Abstract
Purpose Parental feeding practice (PFP) plays an important role in child’s eating behavior and weight status, but less information is available about its role in the Thai family setting. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of PFP on child’s gender and body mass index (BMI). Design/methodology/approach Participants included 227 parents-child dyads from the suburban area of Nakhon Pathom province, Thailand. Children aged 9-12 years and parents who were either child’s mother, father or grandfather/grandmother were enrolled in the study. Body weight, height, waist circumference and body fat were measured in all children. Eating behavior of each child was assessed by using child’s eating questionnaire. Parents also provided their feeding practices in child feeding questionnaires. Information on household food security was also obtained from children’s parents. Findings There was significant difference in eating behaviors and home environment between child’s genders. For child’s eating behavior, mean total eating scores of girls were significantly greater (p=0.002) than that of boys and that the inappropriate home environment was more found in families of boys than girls. Regarding feeding practice, parents used more food restriction (p=0.008) and monitoring on child’s eating (p=0.042) in girls than boys. Parents put more pressure to eat on the normal weight than obese children (p=0.001). Regression analysis revealed that, apart from parental BMI and household income, PFPs have a significant impact (15.6 percent explained variance) on child’s BMI. Originality/value This study highlights the importance of being aware of child’s gender and weight status when feeding practices were provided to them. Nutrition education for parents should take account for parents’ perceptions and concerns as well as the modification of feeding practices to improve children’s eating behaviors.
Highlights
All children should have access to the adequate nutritious food that could promote their optimal physical growth and development
The results from multiple linear regression (Table VI) indicated that the change in child’s body mass index (BMI) Z-score was significantly associated with Parental feeding practice (PFP), i.e., restriction and pressure to eat, child’s gender, parent’s BMI and household income
The results from our study demonstrated that PFP, but not household food insecurity (HHFIS), was associated with child’s body mass index (BMI)
Summary
All children should have access to the adequate nutritious food that could promote their optimal physical growth and development. Parents play a key role in their child’s eating behavior and food intake. Emerging evidence indicated that parental control in child feeding could impede child’s ability to self-regulate his/her food intake, when the child. © Uruwan Yamborisut, Piyanuch Visetchart, Wiyada Thasanasuwan, Weerachat Srichan and Rittirong Unjana. Published in the Journal of Health Reseach. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
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