Parent-child relationships in nutrient intake: the Framingham Children's Study

Abstract

Nutrient intake affects many of the identified risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD). Although CHD risk factors have been shown to aggregate within families, less is known about the familial aggregation of nutrient intake. We analyzed diet records for an average of 9 d per subject on 87 mothers, 83 fathers, and 91 children aged 3-5 y. A statistically significant but modest correlation (r less than 0.50) was found between parents' and children's intakes for most nutrients. The intake of nutrients was more strongly related between mothers and children than between fathers and children, and there was a stronger association with children's values for parents consuming more meals at home. The results of this study confirm that parents' eating habits have an impact on the nutrient intake of their preschool children; the study furnishes indirect support for dietary-intervention programs targeting families for the primary prevention of CHD.

Family resemblance in fat intake in the Netherlands

“…Associations in fat intake between parents and children as reported here were similar to some studies (Oliveria et al, 1992;Pe Ârusse et al, 1988;Lee & Kolonel, 1982;Eastwood et al, 1982) and high relative to other studies (Patterson et al, 1988;Laskarzewski et al, 1980;Nelson et al, 1980). Reported associations in fat intakes between husband and wives ranged between 0.38 and 0.58 in spouse pairs from North-America and the United Kingdom (Lee & Kolonel, 1982;Oliveria et al, 1992;Pe Ârusse et al, 1988;Nelson et al, 1980;Eastwood et al, 1982).…”

“…Parent-child associations in fat intake within families living together have only been reported from studies in North-America. The highest associations were found for Framingham mothers and their 3±5 y old daughters, r 0.35 to r 0.56 for the different fatty acids (Oliveria et al, 1992). Sta¯eu et al (1994) reported that resemblance in fat intake persists to some extent when parents and children do not live together any more; signi®cant associations were found between mothers and their 25 y old daughters, but not between the mothers and their mothers who were around age 75 y.…”

“…Reported associations in fat intakes between husband and wives ranged between 0.38 and 0.58 in spouse pairs from North-America and the United Kingdom (Lee & Kolonel, 1982;Oliveria et al, 1992;Pe Ârusse et al, 1988;Nelson et al, 1980;Eastwood et al, 1982). Parent-child associations in fat intake within families living together have only been reported from studies in North-America.…”

“…Lee & Kolonel (1982) used a dietary history; others used multiple diet records (Oliveria et al, 1992;Nelson et al, 1980;Eastwood et al, 1982;Pe Ârusse et al, 1988); diet records and recall methods (Patterson et al, 1988); or a 24h-recall (Laskarzewski et al, 1980). In two of these studies, dietary intake was assessed at a different moment for parents and for children (Laskarzewski et al, 1980;Oliveria et al, 1992).…”

“…Prevention of coronary heart disease should therefore start early in life (Lapinleimu et al, 1995;Shea et al, 1993). Aggregation of fat intake within nuclear families who live together has been reported for husband and wife pairs (Lee & Kolonel, 1982;Nelson et al, 1980;Eastwood et al, 1982;Oliveria et al, 1992;Pe Ârusse et al, 1988;Patterson et al, 1988) and for parents and children (Oliveria et al, 1992;Pe Ârusse et al, 1988;Patterson et al, 1988).…”