“I still put them on her plate”: A qualitative study exploring strategies implemented by parents to promote vegetable intake

This study explored strategies implemented by parents to encourage their children to eat vegetables, especially when children exhibit fussy eating. The study involved a mixed methods approach using semi-structured interviews with twenty parents of preschool children (aged 2-5 years) with a high and low level of food fussiness (established by questionnaire). All interviews were audio recorded, then verbatim transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. Thematic analysis revealed seven main themes with sixteen subthemes encompassing various vegetable promoting strategies. These included (1) Instructed knowledge, (2) Experiential learning, (3) Food manipulation, (4) Reinforcement, (5) Encouragement of autonomy (6) Commitment to a food ideal and (7) Inherent values. Parents used a range of methods to encourage their children to eat vegetables but there were no major differences by level of food fussiness. Parents talked about variable success in applying strategies even with the same child. Home based strategies were more diverse and personalized to the child than those tested in most research studies. Therefore, interventions to promote vegetable intake in preschool children will benefit from co-production with parents adopting a tailored approach to match the needs of the specific child.