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Associations between family eating behaviours and body composition measures in peri-adolescents: Results from a community-based study of school-aged children

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Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To identify key eating behaviours in children and their parents and to determine the associations between these behaviours and measures of body composition in children.

METHODS: Data were collected on a sample of 431 peri-adolescent children (12.4±0.3 years) and their parents from the Niagara Region. Body composition was assessed by trained research assistants. Eating behaviours were assessed using a revised version of the Family Eating and Activity Habits Questionnaire. Principal component analyses were used to identify key eating behaviours among children, mothers and fathers. Linear regression models were used to assess their associations with body mass index (BMI), waist-to-height ratio, waist-to-hip ratio, waist girth, and hip girth measures in children.

RESULTS: Emotional/uncontrolled eating and eating by the television in children and their mothers were positively associated with measures of body composition in children. Other eating behaviours that were associated with larger measures of body composition in children included low frequency of eating meals with parents, frequent sweet beverage consumption and snacking and eating “on-the-go” in children, eating “on-the-go” in mothers, and emotional eating and eating by the television/late at night in fathers.

CONCLUSIONS: The eating behaviours of children and mothers, and to a lesser degree fathers, are important predictors of children’s body composition. Public health interventions designed to help mothers and children reduce the frequency of emotional/uncontrolled eating and eating by the television may be effective means of facilitating positive weight outcomes in children.

Résumé

OBJECTIFS: Cerner les principaux comportements alimentaires des enfants et de leurs parents et déterminer les associations entre ces comportements et les indicateurs de la composition corporelle des enfants.

MÉTHODE: Nos données ont été recueillies auprès d’un échantillon de 431 enfants péri-adolescents (12,4±0,3 ans) et de leurs parents dans la région de Niagara. La composition corporelle des enfants a été évaluée par des adjoints de recherche formés. Les comportements alimentaires ont été évalués à l’aide d’une version révisée de l’outil Family Eating and Activity Habits Questionnaire. Des analyses en composantes principales ont servi à identifier les principaux comportements alimentaires des enfants, des mères et des pères. Nous avons utilisé des modèles de régression linéaire pour évaluer les associations entre ces comportements et l’indice de masse corporelle (IMC), le rapport tour de taille/taille, le rapport tour de taille/hanches, le tour de taille et le tour de hanches mesurés chez les enfants.

RÉSULTATS: L’alimentation incontrôlée ou sous l’effet de l’émotion et l’alimentation devant la télévision, chez les enfants et leurs mères, étaient des comportements associés positivement avec les indicateurs de la composition corporelle des enfants. Les autres comportements alimentaires associés aux principaux indicateurs de la composition corporelle des enfants étaient, chez les enfants: la faible fréquence des repas avec les parents, la consommation fréquente de boissons sucrées et de collations et l’alimentation «sur le pouce»; chez les mères: l’alimentation «sur le pouce» et l’alimentation sous l’effet de l’émotion; et chez les pères: l’alimentation devant la télévision ou tard le soir.

CONCLUSIONS: Les comportements alimentaires des enfants et des mères, et dans une moindre mesure ceux des pères, sont d’importants prédicteurs de la composition corporelle des enfants. Les interventions de santé publique conçues pour aider les mères et les enfants à réduire la fréquence de l’alimentation incontrôlée ou sous l’effet de l’émotion et de l’alimentation devant la télévision pourraient être efficaces pour donner des résultats positifs en ce qui a trait au poids des enfants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Samantha Hajna MSc

  2. Department of Health Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada

    Paul J. LeBlanc PhD, Brent E. Faught PhD, John Cairney PhD, John Hay PhD & Jian Liu MD, PhD

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

    Anwar T. Merchant ScD, DMD

  4. Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    John Cairney PhD

  5. Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    John Cairney PhD

Authors
  1. Samantha Hajna MSc
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  2. Paul J. LeBlanc PhD
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  3. Brent E. Faught PhD
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  4. Anwar T. Merchant ScD, DMD
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  5. John Cairney PhD
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  6. John Hay PhD
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  7. Jian Liu MD, PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Samantha Hajna MSc.

Additional information

Acknowledgements: This study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) (#171577) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (#410-2007-1770). SH was supported by funding through CIHR Masters (2008–2010) and Doctoral Research Awards (2012–2015). Dr. Cairney is supported by an endowed professorship through the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University. The authors thank the District School Board of Niagara, students and their parents for their support of the study.

Conflict of Interest: None to declare.

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Hajna, S., LeBlanc, P.J., Faught, B.E. et al. Associations between family eating behaviours and body composition measures in peri-adolescents: Results from a community-based study of school-aged children. Can J Public Health 105, e15–e21 (2014). https://doi.org/10.17269/cjph.105.4150

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.17269/cjph.105.4150

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