Parental behavior and the availability of foods among undernourished inner-city children.

This study was designed to identify differences in parental behaviors and the availability of food between undernourished and well-nourished inner-city children of early school age. Children with a constellation of measurements of height below the 25th percentile, midarm muscle circumference below the 50th percentile, and hemoglobin concentration below 11.5 g/dL were considered undernourished. These children were matched with controls having measurements above these levels. The homes of all children were investigated. Families of undernourished children were found to have significantly less variety of nutritious foods requiring preparation by an adult available in the home (P less than .01), to have greater variety of convenience foods of low nutritional value (P less than .01), and to prefer fewer vegetables (P less than .04) and dairy products (P less than .01). The Polansky Child Level of Living Scale showed that mothers of undernourished children were less likely to prepare meals regularly for their children (P less than .05) and that they were less effective in providing general parental support to their children (P less than .03).