weight/ obesity Flashcards
(10 cards)
what is health related parenting
- Children’s health defined by WHO (1978) as:
“a state of complete physical, mental & social well-being,
and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” - Health-related parenting related to various factors,
including: - Health knowledge and beliefs
- Self-efficacy (Bandura, 1982; 1986)
- Social learning (modelling)
- Child’s development of autonomy is key: parenting
challenge is knowing when to reduce control and offer
child more autonomy to foster healthy developmen
demographic factors
Income
* Lower income families at greater risk of negative health
outcomes (e.g., Starfield, 1992; Lombrail et al., 1997) but unclear why.
Maternal education
* Linked with health knowledge and preventative health
(e.g., Cheng et al., 1996) but findings equivocal.
Family structure
* Findings mixed: differences (e.g., Soliday et al., 2001) and no differences (e.g., Manne et al., 1995). Interpretation complicated by definition, sample size, etc.
Ethnicity
* Ethnic minority children at risk for negative health outcomes –e.g., obesity (e.g., Alexander et al., 2000; Anderson et al., 1998; Heckler, 1986). But, not all studies find differences (e.g., Cullen et al., 2000, 2002). More research needed
obesity facts
- Childhood obesity levels increased:
20% of UK 4-5yr olds and 33% of 10-11-yr-olds
with overweight/obesity (Public Health England, 2018) - Adult obesity levels increasing too
- Obesity often has its roots in early childhood /
adolescence and is influenced by early
socialisation mechanisms (Reilly et al., 2003)
veg- * Yet under 20% of children (5-15yrs) eat 5 portions daily
* Linked to: low exposure in early life; poor parental
modelling & consumption; limited availability at home; low
SES of family; feeding style/practices used (Blissett, 2011)
review
Sleddens et al. (2011)
* Examined general parenting and child weight status
* Results inconsistent:
* authoritative parenting linked to lower BMI
* mothers of children with obesity scored higher on
laxness and over-reactivity and lower on behavioural
control
* permissive parenting with US children and democratic
parenting with both Taiwanese and Chinese-American
children positively related to children’s BMI
* greater parenting control linked to higher child BMI
* but many cross-sectional studies found no associations
* Three longitudinal studies found positive effects of
authoritative parenting on children’s weight status
- 19 studies cross sectional
- mums of children with obesity were higher on laxness and overeactivity, and lower on behavioural control!
- huge variability
- 3 of 6 longdiunal studies found a positive effect of authoriatuive parenting on weight status
- conclude- some evidence, but not consistent!
review 2
Sokol et al. (2017)
* 11 prospective cohort studies
* Authoritative parenting associated with lower BMI gains in 5
out of 8 studies
xOnly one study controlled for confounders
xSmall number of studies for each age group prevents
identification of a critical period when parenting style
might be most strongly related to child weight
* Various mechanisms, including the associations
between parenting styles and healthy eating, physical
activity and screen time…
- just looked at longidunal studies (11)
- huge variability in these studies- sample size ranged from 69 to 12,500!
and the ages of children ranged greatly, really hard to compare these studies! so difficult to highlight a critical time period for when parenting is really important!
only one study controlled for confounders- highlights the poor research in this field
- authoritative parenting associated with lower BMI in 5/8 studies. / authoritative was better BUT not the best…
WHY? what are parents doing, warmth, support to eating and trying new foods. Monitoring and limiting screen time too.
review 3
Shloim et al., 2015
sysrematoc review- 23 cross sectiona and 7 longitdunal
Associations between parenting style and child BMI were strongest and most consistent within the longitudinal studies. Uninvolved, indulgent or highly protective parenting was associated with higher child BMI, whereas authoritative parenting was associated with a healthy BMI. Similarly for feeding styles, indulgent feeding was consistently associated with risk of obesity within cross-sectional studies. Specific feeding practices such as restriction and pressure to eat were linked to BMI, especially within cross-sectional studies. Where child traits were measured, the feeding practice appeared to be responsive to the child, therefore restriction was applied to children with a high BMI and pressure to eat applied to children with a lower BMI. Behaviors and styles that are specific to the feeding context are consistently associated with child BMI. However, since obesity emerges over time, it is through longitudinal, carefully measured (through questionnaire and observation) studies which take account of child appetite and temperament that the association between parenting style, feeding style, specific feeding practices, and child obesity will be understood.
fruit and veg-
Parenting style not strongly linked with F&V intake. Belgium, Netheerlands, portugla and spain- 11 year olds.
(De Bourdeaudhuij et al., 2008)
- Parental use of reasoning and offering choices
associated with greater F&V consumption by
children (Patrick et al., 2005) and adolescents (fruit)
(Kremers et al., 2003 - Lack of control over food intake (permissive)
not associated with satisfactory F&V intake
(Blissett, 2011) - Supported: Langer et al. (2017)
- Permissive parenting associated with lower child fruit
and vegetable consumption - Greater parental monitoring (authoritative) associated
with lower sweetened beverage consumption - Monitoring a key focus for interventions?
ER
more important to look at specific behaviours than parenting styles on obesity1 SO complex. also peers and the environment play a key role- e.g. food swamps and food deserts and SES- parents trade down-
e.g. peers and social norms (Robinson et al., 2023)
good study-
Hoffman et al., 2022
this scoping review investigated how family characteristics might mediate or moderate the relationship between socioeconomic position (SEP) and child health in high-income countries. The review highlighted that family structures and dynamics, such as marital status, parenting styles, and living conditions, play significant roles in children’s health outcomes. It emphasized that the pathways through which SEP affects child health are complex and involve interactions between biological processes and social environments. The study called for more research to understand these mechanisms and to develop interventions that address family-level factors contributing to health inequalities.
Stress in parent–child relationship [50], rules/descriptive norms [46], and parental screen time [46, 47] were found to be family processes with a mediating effect.
not just parenting styles-
yee et al., 2017- Results indicate that availability (Healthy: r = .24, p < .001; Unhealthy: r = .34, p < .001) and parental modeling effects (Healthy: r = .32, p < .001; Unhealthy: r = .35, p < .001) show the strongest associations with both healthy and unhealthy food consumption not parenting styles! ALSO showed that certian parenting practices vary with the age of the child e.g. 6 and under rewards can be effective. 7 and older restriction can be more effective.
(Lopez et al., 2018)
this study also showed- revealed that mealtime structure and parental modeling of healthy food choices mediated the relationship between parenting styles and children’s diet quality. This suggests that irrespective of general parenting style, parents who consistently demonstrate healthy eating behaviors and establish structured mealtime environments can positively influence their children’s dietary habits.
