Perceptions of How Parents of Early Adolescents Will Personally Benefit From Calcium-Rich Food and Beverage Parenting Practices

Objective: To identify and rank perceived personal benefits from parenting practices that promote intake of calcium-rich foods and beverages (CRF/B) by early adolescents. Methods: A convenience sample of parents/caregivers (n=133) of early adolescents (10-13years) from 6states (CA, HI, MN, OH, OR, UT) participated in a qualitative study using a Nominal Group Technique process. Benefits identified by parents/caregivers were ranked by importance, given a score weight, and summed to create a total weighted score across states. Results: The top benefit from making CRF/B available was parent emotional rewards. The top benefit perceived by parents from role modeling intake of CRF/B and setting expectations for intake of CRB was child health promotion. Conclusions and Implications: Child health promotion and parent emotional rewards were important perceived benefits derived from CRF/B parenting practices, and thus, should be included as the focus of education to increase the frequency of these practices.