KIMURA Yasumi    Department   Hiroshima shudo University  The Faculty of Health Sciences    Position   Professor
Date	2024/06
Presentation Theme	Influence of Home Environment and Parents’ Attitudes toward Nutrition Education on Young Children’s Picky Eating
Conference	International Federation For Home Economics 2024
Conference Type	International
Presentation Type	Poster
Contribution Type	Individual
Publisher and common publisher	Yasumi Kimura
Details	Introduction: The home environment plays an important role in nutrition education for young children (3–6 years old). In Japan, nuclear families are increasingly common, mothers’ employment rates are rising, and the birthrate is declining. We examined how these environmental factors affect young children’s eating habits. Methods: A questionnaire-based survey was conducted with 218 parents of preschool children, covering parents’ age, employment status, family structure, awareness of nutrition education, children’s age, picky eating, and sleep status. A nutrition education score up to 12 was given on appropriate eating manners and assisting with meal preparation; scores of ≥6 or <6 were assigned to high or low groups, respectively. Findings: Over 90% of participants were in nuclear families, 60.1% were full-time homemakers, and 90.8% felt nutrition education should be provided at home. Children who went to bed later than 10 p.m. tended to skip breakfast. Bell peppers and eggplant were children’s most disliked foods. The rates of non-picky eaters were 89.9% and 76.9% for children with or without siblings, respectively. The high-scoring group for nutrition education tended to contain fewer picky eaters than the low-scoring group. Conclusions: Parents’ awareness of nutrition education and a regular lifestyle can help reduce children’s picky eating.