Two recent studies point to the role of parent behaviors in the development of healthy eating behaviors and childhood obesity. The first study looked at the relationship of four parenting styles with the risk of being overweight among first graders. Children were examined and weighed at 4 1/2 years of age and again 2 years later. The four styles were created from measures of 'maternal sensitivity [MS]' and 'maternal expectations for child self-control [ME]' and were defined in the report and a story by Jane Brody as:
Authoritative: Hi MS & Hi ME - high demands for maturity and self-control from their children but also display high levels of sensitivity, emotional warmth, and involvement,
Authoritarian: Lo MS & Hi ME - compared with authoritative parents, they are more dictatorial. They are strict disciplinarians, often insensitive to the child’s needs and give little emotional support.
Permissive: Hi MS & Lo ME - their children often fail to learn limits. They may be more self-confident but often have little self-control, resulting in higher levels of drug use and school misconduct.
Neglectful: Lo MS and Lo ME - displays little sensitivity to a child’s developmental needs. This style is associated typically with ... high rates of depression, smoking and poor school achievement.
Brody summarizes the findings as: The children of authoritarian mothers were [two years later] nearly five times as likely to be overweight as those of authoritative mothers, and those of permissive or neglectful mothers were at nearly three times the risk.
The second study looked at correlates of fruit, vegetable and fat consumption among 11-15 year olds. One of the variables that was found to be associated with healthier eating patterns was what the authors termed 'household eating rules' that included:
- Having healthful snacks available at home
- Including vegetables with dinner
- Including fruit with breakfast
- Limiting sweet snacks, desserts and sodas
These data suggest that parents have more impact on their children's eating behaviors, and perhaps their weight, than they commonly acknowledge. More typical for the parents, and many nutrition researchers, is to focus the blame for children's poor eating patterns on 'outside of the home' influences such as the ready availability of unhealthy food choices in schools and at fast food restaurants.
The importance of this work for social marketers and others trying to improve children's nutrition behaviors and slowing the increase of childhood obesity (first things first) is that there are specific behaviors that we can focus on in the home that are based on empirical evidence and not hunches. Obviously there are many other influences on child and adolescent nutrition behaviors. What the war on obesity needs is funding for multiple intervention strategies in many different places and times in children's, teen's and their parents' everyday lives, not just searches for magic bullets in schools, built environments or public policies.
Tips from the RWJF Childhood Obesity News Digest.
Technorati Tags: Childhood Obesity, Diet, Fat Intake, Fruit and Vegetable Consumption, Home Eating Rules, Parenting Styles
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