Attitudes & beliefs that influence healthy eating behaviours among mothers of young children in Singapore: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND

Many countries recommend parental involvement to enhance the effectiveness of healthy lifestyle interventions focusing on behavioural modifications that encourage weight management in children. Our study investigates to what extent the different constructs of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) are influencing healthy eating behaviour among mothers of pre-school and primary school children in Singapore.

METHODS

A total of 716 mothers of pre-schoolers, 3-6 years old (N = 358) and primary school students, 7-12 years old (N = 358) were administered a survey to assess healthy eating behaviour using the TPB constructs. Bivariate correlations among TPB constructs were calculated and tested using Pearson's correlation. Multivariate generalized regression was performed to examine the associations between TPB constructs and healthy eating behaviour.

RESULTS

More than 80% of children consumed less than the daily recommended servings of at least 1 glass of dairy,2 servings of fruit and 2 servings of vegetables per day advised by the Singapore Health Board. More primary school children consumed less dairy per day compared to pre-school children (48.9% vs 26.3%; p < 0.001). Primary school children's healthy eating behaviours were correlated with mother's perceived behavioural control (PBC) such as adequate discipline (β = 0.40; p = 0.001), self-efficacy (β = 0.35; p = 0.01) and a lower barrier that healthy food does not satisfy hunger (β = -1.16; p < 0.001). Barriers that significantly reduced pre-school children's healthy food intake were lack of motivation among mothers (β = -1.13; p < 0.001) and children (β = -0.49; p = 0.02), lack of satiety (β = -1.06; p = 0.02), difficulty in changing child's eating habits (β = -0.58; p = 0.03), lack of family support (β = -0.62; p = 0.03).

CONCLUSIONS

Findings from this study provides a formative foundation for future research and exploration of plausible interventions around improving mother's PBC, self-efficacy and reducing barriers, which could increase mother's engagement in improving their children's healthy eating behaviours in Singapore.