(P27-083-25) Maternal Social Risk Factors and Child’s Unhealthy Dietary Intakes During Early Childhood

Objectives: Social risk factors like food insecurity and poverty are linked to unhealthy dietary intakes but are under-researched for early childhood. This study examined the relationship of social risk factors with unhealthy dietary intake and weight-for-length z-scores (WFLz) in toddlers.

Methods: This cross-sectional analysis had 96 mother-child dyads (child aged 14.9 [SD=2.6] months). Mothers answered a demographic survey and three 24-hour dietary recalls for their child. Food and beverages were labeled as sweet beverages (i.e., sugar-sweetened beverages and 100% juice) and snack foods (e.g., chips and cookies) using What We Eat in America categories. These were further categorized by frequency (times/d), energy (kcal/d), and % energy (mean kcal from sweet beverages or snack foods/total daily kcal*100). Hierarchical multiple linear regression models examined associations of child characteristics (Step 1: age, sex, birthweight), maternal characteristics (Step 2: age, prepregnancy BMI, breastfeeding duration), and maternal social risk factors (Step 3: food insecurity, poverty, employment, single parent, minoritized status, education) with child unhealthy dietary intake. Multivariable regressions examined associations of maternal social risk factors with dietary intake and WFLz.

Results: Mothers self-identified as Asian (1%), Black (19.8%), Hispanic (12.5%), Multiracial (6.3%), and White (60.4%). For sweet beverages, food insecurity (β=0.24, p=0.03) and minoritized status (β=0.37, p< 0.01) were positively associated with mean frequency, while minoritized status was positively associated with mean energy (β=0.30, p=0.04) and % energy (β=0.35, p=0.02), over and above other variables of interest. For snack foods, maternal education was negatively associated with mean energy (β=-0.39, p=0.03) and % energy (β=-0.43, p=0.02), while poverty was negatively associated with % energy (β=-0.35, p=0.03), over and above other variables of interest. Sweet beverages (frequency, β=0.36, p< 0.01; energy, β=0.33, p< 0.01; % energy, β=0.36, p< 0.01) were associated with WFLz. There were no other significant associations.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that unhealthy dietary intake in early childhood is more closely associated with maternal social risk factors than child and maternal characteristics.

Funding Sources: Children’s Mercy Research Institute