Reasons Parents Buy Prepackaged, Processed Meals: It Is More Complicated Than “I Don't Have Time”

doi:10.1016/j.jneb.2016.08.012

Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

Volume 49, Issue 1, January 2017, Pages 60-66.e1

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2016.08.012 Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

To investigate reasons why parents purchase prepackaged, processed meals and associations with parental cooking self-efficacy, meal-planning ability, and home food availability.

Methods

This secondary data analysis uses Healthy Home Offerings via the Mealtime Environment Plus study data from parents of children aged 8–12 years (n = 160). Associations between reasons why parents purchase prepackaged, processed meals and the outcomes were assessed with chi-square, Fisher exact, and t tests.

Results

The most frequently endorsed reasons for purchasing prepackaged, processed meals included lack of time (57%) and family preferences (49%). Five of 6 reasons were associated with lower parental cooking self-efficacy and meal-planning ability. Some reasons were associated with less-healthful home food environments; few reasons varied by socio-demographic characteristics.

Conclusions and Implications

Because lower cooking self-efficacy and meal-planning ability are associated with most reasons reported for purchasing prepackaged, processed meals, strategies to increase these attributes for parents of all backgrounds may reduce reliance on prepackaged processed meals for family mealtimes.

Introduction

Prepackaged, processed meals such as boxed entrees and frozen dinners reduce the investment of energy, time, or cooking skills needed for food preparation.¹ These foods are widely available and relatively inexpensive² and simplify meal preparation. However, cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have demonstrated that youth who eat more prepackaged, processed foods have higher overall energy, sugar, sodium, and saturated fat intakes.3, 4, 5 Additional studies have shown positive associations between foods available in the home and dietary intake of those foods; for example, higher home availability of non-nutritious foods has been associated with higher non-nutritious food intake.⁶ Therefore, home availability of prepackaged, processed meals may contribute to poorer dietary intake.

Given the negative impact of poor dietary intake on health,⁷ coupled with the direct associations between dietary intake and home food availability, it is important to understand why parents purchase prepackaged, processed meals for their families. Gaining such an understanding will help identify potentially modifiable factors for intervention. Previous quantitative8, 9 and qualitative¹⁰ studies found inverse associations between cooking skills and consumption of highly processed foods. An additional study found that low-income mothers prioritized making home-cooked meals when they reported greater cooking skills and self-efficacy; food choices were also influenced by meal-planning abilities.¹¹ Another study showed a negative correlation between cooking self-efficacy and a preference for time and energy savings around meal preparation.¹² Social Cognitive Theory emphasizes the importance of abilities, cognitions, and self-efficacy on motivation and behavior;¹³ therefore, parental cooking self-efficacy and meal-planning skills may be important targets for theoretically driven interventions to improve healthier eating.

Research on prepackaged, processed foods has examined purchases by several socio-demographic characteristics. Working more weekly hours was consistently associated with higher preference for and purchase and consumption of prepackaged, processed foods.8, 14, 15, 16 However, to date, research has not evaluated whether a parent's sense of balance or lack thereof between home and work responsibilities is associated with convenience foods. Less consistent associations have been found between prepackaged, processed food purchasing and age, gender, education, and perceived time and money.8, 14, 15, 16, 17 In addition, children's presence in the home has been associated with lower preferences for and use of prepackaged, processed foods.8, 14, 15 Yet, qualitative research findings have suggested that parents felt conflicted about using prepackaged, processed foods because they knew these foods were not as nutritious but they valued time-saving benefits or decreasing conflict with picky eaters.10, 18, 19 These qualitative findings suggest that time is not the exclusive reason for purchasing convenience foods.10, 18, 19 Because parents are family food purchasers and gatekeepers,²⁰ it is important to understand the reasons why parents purchase prepackaged, processed meals and factors associated with the purchasing behaviors, in addition to the socio-demographic characteristics associated with them.

This secondary, cross-sectional study adds to the extant literature by assessing multiple reasons why parents purchase prepackaged, processed meals for their families. The current study also tests associations between these reasons and (1) family socio-demographic/work–life balance characteristics; (2) modifiable factors (ie, self-efficacy for cooking and meal-planning ability); and (3) home availability of prepackaged, processed meals, fruits, and vegetables. Findings will inform the development of interventions to reduce parent purchases of prepackaged, processed meals and improve the healthfulness of family meals.

Section snippets

Methods

The current study used baseline data of parent and guardian participants (n = 160) from the Healthy Home Offerings via the Mealtime Environment (HOME) Plus randomized controlled trial.²¹ HOME Plus aimed to prevent excess childhood weight gain through a family intervention promoting family meal frequency, healthfulness of meals and snacks, and reduction in screen time. The University of Minnesota Institutional Review Board approved the trial and procedures, and parent and guardian participants

Results

In the order of prevalence (as shown in the top row of Table 2), parents endorsed the following reasons for purchasing prepackaged, processed meals: “I don't have time to prepare other foods” (57%); “My family really likes them” (49%); “They are easy for my child to prepare” (33%); “They are inexpensive” (27%); “I don't know what else to make” (22%); and “They are the only thing my whole family will eat” (11%).

Parents report a variety of reasons for purchasing prepackaged, processed meals

Discussion

The current study evaluated reasons why parents with school-aged children buy prepackaged, processed meals. The most commonly endorsed reason for purchasing was not having enough time to prepare other foods. Given the convenience and marketing messages of prepackaged processed meals, this result was not entirely surprising. However, nearly half of parents in this study reported that they purchased prepackaged, processed meals because their family really liked them. Also, about one third of

Implications for Research and Practice

Study findings suggest that parents report many reasons for purchasing prepackaged, processed meals for their families. Parental endorsement of these reasons appears to go largely beyond socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics and may be relevant for families from all backgrounds. Of importance, having a less favorable work–life balance was not associated with endorsing reasons for purchasing prepackaged, processed meals, but working more hours per week was. Because most parental

Acknowledgments

This study and publication was supported by Grant R01 DK08400 by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the NIH. Software support was also provided by the University of Minnesota's Clinical and Translational Science Institute (Grant 1UL1RR033183 from the National Center for Research Resources of the NIH). The HOME Plus

References (30)

J. Reedy et al.
Dietary sources of energy, solid fats, and added sugars among children and adolescents in the United States
J Am Diet Assoc
(2010)
T.A. Brunner et al.
Convenience food products: drivers for consumption
Appetite
(2010)
C. Hartmann et al.
Importance of cooking skills for balanced food choices
Appetite
(2013)
C.M. Bava et al.
Constraints upon food provisioning practices in “busy” women's lives: trade-offs which demand convenience
Appetite
(2008)
J. Jabs et al.
Trying to find the quickest way: employed mothers' constructions of time for food
J Nutr Educ Behav
(2007)
M. Beshara et al.
Preparing meals under time stress: the experience of working mothers
Appetite
(2010)
M. Candel
Consumers' convenience orientation towards meal preparation: conceptualization and measurement
Appetite
(2001)
S. Daniels et al.
Convenience, food and family lives: a socio-typological study of household food expenditures in 21st-century Belgium
Appetite
(2015)
J. Scholderer et al.
Consumers, food and convenience: the long way from resource constraints to actual consumption patterns
J Econ Psychol
(2005)
A.I. Costa et al.
To cook or not to cook: a means-end study of motives for choice of meal solutions
Food Qual Pref
(2007)

M. Carrigan et al.

Managing routine food choices in UK families: the role of convenience consumption

Appetite

(2006)

C.M. Devine et al.

“A lot of sacrifices”: work-family spillover and the food choice coping strategies of low-wage employed parents

Soc Sci Med

(2006)

J.A. Fulkerson et al.

The Healthy Home Offerings via the Mealtime Environment (HOME) Plus study: design and methods

Contemp Clin Trials

(2014)

J.A. Fulkerson et al.

Focus groups with working parents of school-aged children: what's needed to improve family meals?

J Nutr Educ Behav

(2011)

R. Bender et al.

Adjusting for multiple testing—when and how?

J Clin Epidemiol

(2001)

Cited by (62)

Greater Frequency of Cooking Dinner at Home and More Time Spent Cooking Are Inversely Associated With Ultra-Processed Food Consumption Among US Adults
2024, Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Cooking at home has been promoted as a strategy to improve diet quality; however, the association between cooking behavior and ultra-processed food intake is unknown.
The objective of this study was to examine associations between frequency of cooking dinner at home and time spent cooking dinner with ultra-processed food intake.
Cross-sectional, nationally representative data from the 2007-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were analyzed.
Participants were 9,491 adults (20 years and older) in the United States.
The main outcome measure was the proportion of energy intake (averaged from two 24-hour dietary recalls) from the following 4 Nova food-processing groups: (1) unprocessed or minimally processed foods, (2) processed culinary ingredients, (3) processed foods, and (4) ultra-processed foods.
Separate linear regression models examined associations between cooking frequency and time spent cooking dinner and proportion of energy intake from the 4 Nova food-processing groups, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and total energy intake.
Ultra-processed foods comprised >50% of energy consumed independent of cooking frequency or time spent cooking. Higher household frequency of cooking dinner and greater time spent cooking dinner were both associated with lower intake of ultra-processed foods (P trends < .001) and higher intake of unprocessed or minimally processed foods (P trends < .001) in a dose–response manner. Compared with cooking 0 to 2 times/wk, adults who cooked dinner 7 times/wk consumed a mean of 6.30% (95% CI –7.96% to –4.64%; P < .001) less energy from ultra-processed foods. Adults who spent more than 90 minutes cooking dinner consumed 4.28% less energy from ultra-processed foods (95% CI –6.08% to –2.49%; P < .001) compared with those who spent 0 to 45 minutes cooking dinner.
Cooking at home is associated with lower consumption of ultra-processed foods and higher consumption of unprocessed or minimally processed foods. However, ultra-processed food intake is high among US adults regardless of cooking frequency.
Parent meal self-efficacy and practices in households with healthy home food environments in the face of economic hardship
2023, Appetite
Some families who experience economic hardship demonstrate remarkable strength and resourcefulness to sustain a healthy home food environment. This ability to navigate economic barriers could be associated with parent meal practices that promote children's healthful dietary intake. Therefore, this study aimed to examine 1) whether parent meal self-efficacy and practices were associated with economic assistance status and home fruit and vegetable (FV) availability and 2) how parent meal self-efficacy and practices differed by home FV availability and economic assistance status. Analyses utilized baseline data from 274 parent/child dyads from two childhood obesity prevention trials: HOME Plus (urban) and NU-HOME (rural). Parents in households with high FV availability (regardless of economic assistance) had significantly higher self-efficacy in preparing healthy foods, family dinner routines, frequency of child's plate being half filled with FV, frequency of family dinner and breakfast, and lower frequency of purchasing dinner from fast food restaurants. Economic assistance was not associated with parent meal self-efficacy and practices. Four family groups were created and defined by economic assistance (yes/no) and home FV availability (high/low). About 31% of families that received economic assistance and had high home FV availability were food insecure. Families (n = 39) receiving economic assistance and having high home FV availability had greater frequency of family dinners compared to those in households with economic assistance and low home FV availability (n = 47) (p = 0.001); no other parent meal self-efficacy or practices differed between groups. Our findings suggest some families can maintain healthy home food environments despite economic hardship and frequent family dinners may be an important strength for these families. More research is needed to investigate asset-based models to understand the family strengths that enable them to thrive during difficult times.
Peruvian carrot chips obtained by microwave and microwave-vacuum drying
2023, LWT
Peruvian carrot is a root from South America. Despite its nice taste and health-promoting effects, commercialization of Peruvian carrot is restricted due to its short shelf life and post-harvest losses. This study aimed to obtain Peruvian carrot chips at different drying processes. The comparison with convective drying at 70 °C (CD-70) showed that the microwave (MW) and microwave vacuum (MWV) technologies improved the quality of the chips (at 100, 250, and 400 W). It was found that a shortening in the drying time caused by the microwave power level partially controlled the textural collapse and crispness, besides reducing hardness and shrinkage characteristics and preserving β-carotene content. However, it also promoted phenolic compound degradation and color changes. The vacuum application in microwave drying (MWV) maintained the physical improvement observed in MW besides aiding in preserving phenolic compounds, β-carotene, and color changes. The results suggested that MWV-100 drying of Peruvian carrots was able to produce chips with suitable physical and nutritional quality.
Caregiver feeding decisions and sociodemographic characteristics are associated with snack food intake during infancy and toddlerhood
2023, Appetite
Snacking starts early in childhood, yet little is known about child versus family influences on snacking during infancy and toddlerhood. This secondary analysis of baseline data examined associations of child characteristics (e.g., appetitive traits, temperament), caregiver feeding decisions, and sociodemographic characteristics with the mean frequency of (times/day) and mean energy from (kcal/day) child snack food intake. Caregivers and their children (ages 9–15 months) were recruited in Buffalo, NY from 2017 to 2019. Caregivers reported on sociodemographics, child appetitive traits (Baby Eating Behaviour Questionnaire), and child temperament (Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised). Three 24-h dietary recalls were collected, and USDA food categories were used to categorize snack foods (e.g., cookies, chips, and puffs). Hierarchical multiple linear regression models examined associations of child characteristics (Step 1: age, sex, baseline weight-for-length z-score, appetitive traits, and temperament), caregiver feeding decisions (Step 2: breastfeeding duration and age of solid food introduction), and caregiver sociodemographic characteristics (Step 3: caregiver age, prepregnancy BMI, education, and household size) with mean child snack food intake. Caregivers (n = 141) were on average 32.6 years of age, predominantly white (89.1%), and college-educated (84.2%). Age of solid food introduction (B = −0.21, p = 0.03), prepregnancy BMI (B = 0.03, p = 0.04), and household size (B = 0.23, p = 0.02) were significantly associated with the mean frequency of (times/day) snack food intake, over and above other variables of interest. Child age (B = 15.96, p = 0.002) was significantly associated with mean energy from (kcal/day) snack food intake. Household size (B = 28.51, p = 0.006) was significantly associated with mean energy from (kcal/day) snack food intake, over and above other variables of interest. There were no significant associations of other child characteristics with snack food intake. Findings show that child snack food intake is more closely associated with caregiver feeding decisions and sociodemographic characteristics than child characteristics.
National Institute on Child Health and Human Development, Grant/Award Number R01HD087082-01.
Rationale and design of integrating a parents first obesity intervention with a pediatric weight management intervention for rural families – Evaluating the ripple effect
2023, Contemporary Clinical Trials
Rural families are disproportionately affected by obesity. Obesity often runs in families and is impacted by hereditary components, the shared home environment, and parent modeling/child observational learning. Moreover, parent changes in weight predict child changes in weight. Thus, targeting the family unit has the potential to enhance outcomes for adults and children simultaneously. Additionally, engaging rural nurses in medical clinics and schools may be important in determining whether rural telehealth programs are successfully implemented and sustained. This paper describes the rationale and design of a randomized control trial (RCT) evaluating the effectiveness of an integrated adult- and child-focused obesity treatment tailored for rural participants. Outcomes of this study include participant weight loss from baseline to 9-months, device-measured physical activity, and dietary intake. This project will additionally compare reach between clinic and school settings and evaluate the impact of nurse engagement. This study will include 240 participants from eight rural communities who will be randomized to either a Parent +Family-based group or a Newsletter +Family-based group. Parents in the Parent +Family-based group will receive a 3-month adult obesity treatment designed for adult behavior change as a first step. Then, parents and children together will enter the family-based program (iAmHealthy), allowing for potential enhancement of a theorized ripple effect. Parents in the Newsletter +Family-based group will receive 3 monthly newsletters and then participate in the 6-month family-based intervention designed for child behavior change. This study is the first RCT to examine the effectiveness of an integrated adult- and child-focused obesity treatment program.
Registered with ClinicalTrials.gov NCT ID NCT05612971
Associations of cooking practices and healthy eating habits among young Korean adults in their 20s
2023, International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science
The study aimed to explore the association between cooking practices and healthy eating habits among young Korean adults in their 20s. An online survey was conducted from 19th to 24th February 2021 among young Korean adults in their 20s and 1102 responses were collected. Cooking practices were measured using the Cooking and Food Provisioning Action Scale which comprises the three sub-scales of self-efficacy (13 items), attitude (10 items) and structure (5 items) to capture the participants' ability to procure and prepare food within the contexts of their social, physical and economic environment. The healthy eating habits were measured based on how much they adhere to the Common Dietary Guidelines for Koreans (11 items), which details the basic common rules for a desirable diet. Hierarchical linear multiple regressions were performed to examine the associations between cooking practices and healthy eating habits, controlling for participants’ socio-demographic characteristics. The overall model accounted for 21.6% of the variance in healthy eating habits, of which 16.5% was explained by cooking practices. However, among the three sub-scales of cooking practices, only self-efficacy was a significant predictor of healthy eating habits, whereas attitude and structure had no significant association. Most socio-demographic characteristics remained significant in the final model. Notably, there was a significant negative effect on healthy eating habits in single-person or lower income households, who are socially deprived. These results add further support for a growing concern to implement interventions and public policies to promote healthy eating habits integrating cooking self-efficacy among young adults.

View all citing articles on Scopus

: Conflict of Interest Disclosure: The authors' conflict of interest disclosures can be found online with this article on www.jneb.org.

View full text

Research BriefReasons Parents Buy Prepackaged, Processed Meals: It Is More Complicated Than “I Don't Have Time”

Abstract

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions and Implications

Introduction

Section snippets

Methods

Results

Discussion

Implications for Research and Practice

Acknowledgments

J Am Diet Assoc

Appetite

Appetite

Appetite

J Nutr Educ Behav

Appetite

Appetite

Appetite

J Econ Psychol

Food Qual Pref

Appetite

Soc Sci Med

Contemp Clin Trials

J Nutr Educ Behav

J Clin Epidemiol

Research Brief
Reasons Parents Buy Prepackaged, Processed Meals: It Is More Complicated Than “I Don't Have Time”