Mother’s educational attainment and their young adult daughters’ fast food intake: The role of race/ethnicity

Abstract

The relationship between mothers’ educational attainment and their daughters’ fast food intake and the moderating effect of race/ethnicity on the relationship was examined. The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 for Children and Young Adults (NLSY79 CY) were used. Young women with mothers who received higher education were less likely to eat fast food. Race/ethnicity moderated the relationship between mothers’ educational attainment and their young adult daughters’ fast food intake. Through this study, we seek to understand the intergenerational relationship between mother and daughter and the effect of mothers’ education on their young adult children’s fast food consumption. Providing more opportunities for mothers to increase their educational attainment should be considered to reduce their children’s fast food intake. Mothers’ educational attainment should be focused on more closely for non-Hispanic Whites as a factor to reduce young women’s fast food intake, and other economic factors should be considered to understand the role of mothers’ educational attainment among African Americans and Hispanic/Latinas.