Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Mothers and Their Children Aged 4-10 and Its Relationship with Maternal Feeding...

The low intake of fruit and vegetables among the Polish population prompts a search for factors that can be addressed in dietary interventions, such as the family food environment. Background/Objectives: The objective of this study is to explore the link between maternal feeding practices applied to children aged 4-10 years and fruit and vegetable intake among children and their mothers. Methods: A cross-sectional study using a Computer-Assisted Web Interview technique took place in 2020-2021 among 260 Polish women who were mothers of children aged 4-10. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, Spearman's correlation coefficient, and multiple linear and logistic regression. Results: The mother's intake of fruit was strongly correlated with the children's intake of fruit (β = 0.309; p < 0.001), and a similar correlation was found for vegetable intake (β = 0.428; p < 0.001). Apart from the mother's fruit and vegetable intake, the Food as a Reward practice correlated negatively (β = -0.164; p = 0.015), while Monitoring (β = 0.158; p = 0.017) and Modeling (β = 0.170; p = 0.028) correlated positively with vegetable intake in children. The Monitoring practice correlated positively (β = 0.221; p < 0.001) with children's fruit intake. After adjusting for the mother's age, child's gender, and mother's recommended intake of fruit and vegetables, the Monitoring practice (OR = 1.971; p = 0.025) positively correlated with meeting the daily recommendations of fruit and vegetables in children. However, the Food as a Reward (OR = 0.484; p = 0.018) and Emotion Regulation (OR = 0.345; p = 0.008) practices negatively correlated with meeting the daily recommendations of fruit and vegetables in children aged 4-6, while the Monitoring practice (OR = 4.141; p = 0.017) correlated positively with meeting the daily recommendations of fruit and vegetables in children aged 7-10. Conclusions: The findings have shown that the mother's fruit intake strongly correlates with the child's fruit intake. Moreover, some maternal feeding practices, i.e., the Food as a Reward and Emotion Regulation practices, were negatively associated with meeting fruit and vegetable recommendations in younger children, while the Monitoring practice was positively related to meeting them in older children.