Abstract— Overweight in childhood sets the stage for a lifelong struggle with weight and eating and raises the risk of health problems, such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, sleep apnea, and heart disease. Research from multiple disciplinary fields has identified scores of contributing factors. Efforts to integrate these factors into a single “big picture” have been hampered by the challenges of constructing theoretical models that are both comprehensive and developmentally adaptable. This article reviews select genetic and environmental factors influencing childhood overweight and obesity, then explicates an ecological model mapping these and other factors. The Six‐Cs model extends previous theoretical work on childhood weight imbalance by acknowledging dimensions of factors specific to heredity as well as the environment, to activity as well as nutrition, to resources and opportunities as well as practices, and to development from birth through adolescence. This article concludes by discussing the model’s policy relevance and identifying important next steps for transdisciplinary research concerning child overweight and obesity.

This study examined variations in the relationships among child characteristics, parenting stress, and parental involvement. Participants were 100 two‐parent families with preschool‐aged children. Self‐report and interview data were collected to measure parental involvement, as well as perceptions of child temperament and parental stress. Analyses revealed significant, yet somewhat different, associations between child temperament and parental stress for mothers and fathers. More significant associations were found between perceptions of child temperament and involvement for fathers than for mothers. The associations between child temperament and parental stress and involvement differed on the basis of child and parent gender. Results are discussed in terms of future research on father involvement, as well as programs designed to encourage fathers to assume more active parental roles.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether mothers' beliefs about the role of the father may contribute to mothers influencing the quantity of father involvement in their children's lives. Participants were 30 twoparent families with children between the ages of 2 and 3 years. A combination of self-report and interview data were collected from both mothers and fathers. Results from multiple regression analyses indicated that fathers' perceived investments in their parental roles and actual levels of paternal involvement are moderated by mothers' beliefs about the role of the father. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for future research on parenting identity and maternal gatekeeping as well as the development of parenting programs for fathers.

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Identity theory was used to explore fathers' involvement with their children. Eighty-nine married couples with preschool children completed questionnaires and interviews providing information on how involved they were in child-rearing activities. Participants rated the centrality of their parent versus worker status and of the nurturing role. Results indicated that fathers did not differ on any involvement measures regardless of whether they rated the parent or worker status most central. However, fathers who considered the nurturing role highly central to their sense of self engaged in significantly more interaction and responsibility behaviors with their children and were significantly more involved overall than fathers low on nurturing role centrality. Specific behaviors and attitudes of mothers were significantly related to fathers' assessments of nurturing role centrality. Results hold important implications for the refinement of identity theory and for the development of parenting programs and public policy initiatives designed to increase father involvement.