Wpływ postaw rodzicielskich na sposób żywienia dzieci w wieku przedszkolnym w Krakowie na tle uwarunkowań socjo-demograficznych

Preschool period is a stage of intensive development of the food preferences and the pro-health attitudes associated with normal eating behaviors and consequently eating habits in adulthood. The aim of the study was to assess eating behaviors of children attending kindergartens in relation to selected socio-economic factors in their families.The study was conducted in a group of 325 children, whose average age was 5.23 ±1.30 years, attending nine kindergartens in Krakow. The questionnaire was filled in by 51.4% (N = 167) of parents of boys and 48.6% (N = 158) of girls. To conduct qualitative assessment of nutrition habits the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) was used with addition of questions regarding the socio-economic situation of the surveyed families. Differences in selected dietary behaviors of children were evaluated by gender, family income and parents’ educational level. The study indicates the existence of the relationship between food-related behaviour of preschool children and parents’ education level and family income.The resulting image of dietary behaviours of children in the study group has identified numerous anomalies that require an active and ongoing nutrition education for children and their parents.