Choosing food in the face of competing time and energy demands presents challenges for employed parents, with implications for diet quality. We systematically assessed relationships between working parents` food choice coping strategies and their dietary intake. Everyday food choice coping strategies by employed parents were associated with dietary quality; associations differed by gender and individuality of meal choice.

Balancing the competing demands of work and family responsibilities is a challenge for working parents who make up the majority of employed adults. Competing time and energy demands influence the food choice strategies of parents including meals prepared and eaten at home or away from home as well as the nutritional quality of those meals. Working parents are a group in our society with great importance for the health of the work force and of future generations. Because parents play such a critical role in determining the diets of their children, as meal providers and role models, perssures on parents` food choices have great importance for the nutrition and health of their children.

We conducted a pilot telephone survey with 50 low- and moderate-income employed urban mothers and fathers of diverse ethnicity. 89% of eligible parents completed a baseline; 88% completed three interviews. 70% were overweight or obese. Parents reported food choice coping strategies and dietary intake through two 24-hour dietary recalls. We used t-tests to assess associations between coping strategies and dietary intake, calculated as components of the Healthy Eating Index.

Study findings differed by gender and individuality of meal choice. For example, lower fruit and/or vegetable consumption by fathers was significantly (p=<.05) associated with missing lunch or breakfast, different meals for different family members, mealtime TV watching, fewer home cooked meals, more fast food meals, grabbing food at a store after work, and little responsibility for food preparation. Among mothers, fewer fruits and/or vegetables were associated with missing lunch, different meals for different family members, and mealtime TV watching, as well as feeding children separately, overeating after missed meals, eating in the car, and grabbing quick food at work. Similar relationships were found for other dietary components. When confirmed, these findings can inform interventions to promote healthy eating in working families.

National Institutes of Health