Is Adolescents’ Food Intake Associated with Exposure to the Food Intake of Their Mothers and Best Friends?

Abstract

Both mothers’ and best friends’ food intake are associated with adolescents’ food intake, but they are rarely investigated simultaneously. In this study, we tested the associations of mothers’ and best friends’ food intake with adolescents’ intake of unhealthy and healthy food, obtained from home and from outside the home, and the moderating role of adolescents’ exposure to their food intake. Participants included 667 adolescents (53% female, Mage = 12.9) and 396 of their mothers. Within this adolescent sample, 378 best friend dyads were identified. All participants completed food frequency questionnaires. Mothers separately reported on their food intake in the presence and absence of their child, and adolescents indicated how often they ate and drank together with their best friend during school breaks. Mothers’, but not best friends’, food intake was positively related to adolescents’ intake of unhealthy and healthy food obtained from home and healthy food obtained from outside the home. Exposure to mothers’ healthy food intake magnified mother-child similarities in healthy food intake. Exposure to best friends’ intake of unhealthy food moderated adolescent-friend similarities in unhealthy food intake. Future work should assess the mechanisms that underlie these similarities, and should investigate these associations over time and in later developmental periods.

Maternal stress and depressive symptoms and adolescents’ body mass index: a prospective study

“…Six secondary schools agreed to participate in wave 1, and all adolescents attending the first and second grade and their parents were invited to participate in this study by means of an active parental consent procedure. Further details on the study procedures can be found elsewhere [ 71 ]. A letter describing the four-wave study was mailed to both parents and they were asked to return a (paper or online) consent form indicating whether they agreed to their child participating in the study and if they agreed to participate in the study themselves.…”

“…Parental consent was provided for 777 parents themselves, of which 593 parents participated in the first wave and for 718 children. Details of the study design can be found elsewhere [71]. For this study, we only included mothers, as they are still the most important caregivers in the family, and are more prone to stress and depression [25,72,73] than fathers.…”

Is the Prospective Link between Parental Stress and Adolescent Snack Intake or Weight Outcome Mediated by Food Parenting Practices?

“…The PSS is a self-report questionnaire, and is a global measure of stress that is easy to use. Many studies confirm its reliability and validity in a diversity of settings and in multiple languages [ 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 ]. The scale measures a person’s evaluation of stressful situations in the previous month of his or her life.…”

“…All adolescents attending the first and second grade and their parents were invited to participate in this study by means of an active parental consent procedure. Further details on the study design can be found elsewhere [ 75 , 76 ].…”

Maternal stress and depressive symptoms and adolescents’ body mass index: A prospective study.

“…Moreover, 593 mothers and fathers took part in Wave 1 and 586 parents took part in wave 2 (N =480; 80,9% in both waves). Details of the study procedures can be found elsewhere [47].…”