Perceived parenting behaviours predict young adolescents' nutritional intake and body fatness

Abstract

This study investigated whether perceptions of parenting behaviours predict young adolescents' nutritional intake and body fatness. The randomly selected study sample consisted of 106 13-15 years olds from Houston Metropolitan Statistical Area. Parenting style variables were created by cluster analysis and factor analysis. A two-cluster solution for both maternal and paternal parenting style represented authoritative vs. non-authoritative parenting. Two parenting dimension factors derived were maternal/paternal nurturing and control. For adolescents' energy and nutrient intake, greater maternal nurturing appeared to be most beneficial given its association with lower consumption of total kilocalorie and lower saturated fat intake. Paternal nurturing was associated with lower sodium intake, whereas paternal control predicted lower percentage of kilocalories from carbohydrate and percentage Dietary Reference Intake for dietary fibre, and greater percentage of kilocalories from total fat. Maternal authoritative parenting and lower maternal control over their adolescents may have protective effects against having heavier and fatter adolescents given their associations with adolescents' body weight, sub-scapular skinfold, waist circumference, body mass index, and the tendencies of being at risk of overweight and being overweight. None of paternal parenting styles or dimensions appeared to be significantly related to adolescents' body fatness.

Longitudinal associations between family characteristics and measures of childhood obesity

“…Associations between parenting style and child/adolescent weight status have been observed in several cross-sectional studies, suggesting that an authoritative parenting style is related to a lower BMI or normal weight (Berge 2009;Berge et al 2010a;Chen et al 2005;Kim et al 2008;Ventura and Birch 2008). However, nonsignificant results do also exist (Hennessy et al 2010b;Chen et al 2005;Brann and Skinner 2005;Gibson et al 2007).…”

Firm maternal parenting associated with decreased risk of excessive snacking in overweight children

“…[19, 38] However, this relationship was not found among normal weight children. A relationship between warm parenting was also not found among any aberrant eating behavior in either weight group.…”

“…[35, 36] High levels of psychological control have also been associated with higher levels of energy-dense snack consumption. [19] On the other hand, studies have demonstrated that high levels of behavioral control are associated with decreased risk of dieting[37], snacking,[38] and sugar sweetened beverage intake. [19] Most of these studies have been conducted using a general population of American or European children and adolescents.…”

Extending transformational leadership theory to parenting and adolescent health behaviours: an integrative and theoretical review

“…This study found that perceptions of authoritative parenting were associated with greater physical activity (in girls only). Similarly, only a small number of studies have examined adolescents' perceptions of parenting styles in relation to healthy eating and dietary practices (Kim et al, 2008;Kremers, Brug, de Vries, & Engels, 2003). Nonetheless, a consistent pattern across these studies was that adolescents' perceptions of authoritative parenting were found to be associated with the most adaptive responses.…”