Factors underlying mothers’ decision to offer ultra-processed meals during early childhood

The growing evidence on the negative health effects of ultra-processed products indicates the need to develop strategies to discourage their consumption among infants and children. The development of such strategies requires a deeper understanding of the factors underlying children’s consumption of ultra-processed products. In this context, the present work aimed to analyze factors underlying mothers’ decision to offer meals composed of ultra-processed products during early childhood (6 months to 5 years old). An online survey with 888 mothers was conducted. Participants were shown a series of pictures of ultra-processed meals and were asked to indicate whether they would offer them to their children or not. A follow-up open-ended question was used to explore reasons underlying negative responses. A relevant proportion of mothers indicated that they would offer the ultra-processed meals to their children (48.5 % to 64.5 %). On the other hand, motives for not offering ultra-processed meals to children were mainly related to food processing and nutritional composition. Several variables of the child (age, food fussiness), the mother (education level and socio-economic status), and the household (presence of children older than 5 years) had a significant effect on the likelihood of mothers offering ultra-processed meals and mentioning different reasons for not doing so. Results stress the need to implement strategies to increase perceived risk of ultra-processed products, particularly among parents with low educational level and from low socio-economic status.