Table 4 MCH nurse views and knowledge on infant feeding and TV watching in young children (0–5 years) (n = 53)
Strongly disagree/disagree No (%) | Strongly agree/agree No (%) | |
|---|---|---|
Growth monitoring and identification of at risk children | ||
Accelerated weight gain in infancy is NOT related to the development of overweight in childhood | 40 (75.5) | 13 (24.5) |
It is easy to identify overweight infants and young children just by looking at them | 37 (69.8) | 16 (30.2) |
It is easy to identify infants and young children who are at risk of becoming overweight | 25 (47.2) | 28 (52.8) |
Parental feeding styles | ||
A good way to get infants and young children to eat healthy food is to offer a food as a reward (e.g. offering dessert if they eat all their vegetables) | 47 (88.7) | 6 (11.3) |
Parents should offer an alternative food if their infant/child doesn’t eat the food offered | 48 (90.6) | 5 (9.4) |
Parents should encourage their infant/child to eat all the food on their plate | 47 (88.7) | 6 (11.3) |
If a parent continues to offer foods their infant hasn’t previously enjoyed, they will come to enjoy them | 10 (18.8) | 43 (81.1) |
An infant knows when s/he is full | 16 (30.2) | 37 (69.8) |
Timing on introduction of solids | ||
An infant under 6 months sometimes needs more than breastmilk or formula to be full | 27 (50.9) | 26 (49.1) |
TV and small screen use | ||
TV is educational for children under 2 years of age | 45 (84.9) | 8 (15.1) |
Children under 2 should NOT be allowed to watch TV | 34 (64.2) | 19 (35.8) |
The recommendation to limit TV viewing and the use of other electronic media (DVDs, computers etc.) to less than one hour per day for children 2–5 years is unrealistic for most parents | 26 (49.1) | 27 (50.9) |