High Priority? Examining How Mothers of Young Children Prioritize Children’s Healthy Diet and Its Associations with Child Feeding

Background: This cross-sectional study examined how mothers of young children ranked their children’s consumption of a healthy diet relative to other social, health, and academic priorities and assessed the associations between these rankings and mothers’ engagement in specific food parenting practices. Methods: Predominantly highly resourced, highly educated mothers ( N = 328) ranked “My child eats a healthy diet” among 13 common parenting goals (1 = highest priority; 13 = lowest priority). Sociodemographic and food parenting practices were assessed via questionnaires. Logistic and linear regression models were used to estimate the associations between prioritization of a healthy diet and food parenting practices. Results: In this sample, mothers ranked “My child eats a healthy diet” as the fifth most important parenting priority. Older mothers and mothers without a co-parent ranked children’s healthy diets as a higher parenting priority. Adjusting for potential confounders, mothers who rated children’s healthy diets as a higher priority were more likely to provide their child with guidance for healthy eating [B (95% confidence interval) = −0.03 (−0.06, −0.01), p = 0.009] and monitor their child’s dietary intake [−0.06 (−0.10, −0.02), p = 0.008] and provide their child with more fruits and vegetables [−0.02 (−0.04, −0.0002), p = 0.048] and fewer snacks and sweets at home [0.03 (0.001, 0.06), p = 0.04]. Conclusions: Mothers who prioritize children’s healthy diets are more likely to use supportive food parenting practices and shape the home food environment. Public health efforts should move beyond deficit-based narratives and empower parents by reinforcing their priorities.