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 (10-13 years) from 6 states (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.