Abstract
Objective
To examine the relationship between parent feeding practices (restriction, monitoring, pressure to eat), general parenting behaviors (acceptance, psychological control, firm control), and aberrant child eating behaviors (emotional eating and excessive snacking) among overweight and normal weight children.
Methods
Overweight and normal weight children between 8 and 12 years old and their mothers (n = 79, parent–child dyads) participated in this study. Mothers completed surveys on parent feeding practices (Child Feeding Questionnaire) and child eating behaviors (Family Eating and Activity Habits Questionnaire). Children reported on their mothers’ general parenting behaviors (Child Report of Parent Behavior Inventory). Parent and child height and weight were measured and demographic characteristics assessed. Logistic regression models, stratified by child weight status and adjusting for parent BMI, were used to determine which parenting dimensions and feeding practices were associated with child emotional eating and snacking behavior.
Results
Overweight children displayed significantly more emotional eating and excessive snacking behavior than normal weight children. Mothers of overweight children used more restrictive feeding practices and psychological control. Restrictive feeding practices were associated with emotional eating in the overweight group (OR = 1.26, 95 % CI, 1.02, 1.56) and excessive snacking behavior in the normal weight group (OR = 1.13, 95 % CI, 1.01, 1.26). When examining general parenting, firm control was associated with decreased odds of excessive snacking in the overweight group (OR = 0.51, 95 % CI, 0.28, 0.93).
Conclusion
Restrictive feeding practices were associated with aberrant child eating behaviors in both normal weight and overweight children. Firm general parenting however, was associated with decreased snacking behavior among overweight children. Longitudinal studies following children from infancy are needed to better understand the direction of these relationships.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ogden CL et al (2012) Prevalence of obesity and trends in body mass index among US children and adolescents, 1999–2010. JAMA 307(5):483–490. doi:10.1001/jama.2012.40
Freedman DS et al (2007) Cardiovascular risk factors and excess adiposity among overweight children and adolescents: the Bogalusa Heart Study. J Pediatr 150(1):12–17e2. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2006.08.042
Freedman DS et al (2005) The relation of childhood BMI to adult adiposity: the Bogalusa Heart Study. Pediatrics 115(1):22–27. doi:10.1542/peds.2004-0220
Hampl SE et al (2007) Resource utilization and expenditures for overweight and obese children. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 161(1):11–14. doi:10.1001/archpedi.161.1.11
Wildermuth S, Mesman G, Ward W (2013) Maladaptive eating patterns in children. J Pediatr Health Care 27(2):109–119. doi:10.1016/j.pedhc.2011.07.009
van Strien T, Oosterveld P (2008) The children’s DEBQ for assessment of restrained, emotional, and external eating in 7- to 12-year-old children. Int J Eat Disord 41(1):72–81. doi:10.1002/eat.20424
Nguyen-Michel ST, Unger JB, Spruijt-Metz D (2007) Dietary correlates of emotional eating in adolescence. Appetite 49(2):494–499. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2007.03.005
Croker H, Cooke L, Wardle J (2011) Appetitive behaviours of children attending obesity treatment. Appetite 57(2):525–529. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2011.05.320
Webber L et al (2009) Eating behaviour and weight in children. Int J Obes (Lond) 33(1):21–28. doi:10.1038/ijo.2008.219
Nicklas TA et al (2003) Eating patterns and obesity in children. The Bogalusa Heart Study. Am J Prev Med 25(1):9–16 (S0749379703000989 [pii])
Ford CN, Slining MM, Popkin BM (2013) Trends in dietary intake among US 2- to 6-year-old children, 1989–2008. J Acad Nutr Diet 113(1):35–42. doi:10.1016/j.jand.2012.08.022
Camilleri GM et al (2014) The associations between emotional eating and consumption of energy-dense snack foods are modified by sex and depressive symptomatology. J Nutr 144(8):1264–1273. doi:10.3945/jn.114.193177
Rhee KE (2008) Childhood overweight and the relationship between parent behaviors, parenting style, and family functioning. Ann Am Acad Polit Soc Sci 615:12–37. doi:10.1177/0002716207308400
Kremers S et al (2013) General and food-specific parenting: measures and interplay. Child Obes 9(Suppl):S22–S31. doi:10.1089/chi.2013.0026
van der Horst K et al (2007) Perceived parenting style and practices and the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages by adolescents. Health Educ Res 22(2):295–304. doi:10.1093/her/cyl080
Van Strien T, van Niekerk R, Ouwens MA (2009) Perceived parental food controlling practices are related to obesogenic or leptogenic child life style behaviors. Appetite 53(1):151–154. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2009.05.011
Galloway AT et al (2006) ‘Finish your soup’: counterproductive effects of pressuring children to eat on intake and affect. Appetite 46(3):318–323. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2006.01.019
Campbell KJ, Crawford DA, Ball K (2006) Family food environment and dietary behaviors likely to promote fatness in 5–6 year-old children. Int J Obes (Lond) 30(8):1272–1280. doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0803266
Rodenburg G et al (2014) Associations of parental feeding styles with child snacking behaviour and weight in the context of general parenting. Public Health Nutr 17(5):960–969. doi:10.1017/S1368980013000712
Rodgers RF et al (2013) Maternal feeding practices predict weight gain and obesogenic eating behaviors in young children: a prospective study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 10:24. doi:10.1186/1479-5868-10-24
Wardle J et al (2002) Parental feeding style and the inter-generational transmission of obesity risk. Obes Res 10(6):453–462. doi:10.1038/oby.2002.63
Kroller K, Jahnke D, Warschburger P (2013) Are maternal weight, eating and feeding practices associated with emotional eating in childhood? Appetite 65:25–30. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2012.11.032
Sleddens EF et al (2010) Relationship between parental feeding styles and eating behaviours of Dutch children aged 6–7. Appetite 54(1):30–36. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2009.09.002
Brown KA et al (2008) The role of parental control practices in explaining children’s diet and BMI. Appetite 50(2–3):252–259. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2007.07.010
Sleddens EF et al (2014) Food parenting practices and child dietary behavior. Prospective relations and the moderating role of general parenting. Appetite 79:42–50. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2014.04.004
Darling N, Steinberg L (1993) Parenting style as context: an integrative model. Psychol Bull 113(3):487–496. http://doi.apa.org/journals/bul/113/3/487
Kremers SP et al (2003) Parenting style and adolescent fruit consumption. Appetite 41(1):43–50. doi:10.1016/S0195-6663(03)00038-2
Pearson N et al (2010) Parenting styles, family structure and adolescent dietary behaviour. Public Health Nutr 13(8):1245–1253. doi:10.1017/S1368980009992217
Maccoby E, Martin J (1983) Socialization in the context of the family: parent–child interaction. In: Hetherington E (ed) Handbook of child psychology: socialization, personality and social development. Wiley, New York, pp 1–101
Barber BK, Olsen JE, Shagle SC (1994) Associations between parental psychological and behavioral control and youth internalized and externalized behaviors. Child Dev 65(4):1120–1136. doi:10.2307/1131309
Spijkerman R, Van Den Eijnden RJ, Engels RC (2007) Perceptions of smoking and nonsmoking peers: the value of smoker and nonsmoker prototypes in predicting smoking onset and regular smoking among adolescents. Health Educ Behav 34(6):897–910. doi:10.1177/1090198106294642
Rodenburg G et al (2011) Psychological control by parents is associated with a higher child weight. Int J Pediatr Obes 6(5–6):442–449. doi:10.3109/17477166.2011.590203
Peters J et al (2013) Associations between parenting styles and nutrition knowledge and 2–5-year-old children’s fruit, vegetable and non-core food consumption. Public Health Nutr 16(11):1979–1987. doi:10.1017/S1368980012004648
Berge JM et al (2010) Parenting style as a predictor of adolescent weight and weight-related behaviors. J Adolesc Health 46(4):331–338. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.08.004
Snoek HM et al (2007) Parental behaviour and adolescents’ emotional eating. Appetite 49(1):223–230. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2007.02.004
Topham GL et al (2011) Parenting styles, parental response to child emotion, and family emotional responsiveness are related to child emotional eating. Appetite 56(2):261–264. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2011.01.007
Rhee KE et al (2010) Controlling maternal feeding practices associated with decreased dieting behavior in sixth-grade children. J Am Diet Assoc 110(4):619–623. doi:10.1016/j.jada.2009.12.018
Kim MJ et al (2008) Perceived parenting behaviours predict young adolescents’ nutritional intake and body fatness. Matern Child Nutr 4(4):287–303. doi:10.1111/j.1740-8709.2008.00142.x
Loth KA et al (2013) Food-related parenting practices and adolescent weight status: a population-based study. Pediatrics 131(5):e1443–e1450. doi:10.1542/peds.2012-3073
Payne LO, Galloway AT, Webb RM (2011) Parental use of differential restrictive feeding practices with siblings. Int J Pediatr Obes 6(2–2):e540–e546. doi:10.3109/17477166.2011.575144
Johannsen DL, Johannsen NM, Specker BL (2006) Influence of parents’ eating behaviors and child feeding practices on children’s weight status. Obesity (Silver Spring) 14(3):431–439. doi:10.1038/oby.2006.57
Lloyd AB et al (2014) Maternal and paternal parenting practices and their influence on children’s adiposity, screen-time, diet and physical activity. Appetite 79:149–157. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2014.04.010
Golan M, Weizman A (1998) Reliability and validity of the Family Eating and Activity Habits Questionnaire. Eur J Clin Nutr 52(10):771–777
Birch LL et al (2001) Confirmatory factor analysis of the Child Feeding Questionnaire: a measure of parental attitudes, beliefs and practices about child feeding and obesity proneness. Appetite 36(3):201–210. doi:10.1006/appe.2001.0398
Birch LL, Fisher JO, Davison KK (2003) Learning to overeat: maternal use of restrictive feeding practices promotes girls’ eating in the absence of hunger. Am J Clin Nutr 78(2):215–220
Webber L et al (2010) Child adiposity and maternal feeding practices: a longitudinal analysis. Am J Clin Nutr 92(6):1423–1428. doi:10.3945/ajcn.2010.30112ajcn.2010.30112
Schaefer E (1965) Children’s reports of parental behavior: an inventory. Child Dev 36:413–424
Stein RI et al (2005) The influence of parenting change on pediatric weight control. Obes Res 13(10):1749–1755. doi:10.1038/oby.2005.213
Mann BJ, Sanders S (1994) Child dissociation and the family context. J Abnorm Child Psychol 22(3):373–388. doi:10.1007/BF02168080
Schludermann S, Schludermann E (1988) Questionnaire for Children and Youth (CRPBI-30). University of Manitoba, Winnipeg (unpublished work)
Armentrout J, Burger G (1972) Children’s reports of parental child-rearing behavior at five grade levels. Dev Psychol 7:44–48. doi:10.1037/h0032701
Locke LM, Prinz RJ (2002) Measurement of parental discipline and nurturance. Clin Psychol Rev 22(6):895–929. doi:10.1016/S0272-7358(02)00133-2
Ogden CL et al (2002) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2000 growth charts for the United States: improvements to the 1977 National Center for Health Statistics version. Pediatrics 109(1):45–60. doi:10.1542/peds.109.1.45
Kuczmarski RJ et al (2000) CDC growth charts: United States. Adv Data 314: 1–27. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_11/sr11_246.pdf. Accessed 2 Dec 2013
Webber L et al (2010) Associations between child weight and maternal feeding styles are mediated by maternal perceptions and concerns. Eur J Clin Nutr 64(3):259–265. doi:10.1038/ejcn.2009.146ejcn2009146
Fisher JO, Birch LL (2002) Eating in the absence of hunger and overweight in girls from 5 to 7 y of age. Am J Clin Nutr 76(1):226–231
Anzman SL, Birch LL (2009) Low inhibitory control and restrictive feeding practices predict weight outcomes. J Pediatr 155(5):651–656. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2009.04.052
Faith MS et al (2004) Parental feeding attitudes and styles and child body mass index: prospective analysis of a gene–environment interaction. Pediatrics 114(4):e429–e436. doi:10.1542/peds.2003-1075-L
Musher-Eizenman DR, Holub SC (2006) Children’s eating in the absence of hunger: the role of restrictive feeding practices. In: Flamenbaum R (ed) Childhood obesity and health research. Nova Publishers, New York, pp 135–156
Taylor A et al (2011) Parent- and child-reported parenting. Associations with child weight-related outcomes. Appetite 57(3):700–706. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2011.08.014
Otten R, Engels RC, van den Eijnden RJ (2008) General parenting, anti-smoking socialization and smoking onset. Health Educ Res 23(5):859–869. doi:10.1093/her/cym073
Acknowledgments
This work was funded by a Grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Grant K23HD057299 to Kyung Rhee.
Conflict of interest
On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rhee, K.E., Boutelle, K.N., Jelalian, E. et al. Firm maternal parenting associated with decreased risk of excessive snacking in overweight children. Eat Weight Disord 20, 195–203 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-014-0164-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-014-0164-x