Parental Characteristics and Reasons Associated With Purchasing Kids’ Meals for Their Children

Purpose: Characteristics of parents who purchased kids’ meals, reasons for the purchase, and desire for healthy options were examined.Design: Quantitative, cross-sectional study.Setting: National.Participants: The SummerStyles survey data of 1147 parents (≥18 years).Measures: Self-reported outcome variables were purchase of kids’ meals (yes/no), reasons for the purchase (13 choices), and desire for healthy options (yes/no).Analysis: We used multivariable logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (ORs) for purchasing kids’ meals based on parental sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics.Results: Over half (51%) of parents reported purchasing kids’ meals in the past month. The adjusted OR of purchasing kids’ meals were significantly higher among younger parents (OR = 3.44 vs ≥50 years) and among parents who consumed sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) daily (OR = 2.70 vs none). No differences were found for race/ethnicity, income, and education. Parents who purchased kids’ meals reported that the top 3 reasons for purchase were (1) because their children asked for kids’ meals, (2) habit, and (3) offering of healthier sides such as fruits or fruit cups. Thirty-seven percent of parents who did not purchase kids’ meals expressed willingness to purchase kids’ meals if healthy options were available; this willingness was highest among younger parents (47%; P< .05).Conclusions: Kids’ meal purchases were somewhat common. Our findings on characteristics of parents who frequently bought kids’ meals (ie, younger parents and SSB consumers), common reasons for purchasing kids’ meals, and willingness to buy healthier kids’ meal can be used to inform intervention efforts to improve quality of kids’ meals.