Maternal nutritional knowledge and child anthropometric outcomes in preschool children: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the nutritional knowledge levels of mothers of children aged 4–6 years attending pediatric outpatient clinics, analyze knowledge levels according to maternal age, education, and income, and investigate their relationship with children’s anthropometric measurements.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 282 mothers of preschool-aged children who attended a pediatric outpatient clinic. Nutritional knowledge was assessed using the Nutritional Knowledge Level Scale for Adults, comprising Basic Nutritional Knowledge (BNK) and food preference (FP) subscales. Mothers also rated Nutrition-Health Awareness (NHA) and Dietary Adequacy Self-Assessment (DAS) on a 0–10 visual scale. Children’s height-for-age (HAZ) and weight-for-age (WAZ) z-scores were calculated. Multiple linear regression and correlation analyses were performed.
RESULTS: The median maternal age was 34 (interquartile range [IQR]: 29.25–40) years. Median BNK and FP scores were 58 (IQR: 51–69) and 35 (IQR: 30–40), respectively. Educational attainment was the strongest independent predictor of BNK (p=0.006) and DAS (p=0.033). Household income independently predicted FP (p=0.022) and NHA (p=0.026) after adjusting for age and education. Younger maternal age was associated with higher BNK scores. No statistically significant associations were found between maternal nutritional knowledge variables and children’s HAZ or WAZ scores (all p>0.05).
CONCLUSION: Most mothers demonstrated adequate BNK; however, this did not consistently translate into FP competence or healthy dietary self-perception. Maternal nutritional knowledge was not directly associated with children’s growth outcomes in this cohort, suggesting the pathway from knowledge to child growth is indirect and multifactorial. Nutrition interventions should move beyond knowledge transfer to address practical dietary skills and socioeconomic determinants of eating behavior.

Keywords: Child anthropometry, Mothers, Nutritional knowledge, Preschool children