Parental child feeding practices and their relationship with children’s dietary intake and weight status in Nepal

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents

		n=138
Sociodemographic variable	Frequency	Percentage
Mean age of the parents=33.05±5.11 years
Mean age of the children=60.53±10.44 months
Relationship with child
Father	44	31.9
Mother	94	68.1
Family type
Nuclear	64	46.4
Joint/extended	74	53.6
Educational status
Informal education	2	1.4
Primary	4	2.9
Secondary	17	12.3
Higher secondary and above	115	83.3
Ethnicity
Privileged group	128	92.8
Underprivileged group	10	7.2
Occupation
Employed	109	79.0
Unemployed	29	21.0
Median income of the parents=30,000 NPR
(Range=7,000–500,000 NPR)
Sex of the child
Female	66	47.8
Male	72	52.2
Hours of television viewing
≤2	109	79.0
>2	29	21.0
Parental perception of child’s activity
Inactive	24	17.4
Moderately active	57	41.3
Highly active	57	41.3

Abbreviation: NPR, Nepalese rupee.

Table 2 Association of variables with child’s weight status and energy intake

			n=138
Variable	n	Child’s weight status (BMI Z-score)	Dietary energy intake (kilocalories)
		Median score	Median score
Age of parents
<30 years	45	0.140	1,458
≥30 years	93	−0.020	1,453
†p-value		0.751	0.782
Relationship with child
Father	44	0.215	1,466
Mother	94	0.025	1,424
†p-value		0.385	0.251
Occupation
Employed	109	0.140	1,463
Unemployed	29	−0.130	1,400
†p-value		0.231	0.515
Family type
Nuclear	64	−0.143	1,397.5
Joint	74	0.245	1,466
†p-value		0.041*	0.106
Educational status
Less than higher secondary level	23	0.200	1,419
Higher secondary and above	115	0.700	1,456
†p-value		0.480	0.693
Ethnicity
Privileged	128	0.080	1,457
Underprivileged	10	0.165	1,436
†p-value		0.841	0.938
Sex of child
Male	72	−0.075	1,433.5
Female	66	0.165	1,460
†p-value		0.353	0.457
Parental perception of child’s activity
Inactive	24	0.655	1,520
Moderately active	57	0.200	1,453
Highly active	57	−0.190	1,405
††p-value		0.004*	0.135

Notes: †Mann–Whitney U-test. ††Kruskal–Wallis H-test. *p-value significant at ≤0.05.

Table 3 Correlation of variables with child’s weight status and energy intake

				n=138
Variable	Child’s weight status (BMI Z-score)			Dietary energy intake (kilocalories)
		r	p-value	r	p-value
BMI of mother		0.307	≤0.001**	0.095	0.269
BMI of father		0.206	0.016*	0.121	0.156
Monthly family income		0.078	0.364	0.062	0.473
Child Feeding Questionnaire	Mean±SD
Perceived feeding responsibility	4.28±1.00	0.030	0.729	−0.053	0.538
Concerns about child overweight	2.57±1.24	0.232	0.006**	0.050	0.557
Restriction	4.20±0.63	−0.037	0.668	0.153	0.073
Pressure to eat	3.86±0.78	−0.007	0.938	0.044	0.607
Monitoring	4.04±0.78	0.092	0.284	−0.095	0.266

Notes: *Correlation significant at 0.05 level. **Correlation significant at 0.01 level.

Figure 1 Multiple linear regression scatter plot.