Original articleParenting Style as a Predictor of Adolescent Weight and Weight-Related Behaviors
Section snippets
Study design and population
Project EAT-II (Eating Among Teens) is a longitudinal, follow-up study of Project EAT-I, a study of eating patterns and weight-related behaviors in adolescents [27]. The study population includes 2516 adolescents (1,386 girls and 1,130 boys) who participated in Project EAT-I and Project EAT-II. Schools serving ethnically and socioeconomically diverse populations were invited to participate in the study. In Project EAT-I, middle and high school students from 31 Minnesota schools completed
Parenting style variables
Four parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful) were created using adolescents' reports of parenting characteristics in EAT-I data and based on Baumrind [19] and Maccoby's [20] conceptualization of parenting styles. Parent responsiveness was measured by two items assessing “caring” and “communication”[30]. The caring item asked, separately for mothers and fathers, “How much do you feel your mother/father cares about you?” The communication item asked, separately
Probabilities of parenting style by adolescent demographics
At Time 1, the prevalence of maternal parenting styles did not differ (p = .560) between sons and daughters; authoritative parenting style was the most common (Table 2). In contrast, significant differences (p < .001) were found for paternal parenting style across adolescent sex. For fathers of girls, the most prevalent parenting style was authoritarian (35.6%), whereas for fathers of boys, the most prevalent parenting style was authoritative (34.5%), based on adolescent reports.
Relationship between parenting style and adolescent outcomes
In all
Discussion
The present study explored the 5-year longitudinal associations between parenting style and adolescent BMI, dietary intake, and physical activity. The findings suggest that maternal authoritative parenting style may play a protective role related to BMI in sons and daughters; that maternal authoritarian parenting style is a risk factor related to BMI in sons; and that maternal neglectful parenting style is a risk factor related to BMI in daughters. Among sons, maternal authoritative parenting
Conclusion
This study found that maternal authoritative parenting style predicted lower BMI in sons and daughters, and that paternal permissive parenting style predicted healthier dietary intake in daughters. Future research should continue to look at the effect of parenting style on adolescent BMI to provide new insight into the complex dynamics of the home environment on adolescents' weight and weight-related behaviors. In particular, it would be important to examine further the relationship between
Acknowledgments
The research is supported by a grant from the Maternal and Child Health Program (Title V, Social Security Act), Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, grant number MCJ-27034. Dr. Neumark-Sztainer is Principal Investigator. Dr. Berge is supported by a grant from Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) Grant administered by the Deborah E. Powell Center for Women's Health at the University of Minnesota, grant number
References (40)
- et al.
The benefits of authoritative feeding style: Caregiver feeding styles and children's food consumption patterns
Appetite
(2005) - et al.
Familial approach to the treatment of childhood obesity: Conceptual model. J Nutr Educ, 2001 Conceptual model
J Nutr Educ
(2001) - et al.
Parenting style and adolescent fruit consumption
Appetite
(2003) - et al.
Psychosocial correlates of physical activity and sedentary leisure habits in young adolescents: The Teens Eating for Energy and Nutrition at School study
Prev Med
(2002) - et al.
Parenting style and adolescent fruit consumption
Appetite
(2003) - et al.
Unhealthy behaviors and psychosocial difficulties among overweight adolescents: The potential impact of familial factors
J Adolesc Health
(2002) - et al.
Factors influencing food choices of adolescents: Findings from focus-groups discussions with adolescents
J Am Diet Assoc
(1999) - et al.
Cognitive and social influence factors in adolescent smoking cessation
Addict Behav
(1984) - et al.
Parental correlates of physical activity in a racially/ethnically diverse adolescent sample
J Adolesc Health
(2002) - et al.
Factors associated with errors in self-reports of stature, weight and body mass index in Minnesota adolescents
Ann Epidemiol
(2005)
Validation of a youth/adolescent food frequency questionnaire
Prev Med
Relationships between maternal and adolescent weight-related behaviors and concerns: The role of perception
J Psychosom Res
Prevalence and trends in overweight among U.S. children and adolescents, 1999–2002
JAMA
Prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States, 1999–2004
JAMA
The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity
Parenting styles and overweight status in first grade
Pediatrics
Controlled study of critical parent and family factors on the obesigenic environment
Obesity
Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance
Childhood overweight and the relationship between parent behaviors, parenting style, and family functioning
Ann Am Acad Pol Soc Sci
Cited by (157)
The foodscapes of children and adolescents attending schools in Lima, Peru
2022, AppetiteCitation Excerpt :Parents, in particular, have a fundamental role in the development of their children's food preferences and behaviors through their own food preferences, habits and feeding strategies (Mitchell, Farrow, Haycraft, & Meyer, 2013; Russell, Worsley, & Campbell, 2015; Wardle, Herrera, Cooke, & Gibson, 2003). Research has examined the role of mothers in children's nutrition (Attree, 2005; Spitzer, 2015), the food-related parenting styles (Berge, Wall, Loth, & Neumark-Sztainer, 2010; Hubbs-tait, Kennedy, Page, Topham, & Harrist, 2008; Lopez et al., 2018; Shloim, Edelson, Martin, & Hetherington, 2015), the decisional processes about meal preparation and food choice (Johnson, Goodell, Williams, Power, & Hughes, 2015; Marette, Issanchou, Monnery-Patris, Ginon, & Sutan, 2016; Walsh, Meagher-Stewart, & Macdonald, 2015), and the parental responses to children's food preferences (Carrigan, Szmigin, & Leek, 2006; Thompson, Cummins, Brown, & Kyle, 2016). Regarding the influence of food environments outside the household, evidence shows that families' level of access to supermarkets with inexpensive and varied food influences mothers' food choices (Oliver & Hayes, 2014; Walsh et al., 2015) and that children's exposure to a greater variety of food outlets was associated with better dietary patterns in children (Barrett et al., 2017).
Sex- And weight-specific changes in the frequency of sweet treat consumption during early adolescence: A longitudinal study
2021, British Journal of NutritionFathers’ perceived role, self-efficacy and support needs in promoting positive nutrition and physical activity in the first 2000 days of life: a mixed methods study
2024, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
The content of the manuscript is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Maternal and Child Health Program, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development or the National Institutes of Health.