Poor diet places children at significant risk of over and under-nutrition including micronutrient deficiencies, which is a public health threat to a lower middle-income country like Sri Lanka. Understanding factors that influence food choices in early childhood is necessary to promote healthy food choices. As parents are the main gatekeepers of children's food environment, this study aimed to explore parents/caregivers' perspectives on the factors that influence their children's food choices. Thirteen focus groups adopting a partial nominal group technique were conducted with 110 parents/caregivers of children aged 2-6 years living in an urban area, Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka. Parents/caregivers were provided with 22 potential factors and asked to rank six most influential and choose six least influential factors on their child's food decisions. Responses were discussed as a group and audio recorded discussions underwent content analysis. Child food preference was ranked as the core driving factor in food decisions of preschool children. Family income, nutritional knowledge of the family, maternal control of food choices and household food preparation facilities were ranked as the next four most influential. Most frequent choices of least influential factors were: individual characteristics of child including sex and nutritional knowledge; and community (environmental) characteristics including seasonal food availability and community cultural food beliefs. Additional influential factors proposed were having a single child, a supportive family network and healthy menu suggestions by the preschool centres. Findings suggest that modifying the food preference of the child and the family characteristics need to be central for effective eating interventions.

中文翻译：

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影响斯里兰卡城市学龄前儿童食物选择的因素：与父母和照顾者的焦点小组

不良饮食使儿童面临营养过度和营养不足的重大风险，包括微量营养素缺乏症，这对斯里兰卡这样的中低收入国家来说是一种公共卫生威胁。了解影响幼儿食物选择的因素对于促进健康的食物选择是必要的。由于父母是儿童饮食环境的主要看门人，本研究旨在探讨父母/照顾者对影响孩子食物选择的因素的看法。13 个焦点小组采用部分名义小组技术，对 110 名居住在斯里兰卡库鲁内加拉区市区的 2-6 岁儿童的父母/照顾者进行了研究。父母/看护人被提供了 22 个潜在因素，并要求他们对六个最有影响力的因素进行排名，并选择六个对孩子影响最小的因素 s 食物决定。以小组形式讨论答复，并对录音讨论进行内容分析。儿童食物偏好被列为学龄前儿童食物决定的核心驱动因素。家庭收入、家庭营养知识、母亲对食物选择的控制和家庭食物准备设施被列为接下来最有影响力的四项。影响最小因素的最常见选择是：儿童的个体特征，包括性别和营养知识；和社区（环境）特征，包括季节性食物供应和社区文化食物信仰。提出的其他影响因素包括独生子女、支持性家庭网络和学前中心提供的健康菜单建议。