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de la Torre-Moral A, Fàbregues S, Bach-Faig A, Fornieles-Deu A, Medina FX, Aguilar-Martínez A, Sánchez-Carracedo D. Family Meals, Conviviality, and the Mediterranean Diet among Families with Adolescents. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph18052499. [PMID: 33802507 PMCID: PMC7967627 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18052499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2021] [Revised: 02/25/2021] [Accepted: 02/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Two aspects that characterize the Mediterranean diet (MD) are "what" and "how" we eat. Conviviality relates to "how" we eat and to the pleasure of sharing meals with significant people. The most studied concept is "family meals", which includes conviviality, which involves "enjoying" family meals. Given the lack of research on convivial family meals in Mediterranean countries, the purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze the family meal representations and practices of families with 12- to 16-year-old adolescents to assess whether they responded to a pattern of conviviality, and to examine their association with MD adherence. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted and food frequency and family meal questionnaires were administered. A food pattern analysis was carried out and digital photos of meals were analyzed to examine eating habits and meal composition, respectively. The findings showed that parents believed family meals are a space for socialization and communication. Items relating to the conviviality of family meals identified in the study were meal frequency, meals at the table, lack of digital distractions, pleasant conversations, and time spent on family meals. Attention should be paid to conviviality in Mediterranean families when designing multi-approach strategies to promote healthy eating among adolescents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea de la Torre-Moral
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC), 08018 Barcelona, Spain;
| | - Sergi Fàbregues
- Department of Psychology and Education, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC), 08018 Barcelona, Spain;
| | - Anna Bach-Faig
- FoodLab Research Group (2017SGR 83), Faculty of Health Sciences, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC), 08018 Barcelona, Spain; (F.X.M.); (A.A.-M.)
- Food and Nutrition Area, Barcelona Official College of Pharmacists, 08009 Barcelona, Spain
- Correspondence:
| | - Albert Fornieles-Deu
- Eating and Weight-Related Problems Unit, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain; (A.F.-D.); (D.S.-C.)
- Department of Psychobiology and Methodology of Health Sciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
| | - F. Xavier Medina
- FoodLab Research Group (2017SGR 83), Faculty of Health Sciences, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC), 08018 Barcelona, Spain; (F.X.M.); (A.A.-M.)
| | - Alicia Aguilar-Martínez
- FoodLab Research Group (2017SGR 83), Faculty of Health Sciences, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC), 08018 Barcelona, Spain; (F.X.M.); (A.A.-M.)
| | - David Sánchez-Carracedo
- Eating and Weight-Related Problems Unit, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain; (A.F.-D.); (D.S.-C.)
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
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Kanellopoulou A, Diamantis DV, Notara V, Panagiotakos DB. Extracurricular Sports Participation and Sedentary Behavior in Association with Dietary Habits and Obesity Risk in Children and Adolescents and the Role of Family Structure: a Literature Review. Curr Nutr Rep 2021; 10:1-11. [PMID: 33595804 DOI: 10.1007/s13668-021-00352-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/02/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW Childhood obesity is considered a major problem in the modern world, associated with many health issues in youth. This review aimed the association between extracurricular sports participation, sedentary time/screen time, and "obesogenic" and "non-obesogenic" dietary habits among youth and to explore the role of family structure on the adoption of sedentary behaviors by children. RECENT FINDINGS Increased participation in extracurricular sports was associated with a healthier dietary pattern, containing more "non-obesogenic" food choices. Opposite results were indicated by sedentary activities. Increased time in watching TV, computer/electronic games, and other screen devices was positively associated with unhealthy dietary patterns. Overall, extracurricular activities influence the quality of food choices, which may prevent or promote childhood obesity; thus, sport-related activities should be promoted through public health policies. The role of the family structure is contradictory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aikaterini Kanellopoulou
- Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, 70 Eleftheriou Venizelou (Thiseos) Ave, Kallithea, 176 71, Athens, Greece
| | - Dimitrios V Diamantis
- Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, 70 Eleftheriou Venizelou (Thiseos) Ave, Kallithea, 176 71, Athens, Greece
| | - Venetia Notara
- Department of Public and Community Health, Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece
| | - Demosthenes B Panagiotakos
- Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, 70 Eleftheriou Venizelou (Thiseos) Ave, Kallithea, 176 71, Athens, Greece. .,Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, ACT, Canberra, Australia.
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Jongenelis MI, Morley B, Worrall C, Talati Z. Grandparents' perceptions of the barriers and strategies to providing their grandchildren with a healthy diet: A qualitative study. Appetite 2020; 159:105061. [PMID: 33271201 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2020.105061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2020] [Revised: 11/19/2020] [Accepted: 11/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Grandparents are playing an increasingly important role in shaping their grandchildren's nutritional environment. Evidence-based interventions tailored to grandparents thus constitute a potential means of promoting healthy eating among children. For such interventions to be effective, they must account for the unique issues encountered by grandparents. However, research examining the potential needs of grandparents is limited. The present study thus explored (i) grandparents' perceptions of the barriers to providing their grandchildren with healthy food and minimizing consumption of unhealthy food and (ii) the strategies grandparents believe help increase their grandchildren's consumption of healthy food and reduce intake of unhealthy food. Seventy-nine grandparents, each of whom provided care to at least one grandchild aged 3-12 years, participated in one of ten focus groups. Transcripts from each of the groups were imported into NVivo for qualitative coding and semantic thematic analysis. The food preferences of their grandchildren, the promotion of unhealthy food consumption by their grandchildren's parents, advertising of unhealthy food, and peer pressure were the most frequently cited barriers to healthy food consumption. Grandparents reported using multiple strategies to increase their grandchildren's fruit and vegetable consumption and minimize unhealthy food intake. The most common were disguising vegetables, making fruit and vegetables appealing, managing child eating (e.g., limiting access to unhealthy food), saying no to requests for unhealthy food, involving grandchildren in meal planning and cooking, and using rewards. Findings suggest that grandparents may need support with managing food preferences and navigating and negotiating complex relations with parents regarding child feeding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle I Jongenelis
- Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3010, Australia; School of Psychology, Curtin University, Kent Street, Bentley, Western Australia, 6102, Australia.
| | - Belinda Morley
- Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, Cancer Council Victoria, 615 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria, 3004, Australia.
| | - Caitlin Worrall
- School of Psychology, Curtin University, Kent Street, Bentley, Western Australia, 6102, Australia.
| | - Zenobia Talati
- School of Psychology, Curtin University, Kent Street, Bentley, Western Australia, 6102, Australia.
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Nguyen HT, Frongillo EA, Blake CE, Shapiro CJ, Frith AL. Earlier and Concurrent Food Insecurity Are Associated with Suboptimal Parenting in Early Childhood. J Nutr 2020; 150:1590-1599. [PMID: 32232418 DOI: 10.1093/jn/nxaa073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2019] [Revised: 10/20/2019] [Accepted: 03/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Food insecurity (FI) is associated with poor health, suboptimal nutrition, and disadvantaged linguistic, social, and academic development for children. Given the prominent role that parents play in children's development, FI may be associated with parenting practices. OBJECTIVES We aimed to understand how FI and its change over time relate to parenting in early childhood. METHODS Data were from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort: parental interviews and child assessments at 9 mo and 2, 4, and 5 y old. Dependent variables were parenting practices in years 2, 4, and 5 in parent-child interaction, discipline, rules, and routines in general and food-related settings. Stratified by gender, parenting outcomes were regressed on earlier FI and child, parent, and contextual covariates, then additionally regressed on concurrent FI, using models with full-information-maximum-likelihood and cluster control. RESULTS Earlier FI was associated with harsh discipline (girls, year 5: β1 = 0.0811, P < 0.05) and frequent evening meals at a regular time (girls and boys, years 2 and 4), before adding concurrent FI. Accounting for earlier FI and covariates, concurrent FI was associated with harsh discipline (girls, years 2 and 4: β2 = 0.0489 and 0.0705, P < 0.05; boys, year 2: β2 = 0.0584, P < 0.05), rules about foods (girls, year 4), frequent evening meals as a family (girls, years 2 and 4), and frequent evening meals at a regular time (girls, years 2 and 4; boys, year 2); earlier FI remained associated with harsh discipline (girls, year 5) and frequent evening meals at a regular time (girls, years 2 and 4; boys, year 4). CONCLUSIONS FI was linked with suboptimal parenting practices in structuring a general and food-related living environment, particularly for girls and by the age of 5 y.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hoa T Nguyen
- Institute for Families in Society, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Edward A Frongillo
- Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Christine E Blake
- Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Cheri J Shapiro
- Institute for Families in Society, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Amy L Frith
- Health Promotion and Physical Education, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, USA
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Prevention of Childhood Obesity: A Position Paper of the Global Federation of International Societies of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (FISPGHAN). J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2020; 70:702-710. [PMID: 32205768 DOI: 10.1097/mpg.0000000000002708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Global childhood obesity increased more than 8-fold over 40 years, inducing a very large personal, societal, and economic burden. Effects of available treatments are less than satisfactory; therefore, effective prevention is of high priority. In this narrative review, we explore preventive opportunities. The available evidence indicates large benefits of improving nutrition and lifestyle during early life, such as promoting breast-feeding and improving the quality of infant and early childhood feeding. Promoting healthy eating patterns and limiting sugar-containing beverage consumption from early childhood onwards are of great benefit. Regular physical activity and limited sedentary lifestyle and screen time alone have limited effects but are valuable elements in effective multicomponent strategies. The home environment is important, particularly for young children, and can be improved by educating and empowering families. School- and community-based interventions can be effective, such as installing water fountains, improving cafeteria menus, and facilitating regular physical activity. Reducing obesogenic risk factors through societal standards is essential for effective prevention and limiting socioeconomic disparity; these may comprise food, drink, and physical activity standards for day cares and schools, general food quality standards, front-of-pack food labeling, taxation of unhealthy foods, restriction of food advertisements to children, and others. Effective prevention of childhood obesity is not achieved by single interventions but by integrated multicomponent approaches involving multiple stakeholders that address children, families, and societal standards. Pediatricians and their organizations should be proactive in supporting and empowering families to support their children's health, and in promoting societal measures that protect children.
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Avila B, Contreras D, Mobley AR, Peters P. Are Parental Rules Associated with Low-Income Rural Children’s Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables in the Midwest? JOURNAL OF HUNGER & ENVIRONMENTAL NUTRITION 2017. [DOI: 10.1080/19320248.2016.1255695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bette Avila
- Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - Dawn Contreras
- MSU Extension, Health and Nutrition Institute, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
| | - Amy R. Mobley
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
| | - Paula Peters
- Department of Human Nutrition, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, USA
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Gebremariam MK, Lien N, Torheim LE, Andersen LF, Melbye EL, Glavin K, Hausken SES, Sleddens EFC, Bjelland M. Perceived rules and accessibility: measurement and mediating role in the association between parental education and vegetable and soft drink intake. Nutr J 2016; 15:76. [PMID: 27530159 PMCID: PMC4987975 DOI: 10.1186/s12937-016-0196-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2016] [Accepted: 08/08/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The existence of socioeconomic differences in dietary behaviors is well documented. However, studies exploring the mechanisms behind these differences among adolescents using comprehensive and reliable measures of mediators are lacking. The aims of this study were (a) to assess the psychometric properties of new scales assessing the perceived rules and accessibility related to the consumption of vegetables and soft drinks and (b) to explore their mediating role in the association between parental education and the corresponding dietary behaviors. Methods A cross-sectional survey including 440 adolescents from three counties in Norway (mean age 14.3 years (SD = 0.6)) was conducted using a web-based questionnaire. Principal component analysis, test-retest and internal reliability analysis were conducted. The mediating role of perceived accessibility and perceived rules in the association between parental education and the dietary behaviors was explored using linear regression analyses. Results Factor analyses confirmed two separate subscales, named “accessibility” and “rules”, both for vegetables and soft drinks (factor loadings >0.60). The scales had good internal consistency reliability (0.70–0.87). The test–retest reliability of the scales was moderate to good (0.44–0.62). Parental education was inversely related to the consumption of soft drinks and positively related to the consumption of vegetables. Perceived accessibility and perceived rules related to soft drink consumption were found to mediate the association between parental education and soft drink consumption (47.5 and 8.5 % of total effect mediated). Accessibility of vegetables was found to mediate the association between parental education and the consumption of vegetables (51 % of total effect mediated). Conclusion The new scales developed in this study are comprehensive and have adequate validity and reliability; they are therefore considered appropriate for use among 13–15 year-olds. Parents, in particular those with a low educational background, should be encouraged to increase the accessibility of vegetables and to decrease the accessibility of soft drinks, in particular during dinner. Enforcing parental rules limiting soft drink intake in families with low parental education also appears relevant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mekdes K Gebremariam
- Department of Nursing and Health Promotion, Faculty of Health Sciences, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, P.O. Box 4, Olavs Plass Street, 0130, Oslo, Norway.
| | - Nanna Lien
- Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, P.O.Box 1046, Blindern, NO-0316, Oslo, Norway
| | - Liv Elin Torheim
- Department of Nursing and Health Promotion, Faculty of Health Sciences, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, P.O. Box 4, Olavs Plass Street, 0130, Oslo, Norway
| | - Lene F Andersen
- Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, P.O.Box 1046, Blindern, NO-0316, Oslo, Norway
| | - Elisabeth L Melbye
- Norwegian School of Hotel Management, University of Stavanger, 4036, Stavanger, Norway
| | - Kari Glavin
- Department of Nursing and Health Promotion, Faculty of Health Sciences, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, P.O. Box 4, Olavs Plass Street, 0130, Oslo, Norway.,Department of Nursing, Diakonova University College, Oslo, Norway
| | - Solveig E S Hausken
- Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, P.O.Box 1046, Blindern, NO-0316, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ester F C Sleddens
- Department of Health Promotion, School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Mona Bjelland
- Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, P.O.Box 1046, Blindern, NO-0316, Oslo, Norway
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