Adoption of eating habits starts early in life, through interaction with family members
and alongside preschool settings that offer context for developing healthy lifestyles
among children. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions and practices of
teachers and parents related to the development of healthy eating habits among preschool
children. Focus groups were conducted with a total sample of 48 parents and
teachers (three focus groups among parents and three among teachers) from 15 kindergartens
in the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia, and Herzegovina. All of the mentioned
kindergartens are part of the “Nutrition friendly preschool/school initiative”, a program
aimed at creating and developing settings that support and improve children’s
health. Focus groups were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed according
to the Framework Method. Teachers emphasized that good communication and support
from parents are important factors for the development of healthy eating habits.
During COVID-19, direct communication with parents was restricted, and mutual
activities among teachers, children, and parents were reduced. Lack of knowledge,
finance, and time are perceived by parents as main obstacles to the improvement
of children’s healthy eating habits. All participants in the focus groups agreed that
more education and informative material are needed so their skills related to good
nutrition can be improved and adopted in a culture-sensitive way. Mutual support,
education, and dissemination of informative materials are imposed as particularly important
needs by all actors involved in the upbringing of children in order to support
the development of children’s healthy eating habits.
