ABSTRACT
Preschool is an important period for the development of healthy lifestyle behaviors. Parents have a great influence upon a child developing healthy lifestyle behaviors. The purpose of this study was to determine the self-efficacy perceptions of parents related to their preschool children’s healthy eating and physical activity behaviors. This study was conducted with a research population of 425 parents of 3- to 6-year-old children. The data collection tools included Demographic Information Form, and The Parental Self-efficacy Questionnaire (PSQ). Also, the weight and height of the children and their parents were measured. There was a positive correlation in parental self-efficacy score between parents’ educational status and economic status and there was a significant negative correlation between children’s body mass index and parental self-efficacy scores. The understanding of the effect of parental self-efficacy perception in the development of preschool children’s healthy eating and physical activity behaviors is one of the first important steps in effective health promotion interventions.
Declaration of interest
The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of this article.