Malaysian mothers’ feeding practices, household food security and picky eating behaviour: lesson learnt from covid-19 pandemic
Introduction: Drastic changes in food access during the COVID-19 pandemic may impact families’ feeding practices, and eating behaviour. This study aimed to determine the association between maternal feeding practices, household food security status, and children’s picky eating among Malaysian mother...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University Putra Malaysia
2024
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/118698/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/118698/1/118698.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848867576730353664 |
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| author | Yang, Wai Yew Ung, Connie Kee Lee Ong, Yi Xuan Arasu, Kanimolli |
| author_facet | Yang, Wai Yew Ung, Connie Kee Lee Ong, Yi Xuan Arasu, Kanimolli |
| author_sort | Yang, Wai Yew |
| building | UPM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Introduction: Drastic changes in food access during the COVID-19 pandemic may impact families’ feeding practices, and eating behaviour. This study aimed to determine the association between maternal feeding practices, household food security status, and children’s picky eating among Malaysian mothers. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted virtually among 102 mothers with children aged from 5 to 12 years old (January-June 2022). Self-administered questionnaires on sociodemographic, feeding practices, household food security and child-picky eating behaviour were used. The statistical associations for key variables were analysed. Results: Most participants were Chinese mothers (87.3%) aged 30-39 years old (52.0%) with tertiary education (52.0%) and from middle to high household income (64.7%). Restriction domain had the highest median (interquartile range) score of 3.63 (1.00). A quarter of the household was experiencing food insecurity and about 34.3% of the children were classified as ‘picky eaters’. A significant difference was found for restrictive feeding practices and household food security status (3.75 (0.97) versus 3.13 (1.19), p=0.022), while mothers of picky eaters were more likely to pressure their children to eat compared to non-picky eaters (3.75 (0.75) versus 3.25 (1.00), p=0.01). Conclusion: Despite food secure status during the pandemic, two food parenting approaches (restriction and pressure to eat) were significantly associated with the household food security status and children’s picky eating behaviour. While the additional environmental stress from the COVID-19 pandemic could be transient, there should be consideration of the long-term impact of maternal feeding practices on the health and nutritional status of growing children. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T14:38:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | upm-118698 |
| institution | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T14:38:42Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | University Putra Malaysia |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | upm-1186982025-07-22T08:24:54Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/118698/ Malaysian mothers’ feeding practices, household food security and picky eating behaviour: lesson learnt from covid-19 pandemic Yang, Wai Yew Ung, Connie Kee Lee Ong, Yi Xuan Arasu, Kanimolli Introduction: Drastic changes in food access during the COVID-19 pandemic may impact families’ feeding practices, and eating behaviour. This study aimed to determine the association between maternal feeding practices, household food security status, and children’s picky eating among Malaysian mothers. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted virtually among 102 mothers with children aged from 5 to 12 years old (January-June 2022). Self-administered questionnaires on sociodemographic, feeding practices, household food security and child-picky eating behaviour were used. The statistical associations for key variables were analysed. Results: Most participants were Chinese mothers (87.3%) aged 30-39 years old (52.0%) with tertiary education (52.0%) and from middle to high household income (64.7%). Restriction domain had the highest median (interquartile range) score of 3.63 (1.00). A quarter of the household was experiencing food insecurity and about 34.3% of the children were classified as ‘picky eaters’. A significant difference was found for restrictive feeding practices and household food security status (3.75 (0.97) versus 3.13 (1.19), p=0.022), while mothers of picky eaters were more likely to pressure their children to eat compared to non-picky eaters (3.75 (0.75) versus 3.25 (1.00), p=0.01). Conclusion: Despite food secure status during the pandemic, two food parenting approaches (restriction and pressure to eat) were significantly associated with the household food security status and children’s picky eating behaviour. While the additional environmental stress from the COVID-19 pandemic could be transient, there should be consideration of the long-term impact of maternal feeding practices on the health and nutritional status of growing children. University Putra Malaysia 2024 Article PeerReviewed text en cc_by_4 http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/118698/1/118698.pdf Yang, Wai Yew and Ung, Connie Kee Lee and Ong, Yi Xuan and Arasu, Kanimolli (2024) Malaysian mothers’ feeding practices, household food security and picky eating behaviour: lesson learnt from covid-19 pandemic. Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 20 (3). pp. 266-273. ISSN 1675-8544; eISSN: 2636-9346 https://medic.upm.edu.my/upload/dokumen/2024052917154835_MJMHS_1146.pdf 10.47836/mjmhs.20.3.36 |
| spellingShingle | Yang, Wai Yew Ung, Connie Kee Lee Ong, Yi Xuan Arasu, Kanimolli Malaysian mothers’ feeding practices, household food security and picky eating behaviour: lesson learnt from covid-19 pandemic |
| title | Malaysian mothers’ feeding practices, household food security and picky eating behaviour: lesson learnt from covid-19 pandemic |
| title_full | Malaysian mothers’ feeding practices, household food security and picky eating behaviour: lesson learnt from covid-19 pandemic |
| title_fullStr | Malaysian mothers’ feeding practices, household food security and picky eating behaviour: lesson learnt from covid-19 pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Malaysian mothers’ feeding practices, household food security and picky eating behaviour: lesson learnt from covid-19 pandemic |
| title_short | Malaysian mothers’ feeding practices, household food security and picky eating behaviour: lesson learnt from covid-19 pandemic |
| title_sort | malaysian mothers’ feeding practices, household food security and picky eating behaviour: lesson learnt from covid-19 pandemic |
| url | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/118698/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/118698/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/118698/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/118698/1/118698.pdf |