Prevalence of Parental Comments on Weight/Shape/Eating amongst Sons and Daughters in an Adolescent Sample

College students' attitudes about ways family, friends, significant others and media affect their eating and exercise behaviors and weight perceptions

Objective: This study examined college students' perceptions of how parents, family, friends, significant others, and the media influenced eating and exercise behaviors and weight perceptions. Participants: Forty-one college students, mostly female, participated in interviews. Methods: A Grounded Theory approach, using open coding and memoing, was used to uncover key themes. Results: Healthy cooking and exercise role models at home were viewed as positive, encouraging healthy eating and exercise. Criticism was perceived as negative for healthy habits and weight perceptions. Friends and significant others who practiced positive health habits and were body accepting were uplifting. Cultural transmission of the thin ideal could occur through the media. Some noted that media messages were becoming more positive. Conclusions: Using peers, especially friends, as collaborators in interventions, and discussing parental influences on eating, exercise, and weight perceptions may positively impact obesity prevention programs and interventions for college students.

Negative familial weight talk and weight bias internalization in a US sample of children and adolescents

BACKGROUND

Negative familial weight talk may contribute to higher weight bias internalization in pre- and early adolescents (hereafter referred to as children) and may differ by gender, weight status, and race and ethnicity.

OBJECTIVE

Examine the relationship between negative familial weight talk and weight bias internalization and examine differences by gender, weight status, and race and ethnicity.

METHODS

We cross-sectionally analysed 5th-7th graders (10-15 years old) living in Massachusetts (n = 375, 52.3% girls, 21.3% BMI ≥85th percentile, 54.8% non-Hispanic White). Negative familial weight talk frequency during the past 3 months was self-reported and discretized as 'never,' 'occasionally' (1-9 times) and 'often' (>9 times); the Modified Weight Bias Internalization Scale assessed weight bias internalization. Generalized linear models estimated the relationship between negative familial weight talk and weight bias internalization and sub-analyses estimated the relationship across gender, weight status, and race and ethnicity. Results are summarized as ratios of means (RoM).

RESULTS

Children experiencing negative familial weight talk occasionally (RoM = 1.12, p = 0.024) and often (RoM = 1.48, p < 0.001) had significantly higher weight bias internalization than children who never experienced it. In sub-analyses, experiencing negative familial weight talk often was associated with higher weight bias internalization among girls (RoM = 1.66, p < 0.001), boys (RoM = 1.32, p = 0.007), children with BMI <85th percentile (RoM = 1.44, p = 0.007) and BMI ≥85th percentile (RoM = 1.39, p = 0.001), and non-Hispanic White children (RoM = 1.78, p < 0.001), but not Hispanic (RoM = 1.25, p = 0.085) or non-Hispanic Black children (RoM = 1.20; p = 0.31).

CONCLUSIONS

Frequent negative familial weight talk was associated with higher weight bias internalization across gender and weight status and in non-Hispanic White children only.

Parent-Adolescent Weight Communication: Parental Psychosocial Correlates Among a Diverse National Sample

Parental communication about body weight with their children is common across diverse families. The current study investigates how parents' feelings about their own bodies, beliefs about body weight, history of weight stigma, and weight-related characteristics contribute to the degree to which they talk about weight - both negatively and positively - with their adolescent children. The study sample was comprised of U.S. parents (N = 1936) from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds with children aged 10-17 years old. Parents completed an online survey with measures assessing their frequency of engaging in negative and positive weight communication with their children, along with several relevant psychosocial factors (i.e. body satisfaction, experienced weight stigma, associative stigma, body appreciation, beliefs about weight controllability, weight bias internalization). Study findings paint a complex picture, including some psychosocial factors (e.g. weight bias internalization) that are related to both more frequent negative and positive weight communication. Notably, higher levels of associative stigma were related to more frequent negative parental weight comments, and less frequent positive weight socialization. Findings can inform healthcare professionals in raising parents' awareness about how their personal beliefs and feelings about their own weight and their child's weight can contribute to how they engage in communication about weight with their children.

An exploration of how adolescents experience and reason their parents' comments on their weight, shape, and eating

INTRODUCTION

Disordered eating among adolescents is of increasing concern given associated physical and mental health sequelae. Cognitions underlying disordered eating are formed in childhood and adolescence. Parents are a significant presence during this period, so it is critical to understand how they influence their adolescent's eating cognitions and behaviors.

METHODS

Qualitative analysis using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) methodology was employed to consider the lived experiences of 10 Australian adolescents (14-19 years), 60% female, as they engaged with their parents in a range of weight, shape, and eating communications.

RESULTS

Our inductive IPA revealed three key themes representing adolescents' experiences and meaning-making: Parents as Influencers-adolescents acknowledged parents are influencers (objects) within a wider context of community and cultural norms (symbols) and can be protective for peer influence on body image ideals; Expression and Perception-the "what" (weight-talk as an object) and the "how" (objects as independent influences) of gendered parental communication related to health and fitness ideals and illustrated diverse interpretations of both verbal and non-verbal expression; and Fertile Soil and Maturity-the adolescent's characteristics and context influence perceptions of communication, a fear of deviating from norms, and an overarching focus on being "healthy" yet not always knowing what that was. Perception of bidirectional communication also offered valuable insights into potential dangers through family loyalty and in-group permissions.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings highlight implications for the nuanced influence of parental communication and illustrate the pivotal role of parents within the bioecosystem of adolescent development.

Parental Communication About Body Weight and Adolescent Health: The Role of Positive and Negative Weight-Related Comments

OBJECTIVE

Research has consistently documented adverse effects of parent weight-related comments on adolescent health. However, little empirical attention has focused on isolating the impact of weight-related comments from mothers versus fathers, and the valence of their comments. The present study examined the extent to which positive and negative weight-related comments from mothers and fathers are related to adolescent health and wellbeing, and whether these associations differ according to adolescent sociodemographic characteristics.

METHODS

Data were collected from a diverse sample of 2032 U.S.-based adolescents aged 10-17 years (59% female; 40% White, 25% Black or African American, 23% Latinx). Online questionnaires assessed perceived frequency of negative and positive weight-related comments from mothers and fathers, as well as four indicators of adolescent health and wellbeing: depression, unhealthy weight control behaviors, weight bias internalization (WBI), and body appreciation.

RESULTS

More frequent negative weight-related comments from parents were associated with poorer adolescent health and wellbeing, while positive comments contributed to lower levels of WBI and body appreciation; these associations were documented regardless of whether mothers or fathers were the source of such comments, and considerable consistency was demonstrated across adolescent sociodemographic characteristics.

CONCLUSION

Findings highlight differences in adolescent health based on how parents discuss their body weight (i.e., negatively or positively), and similarity in associations regardless of whether mothers or fathers are the source of weight communication. These findings reiterate the importance of efforts to educate parents on ways to engage in supportive communication about weight-related health with their children.

Parental Pressure on Child Body Image, BMI, Body Image Dissatisfaction Associated with Eating Disorders in School-Age Children in China: A Path Analysis

Background

Children's eating behaviors, body shape and body image cognition may be more susceptible to the influence of their parents, but these influences may be weakened with age. There may be different association pathways between parental pressure on children's body image (PPCBI), body mass index (BMI), body image dissatisfaction (BID) and eating disorders (EDs) among children and adolescents at different developmental stages.

Methods

The stratified cluster sampling method (Stratified by grade, and took the classes as clusters) was used to select 486 students aged 8-15 years in two 9-year schools. Children's body height, weight, testicular volume and breast development were measured. PPCBI, BID, and EDs were investigated using the Appearance-related Social Stress Questionnaire, Body Size Questionnaire (BID-14), and EDI-1 scale, respectively.

Results

The boys before puberty initiation had significantly higher EDs score (182.3±50.8) than girls before puberty initiation (164.1±58.1) (P<0.05). There were significant association pathways of PPCBI→BMI→BID→EDs and PPCBI→BID→EDs in boys before puberty initiation (β=0.035, P<0.01; β=0.059, P<0.01), in boys after puberty initiation (β=0.032, P<0.01; β=0.175, P<0.001), and in girls after puberty initiation (β=0.026, P<0.01; β=0.172, P<0.001). There was a positive association pathway of PPCBI→EDs in boys before puberty initiation (β=0.30, P<0.001) and PPCBI→BID→EDs in girls before puberty initiation (β=0.176, P<0.01).

Conclusion

Parental pressure on children's body image may positively associate with children's eating disorders through BMI and body image dissatisfaction in boys and girls after puberty initiation and directly associate with eating disorders in boys before puberty initiation; however, it may indirectly associate with eating disorders only through BID in girls before puberty initiation.

Body Shame in 7-12-Year-Old Girls and Boys: The Role of Parental Attention to Children's Appearance

Guided by the Tripartite Influence Model and Objectification Theory, we examined whether parents' attention to their children's appearance was related to higher body shame in girls and boys. In Study 1 (N = 195) and 2 (N = 163), we investigated 7-12-year-old children's metaperceptions about parents' attention to their appearance and its association with children's body shame. In Study 3, we examined the link between parents' self-reported attention to their children's appearance and children's body shame among parent-child triads (N = 70). Results demonstrated that both children's metaperceptions and fathers' self-reported attention to children's appearance were associated with body shame in children. Furthermore, when mothers' and fathers' attitudes toward their children were analyzed simultaneously, only fathers' attention to their children's appearance was associated with greater body shame in girls and boys. Notably, no gender differences emerged, suggesting that parents' attention to their children's appearance was not differentially related to body shame in girls and boys. These results remained significant when controlling for other sources of influence, namely peer and media influence, both of which were found to have a strong association with body shame in children. Theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed.

Family-based weight stigma and psychosocial health: A multinational comparison

OBJECTIVE

Family-based weight stigma can be expressed as criticism, judgment, teasing, and mistreatment by family members because of an individual's body weight. The current study compared the prevalence and psychosocial correlates of family-based weight stigma among adult members of a weight-management program living in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the US.

METHODS

Participants (N = 8100 adults who reported having ever experienced weight stigma; 95% female; 94% White) completed an identical online survey in their country's dominant language that assessed their experiences of weight stigma from 16 different family member sources, as well as internalized weight bias, body image, eating behaviors, perceived stress, and self-rated health.

RESULTS

Family-based weight stigma, especially from mothers (49%-62%), spouses/romantic partners (40%-57%), and fathers (35%-48%), was highly prevalent across countries. Weight stigma from one's immediate family members was associated with indices of poorer psychosocial health across the six countries (β coefficients = |0.08-0.13|).

CONCLUSIONS

Findings highlight the need for weight stigma-reduction efforts to help family members distinguish between supportive, encouraging discourse and potentially weight-stigmatizing communication. Future research should examine the prevalence and correlates of family-based weight stigma in more diverse community samples, including among racially/ethnically and gender diverse adults, and in non-Western countries.

Associations between Parents' Body Weight/Shape Comments and Disordered Eating Amongst Adolescents over Time-A Longitudinal Study

Parents are key influencers of adolescents' attitudes on weight, shape, and eating, and make more positive than negative comments, with negative comments most impactful. This study examined prospective unique associations of parental positive and negative comments in a community sample of adolescents with paediatric psychosocial quality of life (PED-QoL), Eating Disorder Weight/Shape Cognitions (EDEQ-WS), BMI percentile, and Psychological Distress (K10) scales. Data were from 2056 adolescents from the EveryBODY study cohort. Multiple regressions were conducted for the impacts of parental positive and negative comments on four dependent variables at one year after controlling for their stage of adolescence (early, middle, late). Multiple imputation and bootstrapping were used for handling missing data and violations of normality. Results indicated that positive maternal comments on eating were associated with increased EDCs and better quality of life at one year. Paternal positive weight shape comments were associated with a decrease in psychological distress, but positive eating comments saw a decrease in quality of life. Findings highlight the nuances of parental comments and how these are perceived and interpreted, and could alert health care workers and family practitioners who have weight, shape, and eating conversations to be aware of the potential influence of their communication.

"Look beyond the weight and accept me": Adolescent perspectives on parental weight communication

Critical weight communication between parents and their adolescent children is prevalent and harmful. However, research on adolescent perspectives about parental weight communication is limited. The present mixed-methods study aimed to address this gap using inductive thematic analysis of 1743 adolescents' (M_age=14.61 years, SD_age=2.48) preferences regarding parental weight communication in response to an open-ended prompt, and quantitative analyses to examine age, gender, race/ethnicity, and weight-related differences in subthemes. In their responses, adolescents articulated 1) whether and 2) how parental weight communication should-or should not-occur, and 3) what these conversations should entail. We identified 15 subthemes across these categories-the endorsement of which often varied by adolescents' demographic and anthropometric characteristics. For example, some adolescents (especially cisgender girls and transgender/gender diverse adolescents) preferred that their parents talk about weight less often (n = 184), while others (especially multiracial/ethnic or Hispanic/Latinx adolescents) hoped that, if parents were to discuss weight with them, they do so in a manner that was compassionate and respectful (n = 150). Across most subthemes, adolescents described adverse responses (e.g., feeling insecure, embarrassed, or hurt) when parents discussed their weight in non-preferred ways. Collectively, findings can inform interventions to promote more supportive health-focused communication in families.

An investigation of associations between parenting and binge eating across pubertal development in pre-adolescent and adolescent female participants

OBJECTIVE

Puberty is a period of increased risk for the development of binge eating in female adolescents. Although developmental changes in autonomy-seeking behaviors and body weight and shape may influence both parenting styles and binge eating during puberty, studies have yet to examine how parenting practices may be differentially associated with youth outcomes depending on developmental stage. The current study examines whether interactions between puberty and parenting are associated with higher levels of binge-eating symptoms during/after puberty in female youth.

METHODS

Analyses used cross-sectional data from a previous study of disordered eating and puberty in 999 female youth (ages 8-16) and their parents from the Michigan State University Twin Registry. Youth self-reported binge eating, pubertal development, and perceived parental care and overprotection. Both parents and youth reported on parent-child conflict. Mixed linear models were used to examine whether pubertal development moderates the strength of associations between parenting (parent-child conflict, parental care, and parental overprotection) and offspring binge eating.

RESULTS

Although higher levels of parental overprotection and conflict, and lower levels of parental care were all significantly associated with binge eating, none of the associations were significantly moderated by pubertal development or age.

DISCUSSION

The quality of the parent-child relationship is significantly associated with binge eating in female youth regardless of developmental stage, highlighting the need for targeting harmful parenting strategies during adolescent eating disorder intervention.

PUBLIC SIGNIFICANCE

This is the first study to examine whether parenting/binge-eating associations in female participants differ across pubertal development. In a large population-based sample, we found lower parental care, higher parent-child conflict, and higher parental overprotection were all associated with higher levels of binge eating. Notably, associations did not differ across pubertal stage or age, suggesting that parenting is significantly associated with binge eating, regardless of developmental stage.

Motivations for engaging in or avoiding conversations about weight: Adolescent and parent perspectives

BACKGROUND

Little is known about parent and adolescent motivations for engaging in weight communication.

OBJECTIVES

To assess parent and adolescent motivations for engaging in, or avoiding, weight communication, and whether these reasons differed across sex, race/ethnicity, weight, and engagement in weight management.

METHODS

Independent samples of parents (N = 1936) and unrelated adolescents (N = 2032) completed questionnaires assessing their agreement with different reasons they engage in, or avoid, parent-adolescent weight communication, using 7-point Likert scales (strongly-disagree to strongly-agree).

RESULTS

Parents, irrespective of sex, race/ethnicity, and child's weight status, expressed stronger motivations for engaging in weight communication in order for their child to feel good about his/her weight and body size compared to being motivated because a health professional raised their child's weight as a concern. Adolescent motivations for weight communication with parents stemmed from health concerns and worry about their weight; avoidance stemmed from feeling embarrassed, upset, or not wanting to obsess about weight. Differences emerged across sex and race/ethnicity but were most pronounced by weight status and weight management.

CONCLUSION

Parents and adolescents have different motivations for engaging in or avoiding weight communication. Protecting adolescents' emotional wellbeing and body esteem are viewed as reasons for both engaging in or avoiding weight communication.

Dyadic Predictors of Child Body Shame in a Polish and Italian Sample

The present study aimed at assessing the predictors (related to the functioning of a parent-child dyad) of child body shame. Therefore, in the main analysis we examined relationships among child body shame, child perfectionism, child body dissatisfaction, parent body shame, parent perfectionism, and parent body dissatisfaction. In our main hypothesis we assumed that higher levels of the abovementioned parent functioning-related variables would be associated with higher child body shame after accounting for the effects of the foregoing child functioning-related variables. The analysis finally included complete data from 420 participants, i.e., a 115 Polish and 95 Italian parent-child dyad. Participants completed: (a) child: the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale for Youth, the Child-Adolescent Perfectionism Scale, the Children's Body Image Scale/the Figure Rating Scale; (b) parent: the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale, the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, and the Contour Drawing Rating Scale. The results of a correlational analysis show that in both the Polish and Italian samples, the higher the level of child body shame, the higher the level of the following variables: child perfectionism, child body dissatisfaction, parent perfectionism, and parent body dissatisfaction. Interestingly, the only insignificant relationship in both samples is the association between body shame in both members of the child-parent dyad. Moreover, all steps of the regressions were significant in both Polish and Italian samples. It turned out that only in the Italian sample were all predictors significantly associated with a child's body shame (in the Polish sample there was no significant association between child's body shame and parent's perfectionism). To sum up, the above studies show the importance of considering the functioning of the parent-child dyad in understanding child body shame. These findings suggest that parents' attitudes toward their bodies and their beliefs about an ideal self should be taken into account when planning interventions to improve children's and adolescents' attitudes toward their bodies. This is so because it is possible for children to internalize their parents' beliefs about how to look and how critical one should be of themselves, which can result in strong body shame when they are not perfect enough against the internalized ideal. Therefore, it is also necessary to make parents aware that children's attitude toward their body is often a reflection of parents' attitude toward the body.

Sociocultural Influences on Exercise Behaviors and Attitudes in Adolescence

BACKGROUND

Research to date has identified a relationship between exercise in adolescence and 4 sociocultural influences: peers, family, media, and technology. Less is known, however, about the role that these sociocultural influences play in driving adolescents' exercise behaviors and attitudes, particularly social media and fitness tracking technology use. This study aimed to investigate how and why sociocultural factors are linked to exercise behaviors and attitudes in adolescent boys and girls.

METHODS

Eight focus groups were conducted in UK secondary schools with fifty-five 12- to 16-year-old adolescents (M = 14.11; SD = 1.49; n = 27 females). Following transcription and thematic analysis, 2 key themes were identified: (1) exercise pressures and (2) modeling exercise behaviors and attitudes.

RESULTS

Exercise pressures were reported to stem from parental and peer expectations around exercise, and from feeling pressure to meet externally prescribed fitness tracking technology goals. Adolescents also reported modeling the exercise behaviors of their parents or peers for social affiliation and as a means to achieve socially endorsed "ideal" body types.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings highlight the need for exercise interventions to consider the importance of exercise-related messages from others and tendencies toward conformity as a result of sociocultural expectations around exercise in adolescents.

A Comprehensive Examination of the Nature, Frequency, and Context of Parental Weight Communication: Perspectives of Parents and Adolescents

Research suggests that many parents make comments about their child's weight, which is associated with negative adolescent health outcomes. Gaps in this literature include an underrepresentation of fathers, limited knowledge regarding positive versus negative parental weight comments and differences across race/ethnicity, and adolescent preferences for parental weight communication. The present study addressed these research gaps through a comprehensive investigation of two diverse samples of U.S. parents (n = 1936) and adolescents (n = 2032), who completed questionnaires about their experiences and perspectives of parental weight communication. Positive weight comments from parents were more frequent than negative comments, though both were commonly reported across sex, race/ethnicity, and weight status. In general, boys, fathers, Latino/a parents and adolescents, and adolescents with a high BMI and/or engaged in weight management reported more frequent parental weight-talk. Parent-adolescent weight communication occurred both in-person and digitally, and across daily life contexts. Although the majority of parents communicated positive messages of body diversity and respect, 44% and 63% of adolescents said they never want their mothers and fathers, respectively, to talk about their weight. Adolescents were offered circumstances that would increase their comfort level in having these conversations. Findings have implications for health professionals working with families to promote supportive health communication at home.

Exploring associations between positive and negative valanced parental comments about adolescents' bodies and eating and eating problems: a community study

BACKGROUND

Adolescence is a time of rapid emotional and physical development when foundational self-concepts (including beliefs about one's weight and shape) are established. Parents are key influencers of adolescent beliefs and behaviours. This study aimed to investigate associations between perceived positive and negative parental comments on weight/shape and eating, with sons' and daughters' psychological distress and eating disorder cognitions (EDCs).

METHODS

A representative mixed-sex sample of 2204 Australian adolescents (12-19 years) from the EveryBODY Study completed an online survey exploring eating behaviours, psychological wellbeing and experiences of parental comments regarding weight, shape and eating behaviours.

RESULTS

Correlation analyses revealed that adolescents' reports of perceived positive parental comments on shape/weight were significantly associated with lower psychological distress and EDCs only for daughters. All perceived negative parental comments on shape/weight or eating were associated with greater psychological distress and EDCs for both sons and daughters. In the final model of the regression analysis, only perceived parental negative shape/weight and maternal negative eating comments, adolescent stage and biological sex were significantly associated with EDCs. When known contributors such as BMI percentile and psychological distress were included in the regression model, adolescent stage and perceived negative paternal comments were no longer significantly associated with EDCs.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, results show perceived negative comments were associated with poorer adolescent mental health, both their specific EDCs and general distress. Findings highlight the importance of raising awareness of potential negative impacts within family systems of comments around weight/shape and eating in these key formative years. Trial Registration The study was approved by the Macquarie University Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC 5201600312) and the New South Wales Department of Education.

Can Parental Body Dissatisfaction Predict That of Children? A Study on Body Dissatisfaction, Body Mass Index, and Desire to Diet in Children Aged 9-11 and Their Families

Body image has been associated with self-care and the assumption of either healthy habits or poor diets and eating disorders. As a vital element in the formation of a positive body image, the role of the family in childhood has been highlighted by a few studies. This study aimed to assess whether children’s body dissatisfaction could be predicted by their parents’ body dissatisfaction, body mass index (BMI), and approach to change. The sample consisted of 581 participants (366 parents and 215 children). The following instruments were used: anthropometric data, the Brief Scale of Body Dissatisfaction for Children, the IMAGE questionnaire (approach to change and drive for muscularity subscales), and the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness subscales). The results indicated that 19% of children, 22.8% of mothers, and 70.2% of fathers were overweight or obese. The multiple regression models developed for boys and girls explained 60 and 57% of the variance in body dissatisfaction, respectively. Several variables attributable to the mother (higher approach to change, higher drive for thinness, and higher BMI) and to the boys themselves (drive for muscularity, approach to change, and having a high BMI percentile) predicted a higher level of body dissatisfaction. For girls, only variables regarding themselves (approach to change, age, and BMI percentile) explained their body dissatisfaction. Relationships with the traits of the father were not detected for both models. The influence of sociocultural factors on the construction of gender and the negative consequences of mothers’ dieting for aesthetic purposes, on the development of children’s body image, are discussed.