Toddler Feeding Among Low-income Families Shows Need for Nutrition Education to Address Sweetened Beverages, Unhealthy Snacks, and Responsive Feeding (P11-108-19)

To assess low-income parents’ understanding and conformity with expert guidance on feeding young toddlers and identify targeted messages to address gaps. Survey of parents of toddlers (12-36 months) living in a low-income urban city to assess foods/beverages served in the previous week; responsive feeding practices; attitudes about expert guidance; food acculturation and security; and trusted information sources. Participants were recruited primarily from WIC offices and took the survey online. The survey was designed for a low reading level and pretested for understanding and content validity. Participants included 134 parents of diverse race/ethnicity (19% White non-Hispanic; 27% foreign born) and 83% WIC participants. Over 60% reported serving a variety of fruits/vegetable and serving them 5 or more times in the past week, 81% said their toddlers ate with the family, and 93% enjoyed mealtimes with their toddler. Yet some common practices did not follow recommendations. For example, 54% reported serving sweetened drinks to toddlers and 17% served sweetened milks. One-half served them in sippy cups for easy consumption and 63% in 8 + oz cups. The majority also served their toddler unhealthy snacks, including sweets (55%), salty snacks (52%) and crackers (78%). Nonresponsive feeding was also common. Only 13% reported that their child mostly/only decides how much to eat, and 55% reported that they make their child finish all food served sometimes/always. Most parents (68%) agreed that they knew best what to feed their child, but the majority also used health professionals and family as sources of nutrition information. The majority would be interested in getting information from doctors/nurses and dietitians, and would like to receive communications via email, handouts, in-person and/or texts. Although 81% used Facebook regularly, they were least interested in receiving health information through social media. These results suggest that nutrition education messages focusing on healthier beverages and snacks for toddlers and responsive feeding would benefit low-income parents. Messages from health professionals, including dietitians, would be well-received. Child Health & Development Institute of Connecticut.