Patterns of food parenting practices regarding junk food and sugary drinks among parent-child dyads

Abstract

Background: Children's food preference and intake patterns are affected by parental child feeding practices. The objective was to determine patterns of food parenting practices regarding junk food and sugary drinks (JS) and investigate their associations with demographic characteristics and dietary intake in a large cohort of parents and their children (12-17 years). Methods: Dyadic survey data from the cross-sectional, internet-based Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating Study, conducted in 2014, were analyzed using latent class analysis to identify patterns of use for six JS parenting practicesnegative emotions, restriction, monitoring, availability, modeling, and child involvementbased on parent and child report. Model covariates included self-reported parent and child sex, age (child only), body mass index category (based on height and weight), added sugars intake, and legitimacy of parental authority. Results: Based on 1657 parent-child dyads, five parenting practice patterns were identified representing different levels of practice use-Complete Influencers (28%; reference class), Indifferent Influencers (21%), Negative Influencers (20%), Minimal Influencers (18%), and Disagreeing Influencers (13%). Compared to older child dyads, younger child dyads were less likely to belong to Indifferent and Minimal Influencers (79 and 63% lower odds, respectively). Greater parent added sugars intake increased the odds of belonging to Indifferent and Negative Influencers (4 and 5% higher for every teaspoon increase, respectively) while greater child added sugars intake decreased the odds of belonging to Minimal Influencers (6% lower for every teaspoon increase). Compared to dyads with high scores, dyads with low child scores for legitimacy of parental authority regarding JS were 18 times as likely to belong to Disagreeing Influencers. Conclusions: The study findings suggest that parents utilize distinct patterns of feeding practices regarding JS ranging from use of many practices, use of some practices, to low use of any practice, with differential associations with parent and child intakes of added sugars. Counseling or intervening with parents to use a mix of structure practices, such as availability and modeling, to positively influence their child's and possibly their own intake of sugary snacks and drinks may prove more efficacious than use of coercive control practices, such as negative emotions.

Parents’ Modeling During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Influences on Family Members’ Diet Quality and Satisfaction With-Food-Related Life in Dual-Earner Parents With Adolescent Children

“…Mothers’ and fathers’ modeling was also positively related to their adolescent children’s diet quality (H2b). This result supports previous studies reporting that modeling is associated with an improvement in the adolescents’ diet quality, a higher consumption of healthy foods, and with lower consumption of unhealthy foods, mainly in samples of mother-adolescent dyads in developed countries ( 8 , 22 , 24 , 48 , 49 ). Our results also provide support to the scarce evidence showing that fathers’ modeling is related to positive dietary outcomes in adolescents ( 27 , 34 ).…”

“…Moreover, it has been reported that parents’ food intake strongly predicts that of their children ( 26 ). For instance, studies in the European Union and the United States have shown that parental modeling of healthy food choices is positively associated with dietary outcomes in adolescents such as healthier diet ( 24 , 48 ), greater intake of fruits and vegetables ( 8 , 21 , 27 , 48 , 49 ), and fewer consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and palatable snack foods ( 5 , 22 , 27 , 49 ).…”

Individual characteristics, including olfactory efficiency, age, body mass index, smoking and the sex hormones status, and food preferences of women in Poland

“…A health-promoting attitude is formed in a person from an early age. A child repeats the patterns it observes in its parents, including their preferences and needs for sport activity or healthy eating habits ( Thomson et al., 2020 ). Research ( Van Rongen et al, 2020 ) showed that the respondents environment had a strong influence on their behavior and choices in the family, circle of friends, or neighborhood.…”

Contributions of Work-to-Family Enrichment to Parental Food Monitoring and Satisfaction with Food-Related Life during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Dual-Earner Parents and Their Adolescent Children

“…Adolescents, thus, still need their parents to act as role models, guides and disciplinarians of dietary habits [ 15 ]. Among the FPP used by parents of adolescents, monitoring [ 11 , 19 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ] is defined as the frequency with which parents keep track of their child’s intake of unhealthy foods [ 26 ].…”