Moderation of associations between maternal parenting styles and Australian pre-school children’s dietary intake by family structure and mother’s employment status

Association of parental eating styles and markers of food intake and nutritional status of Brazilian children

We analysed the relationships between maternal feeding styles and children's eating and nutritional factors. A cross-sectional study was developed with 416 mothers linked to 130 public higher education institutions in all Brazilian states and their children aged 18 months to six years. A semi-structured online questionnaire was applied using the Google Forms tool, with questions about sociodemographic conditions, food consumption and anthropometry of the children. The children's food consumption was assessed based on the Food Consumption Markers Form (SISVAN) for the age groups up to 24 months (n = 84) and over 24 months (n = 332), and the parental style in feeding, based on the Parental Feeding Styles Questionnaire (QEPA). The assessment of the child's nutritional status was based on the weight and height data reported by the mother. The body mass index/age (BMI/Age) was calculated and classified into age-specific WHO curves. Descriptive analysis and univariate analyses were performed, in the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, version 26.0) programs (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). To test the association between categorical variables, the Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test was used, and multiple logistic regression was used to estimate the independent association between the variables of interest, with an estimated odds ratio and 95% confidence interval. Statistical significance was adopted at 5%. Children under 24 months of age with authoritative mothers were 8.7 times more likely to consume ultra-processed foods and 5.3 times less likely to consume foods rich in vitamin A than those with indulgent mothers. Children over 24 months old with authoritative mothers were 2.5 times more likely to eat meals while watching television, 2.0 times more likely to consume sandwich cookies, candies and sweets, and 2.3 times less likely to have at least the three main meals of a day, compared to those with indulgent mothers. The chances of overweight children being born to authoritative mothers were two times greater compared to underweight children. Higher scores in the demandingness domain among responsive mothers increased the odds ratios of children eating unhealthy foods, using screens during meals, and proved to be a protective factor against low child weight.

Psychometric properties of the toddler feeding style questionnaire in fathers and its gender invariance

Parental feeding practices and behaviours are closely related to a number of child outcomes, including eating behaviour and health. The Toddler Feeding Style Questionnaire (TFSQ) was developed to provide an accurate instrument for evaluating parental feeding practices for toddlers by assessing two dimensions: responsiveness and demandingness. As the initial validation study was conducted in a sample of mothers only, the aims of this study are: a) to validate the TFSQ in fathers, b) to analyse its measurement invariance as a function of gender and parenting experience and c) to explore associations between socio-demographic variables and both dimensions. The TFSQ was completed by 377 fathers and 583 mothers. CFA confirmed the two-factor structure within the same items as the initial validation study, with good model fit indices (X2 = 230.089; TLI = 0.883; CFI = 0.91; RMSEA = 0.08 (90% CI 0.068-0.092), SRMR = 0.070). Strict invariance measurement in terms of gender and parenting experience was achieved. Overall, fathers scored higher than mothers on demandingness, regardless of their parenting experience. Primiparous mothers scored higher than multiparous mothers and primiparous fathers on the responsiveness dimension. However, there were no gender-based differences on this dimension for parents with more than one child. These results confirm that the TFSQ is an adequate and validated instrument for assessing parenting dimensions, as it performs equally well for mothers and fathers, regardless of their parenting experience. There is also support for the notion that parental attitudes to feeding may be related to their socio-economic background.

Factors influencing the maternal choice of packaged snacks for 6-10 years old children: A cross-sectional study from Sri Lanka

Childhood overweight and obesity due to unhealthy diet result in several adverse effects. Mothers play a major role in selecting snacks for younger children. This study assessed the factors associated with the choice of packaged food/beverage snacks among mothers of 6- to 10-year-old children in the Medical Officer of Health area Balangoda. A community-based descriptive cross-sectional study with an analytical component was conducted in 2022 among 450 mothers with 6- to 10-year-old children through two-stage, stratified (year of birth considered as a stratum), simple random sampling technique in ten randomly selected Public Health Midwife areas in the medical officer of health area Balangoda. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to assess participants' sociodemographic, usual practices, attitudes, and knowledge toward packaged snacks. Factors associated with maternal practices related to packaged snack selection were assessed through the chi-square test at the p<0.05 significance level. The response rate was 99.3% (N = 447). Children were commonly provided with biscuits (94.4%) and flavoured milk (44.7%) daily (66.4%) at home (93.5%). The majority of mothers reported poor practices in selecting packaged snacks (88.8%), but good knowledge (62.9%) and favorable attitudes (93.5%) toward packaged snacks. The majority (75.5%) were aware that snacks are important for overcoming the hunger gap among children. Childs' preference (77.6%) was the leading influencing factor while, the nutritional value of the packaged snacks minimally influenced the maternal (2.7%) choice. Only 49.9% mothers knew that packaged fruits could be consumed as snacks. Maternal Sinhalese ethnicity (p<0.001), secondary or higher education (p<0.001), having one child (p = 0.003), residing in a rural or urban area (p = 0.011) and having favourable attitudes (p = 0.002) were significantly associated with poor maternal practices in packaged snack selection. Although mothers' knowledge toward packaged snacks were good, their practices in selecting packaged snacks were poor. Maternal ethnicity, educational level, number of children, area of residence and attitudes were significantly associated with mothers' selection of packaged snacks. The results of the study highlighted the need to plan, develop and implement focused health promotion programmes to empower mothers to select healthier packaged snack options for their 6- to 10-year-old children.

Longitudinal associations between food parenting practices and dietary intake in preschool children: The ToyBox Study

INTRODUCTION

Food Parenting Practices (FPPs) include the practices parents use in the act of feeding their children, which may further influence their health.

OBJECTIVES

To assess associations between changes in FPPs (permissiveness, food availability, guided choices, water encouragement, rules and limits and the use of food as reward) over 1 year and dietary intake (water, energy-dense/nutrient-poor and nutrient-dense foods) at follow-up in 4- to 6-year-old preschool-aged children.

METHODS

Longitudinal data from the control group of the ToyBox study, a cluster-randomized controlled intervention study, was used (NCT02116296). Multilevel ordinal logistic regression analyses including FPP as the independent variables and dietary intake as outcome.

RESULTS

Nine hundred sixty-four parent-child dyads (50.5% boys and 95.0% mothers) were included. Limited changes on the use of FPPs were observed over time. Nevertheless, in boys, often having F&V at home was associated with higher F&V consumption (OR = 6.92 [1.58; 30.38]), and increasing home availability of F&V was directly associated with higher water consumption (OR = 7.62 [1.63; 35.62]). Also, not having sweets or salty snacks available at home was associated with lower consumption of desserts (OR = 4.34 [1.75; 10.75]). In girls, having F&V availability was associated with higher F&V consumption (OR = 6.72 [1.52; 29.70]) and lower salty snack consumption (OR = 3.26 [1.50; 7.10]) and never having soft drinks at home was associated with lower consumption of sweets (OR = 7.89 [6.32; 9.86]). Also, never being permissive about soft drink consumption was associated with lower soft drink consumption (OR = 4.09 [2.44; 6.85]).

CONCLUSION

Using favorable FPPs and avoiding the negative ones is prospectively associated with healthier dietary intake, especially of F&V, and less intake of soft drinks, desserts, and salty snacks.

Association of Maternal Feeding Style with Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Saudi Preschoolers: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study

Parental feeding style (PFS) remarkably influences fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption in preschoolers. This study aimed to determine the association between PFS and preschoolers' F&V consumption, as influenced by socioeconomic factors. A nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted among 1418 mothers of children aged 3-5 years in Saudi Arabia. Multinomial logistic regression model analysis was performed to assess the association between PFS and children's daily F&V intake using the Parental Feeding Style Questionnaire. The influence of socioeconomic factors on this association was also evaluated. For mothers with university degrees, encouragement, emotional, and instrumental feeding enhanced their children's intake of F&Vs, fruits, and vegetables, respectively. Children from families earning SAR >10,000 monthly had increased F&V intake with encouragement feeding and increased fruit intake with emotional feeding. However, F&V intake was reduced in children of working mothers with controlling feeding styles. Breastfeeding for <6 months was associated with increased F&V intake through emotional feeding. The most prevalent feeding style was encouragement, followed by emotional, with control and instrumental styles being less common. This study provides strong evidence on the association between PFS and daily F&V intake in Saudi preschoolers. Interventional and longitudinal studies on PFS are required to confirm these findings.

Parental work hours and household income as determinants of unhealthy food and beverage intake in young Australian children

OBJECTIVE

This study examined parental work hours and household income as determinants of discretionary (energy-dense, nutrient-poor) food and beverage intake in young children, including differences by eating occasion.

DESIGN

Secondary analysis of cross-sectional data. Three hierarchical regression models were conducted with percentage of energy from discretionary food and beverages across the day, at main meals and at snack times being the outcomes. Dietary intake was assessed by 1 × 24-h recall and 1-2 × 24-h food record(s). Both maternal and paternal work hours were included, along with total household income. Covariates included household, parent and child factors.

SETTING

Data from the NOURISH/South Australian Infants Dietary Intake studies were collected between 2008 and 2013.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants included 526 mother-child dyads (median (interquartile range) child age 1·99 (1·96, 2·03) years). Forty-one percentage of mothers did not work while 57 % of fathers worked 35-40 h/week. Most (85 %) households had an income of ≥$50 k AUD/year.

RESULTS

Household income was consistently inversely associated with discretionary energy intake (β = -0·12 to -0·15). Maternal part-time employment (21-35 h/week) predicted child consumption of discretionary energy at main meals (β = 0·10, P = 0·04). Paternal unemployment predicted a lower proportion of discretionary energy at snacks (β = -0·09, P = 0·047).

CONCLUSIONS

This work suggests that household income should be addressed as a key opportunity-related barrier to healthy food provision in families of young children. Strategies to reduce the time burden of healthy main meal provision may be required in families where mothers juggle longer part-time working hours with caregiving and domestic duties. The need to consider the role of fathers and other parents/caregivers in shaping children's intake was also highlighted.

Parenting style as a predictor of dietary score change in children from 4 to 14 years of age. Findings from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children

OBJECTIVE

To examine associations between parenting style and changes in dietary quality score across childhood.

DESIGN

This longitudinal analysis included the child's frequency of consumption for twelve food and drink items reported by mothers of children (aged 4-8 years) and children (aged 10-14 years) during face-to-face interviews biennially. These items were combined into dietary scores based on the Australian Dietary Guidelines. Parenting styles were classified at baseline as authoritative, authoritarian, permissive and disengaged. Multilevel modelling was used to examine changes in diet quality score over time by maternal parenting styles.

SETTING

The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 4282 children aged 4 to 14 years.

RESULTS

Children's diet quality score declined over time between 4 and 14 years of age (β = -0·10, 95 % CI (-0·11, -0·08)). There was strong evidence to suggest that change in diet quality differed dependent on baseline maternal parenting style, although diet quality declined for all groups. Children with authoritative mothers had the greatest decline in diet quality score over time (β = -0·13; 95 % CI (-0·18, -0·08)), while children with disengaged mothers had the lowest decline (β = -0·03; 95 % CI (-0·07, 0·01)). However, it is important to note that children with authoritative mothers had a better dietary quality score than children of permissive or disengaged mothers for most of their childhood.

CONCLUSION

These findings question the previous assumptions that early exposure to an authoritative parenting style has lasting positive effects on the dietary intake of children.

The Role of General Parenting Style in Child Diet and Obesity Risk

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The childhood obesity epidemic is widely considered to have reached pandemic proportions. Across the world, children with obesity are facing numerous psychological and physiological issues that follow them into adulthood, frequently leading to chronic illness and early death. In an effort to combat the compounding effects of childhood overweight, researchers are attempting to identify biological and environmental contributors to child weight. Parenting styles are one recognized influence on child diet and body mass index (BMI). This review is a comprehensive examination of the literature on the influence of parenting style on childhood diet and BMI over the past 5 years.

RECENT FINDINGS

Current research continues to support the use of traditional parenting style categories (i.e., authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, uninvolved/neglectful): however, newer subcategories of Baumrind's styles and the inclusion of previously underrepresented groups (e.g., fathers, cross cultural comparison studies) are shedding more light on the nuance of parenting's relationship with child weight. Parenting styles that focus on the balance of warmth and control (e.g., authoritative) in contrast to the styles dedicated to only one of these constructs (e.g., permissive, authoritarian) seem to promote the healthiest dietary habits and may be protective of child BMI.