Parental overweight is associated with less encouragement of child dietary balance and variety and involvement in meal planning and preparation

Abstract

Little is known about how the body composition of parents of preschool-aged children is associated with their food parenting practices. In this study, we examined associations between parental body composition and food parenting practices in a sample of Canadian families with preschool-aged children. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 68 parents and 52 preschool-aged children. Measures included height, weight, waist circumference (WC), and percentage of fat mass (%FM) measured by BOD POD™. Parents completed an adapted version of the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire. To account for correlated observations within families, we used generalized estimating equations with linear regression modelling to examine associations between parent body composition and food parenting practices, with child body mass index (BMI) z-score, child sex, parental sex, and family household income entered as covariates in all models. Parent BMI, WC, and %FM were each significantly and inversely associated with the encouragement of a balanced diet ([Formula: see text] = −0.021, p = 0.006; [Formula: see text] = −0.007, p = 0.038; [Formula: see text] = −0.010, p = 0.034, respectively) and child involvement in meal planning and preparation ([Formula: see text] = −0.082, p = 0.002; [Formula: see text] = −0.025, p = 0.032; [Formula: see text] = −0.038, p = 0.049, respectively). We provide preliminary evidence that overweight/obesity may be associated with select food parenting practices in Canadian families with preschool-age children. Parental body composition may be an important consideration in intervention strategies that target food parenting practices.