How do the home food environment, parenting practices, health beliefs, and screen time affect the weight status of European children? The Feel4Diabetes Study

Abstract

BackgroundChildhood obesity remains one of the most significant challenges in public health globally. ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to assess the association between home food availability, parenting practices, health beliefs, screen time, and childhood overweight/obesity. MethodsThis was a cross-sectional analysis of 12 041 parent–child dyads from six European countries. Details on the home food environment, parenting practices, health beliefs, and digital devices were collected by questionnaires. ResultsPermissive parenting or rewarding children with screen time at a frequency of rarely/never and parents disagreeing with the statement “I believe that people have little power to prevent disease” were negatively associated with childhood overweight/obesity; whereas being “physically active with my child” rarely/never was positively associated. Regarding the home environment, the availability of fruit rarely/never was positively associated with childhood overweight/obesity, whereas the absence of digital devices in the child's room was negatively associated. ConclusionFindings from the present study suggested that future school- and community-based initiatives in Europe that aim to prevent childhood obesity should also target the home environment, parenting beliefs, and practices. Programs designed to educate, facilitate, and support parents to adopt a healthy and active lifestyle with their children would empower parents to be agents of good role models and are probably the most efficient ways forward to tackle the childhood obesity epidemic. Future longitudinal intervention studies are needed to confirm the long-term efficacy of positive parenting in reducing childhood overweight/obesity.