Correlation of Eating Habits of Parents and Preschool Children

Prehrambene navike stječu se u ranom djetinjstvu kada djeca uče na primjeru odraslih. Roditelji moraju poznavati prehrambene potrebe djeteta predškolske dobi i pružati mu prehranu koja zadovoljava potreban unos nutrijenata. Važno je djeci pružiti raznovrsnu prehranu i upoznavati ih s novim namirnicama kako bi ih što lakše prihvatili i konzumirali, te tako izbjeći izbirljivost djece u prehrani. Osim roditelja, na prehrambene navike djece utječu svi u njihovoj okolini, posebice odgojno obrazovna ustanova. Zdravu prehranu važno je usvajati od najmlađih dana jer zdrave prehrambene navike ostaju za cijeli život i najbolja su preventiva bolestima. Najčešća posljedica nezdrave prehrane je pretilost. Broj pretile djece danas je veći nego ikada te je pretilost postala problem na globalnoj razini. Posljedice pretilosti u djetinjstvu manifestiraju se u kasnijoj dobi i dovode do teških zdravstvenih problema. Cilj provedenog istraživanja bio je utvrditi povezanost prehrambenih navika roditelja i djece predškolske dobi. Istraživanje je provedeno nad 300 ispitanika – roditelja djece predškolske dobi. Rezultati pokazuju da su djeca u prosjeku prekomjerne težine, odnosno indeks tjelesne mase djevojčica i dječaka je prevelik. Djeca i roditelji ne konzumiraju dovoljno povrća, voća i ribe. Konzumiraju previše slatkiša, brze hrane te gaziranih pića. Djeca prehrambene navike u velikoj mjeri usvajaju od roditelja što se vidi u rezultatima upitnika gdje je većina odgovora za roditelje i njihovu djecu slična. Rezultati pokazuju da je prehrana djece ipak kvalitetnija od prehrane roditelja, te djeca konzumiraju više obroka u danu, više voća i manje nezdrave hrane. 70% roditelja u istraživanju smatra da njihova djeca usvajaju njihove prehrambene navike.Eating habits are learned in early childhood when children learn from the example of adults. Parents should know the nutritional needs of their children and provide them with nutrition that satisfies the nutritional intake requirements. It is important to provide children with a varied diet and to familiarize them with new foods so that they can accept and consume them and in that way avoid the pickiness in their diet. Except the parents, eating habits of children are influenced by everyone around them, especially the educational institution. It is important to accept healthy eating habits from the youngest days because healthy eating habits remain for life and are the best prevention to diseases. The most common consequence of an unhealthy diet is obesity. The number of obese children today is higher than ever and obesity became a global problem. The consequences of childhood obesity manifest during ageing and lead to severe health problems. Aim of this study was to determine the correlation of eating habits of parents and preschool children. Survey was conducted on over 300 respondents - parents of preschool children. Results show that children are overweight and the girls and boys body mass index is too high. Children and parents do not consume enough vegetables, fruits and fish. They consume too much sweets, fast food and sodas. Children's eating habits are learned from parents, and the results show that the most answers for parents and their children are similar. Results show that the nutrition of children is better than the nutrition of parents, and children consume more meals per day, more fruit and less unhealthy food. 70% of parents from this research believe that their children are picking up their eating habits