{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,12]],"date-time":"2026-03-12T20:25:34Z","timestamp":1773347134840,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,12]],"date-time":"2026-03-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773273600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"2023 Fiscal Year Child and Family Administration Promotion Research Grant","award":["JPCA21DA2001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JPCA21DA2001"]}]},{"name":"2023 Fiscal Year Child and Family Administration Promotion Research Grant","award":["24DB0101"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["24DB0101"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Parents of preschool children may adopt dietary practices intended to promote height growth. However, the correlates of such practices in the general population remain unclear. Methods: This web-based cross-sectional study included 1362 mothers of Japanese children aged 3\u20135 years. Mothers were assigned to the height-related dietary practice group if they had ever used dietary practices to promote their child\u2019s height growth; all other mothers were classified into the no-practice group. The questionnaire assessed child and parental characteristics, including anthropometric measurements, history of short stature (height &lt; \u22122 SD at any time point), history of food allergy, maternal information-seeking behavior regarding child growth, and current dietary intake. Associations with height-related dietary practices were examined using a multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: In total, 531 mothers (39.0%) were classified into the practice group. Older child age, history of short stature, history of food allergy, and information-seeking behavior were positively associated with height-related dietary practices, whereas parental height was inversely associated. Milk and dairy products are the most frequently used foods for height promotion. Children in the practice group were more likely to meet the cutoffs for milk\/dairy products and fish, but their overall attainment was low. In the analyses of retrospectively reported height SD score trajectories, no group-by-time interactions were observed. Conclusions: Height-related dietary practices were associated with growth-related concerns and parental characteristics rather than differential height gain over time. Health guidance may help parents adopt balanced diets that support overall nutrition and healthy growth rather than focusing on specific foods.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children13030391","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,12]],"date-time":"2026-03-12T09:23:03Z","timestamp":1773307383000},"page":"391","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Factors Associated with Height-Promoting Dietary Practices Among Japanese Preschool Children: A Web-Based Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9698-0650","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kemal","family":"Sasaki","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Jissen Women\u2019s University, Tokyo 191-8510, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tomomi","family":"Kobayashi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Mukogawa Women\u2019s University, Nishinomiya 663-8558, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1292-6110","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yuki","family":"Tada","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutritional Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo 156-8502, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yasuyo","family":"Wada","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Promotion, National Institute of Public Health, Wako 351-0197, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7699-6882","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tetsuji","family":"Yokoyama","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Health Promotion, National Institute of Public Health, Wako 351-0197, Japan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"461","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jpeds.2003.12.034","article-title":"Worldwide practices in child growth monitoring","volume":"144","author":"Wijnhoven","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. 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