Parenting style and older children's and young adolescents' dietary intake and nutritional status

Description

While parenting style and its relevant dimensions have long been studied in the
area of child development, studies on the effects of perceived parenting behaviors on
children’s/adolescents’ nutritional health status have been largely neglected. The present
study examined whether perceived parenting style and its dimensions are associated with
older children’s/young adolescents’ health outcomes, including self-concept, eating
behaviors, physical activity behaviors, energy and nutrient intake, and body
measurements. This study placed a distinct emphasis on gender differences by exploring
the effects of maternal and paternal parenting behaviors on male versus female subjects’
health outcomes in separate analyses. In addition, this study extended the investigation
of the roles family meal behaviors play in an environment in which general parenting
behaviors exert their impact on children’s/adolescents’ health. Sources of insight from
nutrition, psychology, and sociology contributed to this holistic examination of
children’s/adolescents’ health.
The study subjects included 123 children (9-11 years old) and 106 adolescents
(13-15 years old). Data were obtained through survey questionnaires, dietary recall and
records, and anthropometry. Various statistical methods were employed in this study, including multiple regression analysis, cluster analysis, factor analysis, and path analysis.
Findings of this study confirmed that an authoritative style is more desirable for study
subjects’ health outcomes, compared with a non-authoritative style. Generally,
maternal/paternal nurturing appeared to be desirable, but maternal/paternal control was
an undesirable predictor of youth health, while the subjects’ age (9-11 versus 13-15
years) and gender played critical roles in the associations. Family meal behaviors
appeared to be significant predictors of youth health outcomes. Findings from path
analysis suggested that the effects of maternal/paternal nurturing/control on the subjects’
health outcomes are mediated by family meal behaviors. Perception that family dinner
meals are family rituals turned out to be the most important mediator of the relationship
between maternal/paternal nurturing and the subjects’ health outcomes. Of interest, lack
of food pressure by parents appeared to be detrimental to eating behaviors and essential
nutrient intake of study subjects. Finally, this study showed that fathers play positive
roles in improving male/female subjects’ as well as children’s/adolescents’ health
outcomes, especially their physical activity behaviors and self-concept.

Links & Downloads

1. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/5842

Tags

parenting style

nutritional status

Additional Fields

Identifer	oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/5842
Date	17 September 2007
Creators	Kim, Mi Jeong
Contributors	McIntosh, Wm. Alex
Publisher	Texas A&M University
Source Sets	Texas A and M University
Language	en_US
Detected Language	English
Type	Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text
Format	2564644 bytes, electronic, application/pdf, born digital