Table 6

Relationships between the nutritional home environment and children's intake of non-core foods (n = 272) (ANOVA used for categorical variables and Pearson correlation for continuous variables).

Descriptive Construct

Nutritional Home Environment Item

Children's Dietary Patterns Mean Non-core Foods score (range = 2–43)

p value

Frequently

Sometimes

Occasionally

Rarely/Never

Parental behaviours associated with food

Give child food 'treats'

19.7^a

21.4^a

19.0^a

17.1^a

0.03

Other carers give child food 'treats'

19.1^a

23.4^b

19.5^a

18.1^a

0.001

Offer food rewards/incentives to eat main meals

19.4^ab

22.1^a

19.7^ab

18.6^b

0.04

Restrict fruit juice

17.7^a

21.9^b

19.3^ab

20.8^b

0.007

Restrict high fat/sugar snack foods

18.3^a

21.5^b

22.7^b

20.2^ab

0.003

Restrict carbonated drink/cordial

18.3^a

23.4^b

21.5^ab

18.5^a

<0.001

Snacks allowed to be eaten in front of TV

22.0^a

19.9^ab

18.2^b

17.7^b

0.006

Other meals allowed to be eaten in front of TV

21.1^a

19.7^ab

22.1^a

17.5^b

0.002

Child helps prepare food

18.1^a

19.7^a

18.8^ab

23.5^b

0.004

Availability of food in home

Take-away food purchased

21.5^a

20.5^a

20.2^a

15.5^b

0.005

0–99 grams

100–299 grams

300–699 grams

≥700 grams

Amount of chips, snack savoury biscuits, salted nuts in home

17.5^a

19.1^ab

19.8^ab

21.7^b

0.01

0–119 grams

120–399 grams

400–799 grams

≥800 grams

Amount of lollies, sweets, chocolates in home

18.0^a

18.6^ac

22.3^bc

22.8^b

<0.001

0 boxes

0.5 boxes

1–2 boxes

>2 boxes

Amount of muesli bars/breakfast bars in home

17.4^a

19.7^ab

21.6^b

21.6^b

0.001

0–139 grams

140–499 grams

500–999 grams

≥1000 grams

Amount of cake/biscuits in home

17.2^a

18.9^ac

21.6^bc

23.3^b

<0.001

Number of snacks per day

2.9 ± 1.15 (0–8) snacks per day [r = 0.23^d]

<0.001

^a,b,c Superscripts indicate which categories show a statistically significant difference using Bonferroni correction: same letter indicates no difference, different letter indicates a difference.

^d Pearson correlation coefficient

Spurrier et al. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2008 5:31   doi:10.1186/1479-5868-5-31