Factors Associated with Height-Promoting Dietary Practices Among Japanese Preschool Children: A Web-Based Cross-Sectional Study

TL;DR

A study of Japanese preschool children found that parents' height-promoting dietary practices are linked to child age, growth concerns, and parental height, but overall diet quality remains poor.

Contribution

Identifies factors influencing height-focused diets in preschoolers and highlights the lack of balanced nutrition in these practices.

Findings

Height-related dietary practices are associated with child age, short stature history, food allergy history, information-seeking, and shorter parental height.

Milk and dairy are most commonly used for height promotion, but few children meet dietary cutoffs across food groups.

Growth-focused diets do not lead to broader dietary improvements or significant height gains over time.

Abstract

What are the main findings?
•Height-related dietary practices were associated with child age, history of short stature, history of food allergy, information-seeking, and shorter parental height.•Milk and dairy products were the most commonly used foods for height promotion; however, few children met the intake frequency cutoffs across food groups.

Height-related dietary practices were associated with child age, history of short stature, history of food allergy, information-seeking, and shorter parental height.

Milk and dairy products were the most commonly used foods for height promotion; however, few children met the intake frequency cutoffs across food groups.

What are the implications of the main findings?
•Selective, growth-focused dietary modifications may not be accompanied by broader improvements in diet across food groups.•Guidance may be more effective when maternal concerns are acknowledged, and feasible and balanced eating patterns are supported.

Selective, growth-focused dietary modifications may not be accompanied by broader improvements in diet across food groups.

Guidance may be more effective when maternal concerns are acknowledged, and feasible and balanced eating patterns are supported.

Background/Objectives: Parents of preschool children may adopt dietary practices intended to promote height growth. However, the correlates of such practices in the general population remain unclear. Methods: This web-based cross-sectional study included 1362 mothers of Japanese children aged 3–5 years. Mothers were assigned to the height-related dietary practice group if they had ever used dietary practices to promote their child’s height growth; all other mothers were classified into the no-practice group. The questionnaire assessed child and parental characteristics, including anthropometric measurements, history of short stature (height < −2 SD at any time point), history of food allergy, maternal information-seeking behavior regarding child growth, and current dietary intake. Associations with height-related dietary practices were examined using a multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: In total, 531 mothers (39.0%) were classified into the practice group. Older child age, history of short stature, history of food allergy, and information-seeking behavior were positively associated with height-related dietary practices, whereas parental height was inversely associated. Milk and dairy products are the most frequently used foods for height promotion. Children in the practice group were more likely to meet the cutoffs for milk/dairy products and fish, but their overall attainment was low. In the analyses of retrospectively reported height SD score trajectories, no group-by-time interactions were observed. Conclusions: Height-related dietary practices were associated with growth-related concerns and parental characteristics rather than differential height gain over time. Health guidance may help parents adopt balanced diets that support overall nutrition and healthy growth rather than focusing on specific foods.