate mothers regarding the consequences of feeding unhealthy foods to their young children. Maternal attitude, self-efficacy and feeding practices needs to be improved. As the environment plays a vital role in shaping dietary habits of young children, positive feeding environment must be created for mothers through health promotion programs and awareness campaigns in order to discourage intake of unhealthy snacks by young children.