Abstract
We examined whether parental happiness associate with preschoolers’ healthy energy balance-related behaviors (EBRBs) and with the co-occurrence of multiple healthy EBRBs. This cross-sectional study included 647 pairs of parents (88% mothers) and children (mean age 4.7, SD 0.9 years). Parents completed the Subjective Happiness Scale. In addition, ActiGraph accelerometers measured children’s physical activity, and parents reported screen time and food consumption on behalf of their children. We defined four healthy EBRBs: meeting physical activity guidelines; meeting screen time guidelines; a higher consumption of vegetables, fruits and berries; and a lower consumption of sugary foods, treats and drinks. Parental happiness scores did not associate with children’s healthy EBRBs when each behavior was analyzed separately. However, parents with higher happiness scores were more likely to have a child with 2 or 3–4 healthy EBRBs than a child with 0–1 healthy EBRBs. To conclude, parents who are happier have children with multiple healthy EBRBs. Targeting parental wellbeing should be considered when promoting children’s healthy EBRBs.
Highlights
The alarmingly high prevalence of childhood obesity represents one of the most serious global health challenges with far-reaching consequences (Reilly & Kelly, 2011; NCD-RisC, 2017)
Higher parental happiness scores did not associate with increased odds of having a child with 3–4 healthy Energy balance–related health behaviors (EBRBs) compared to having a child with 2 healthy EBRBs
Our results indicate that parents who are happier in life have children who engage in multiple healthy EBRBs
Summary
The alarmingly high prevalence of childhood obesity represents one of the most serious global health challenges with far-reaching consequences (Reilly & Kelly, 2011; NCD-RisC, 2017). We excluded from the analysis those with missing values for the following parental variables: happiness (N = 63); education (N = 72); BMI (N = 75); parental status (N = 60); and if someone other than the mother, stepmother, father or stepfather completed the questionnaire (N = 4) We excluded those with missing values for the following children’s variables: physical activity (N = 86); screen time (N = 85); the consumption of vegetables, fruits and berries (N = 57); the consumption of sugary foods, treats and drinks (N = 69); and gender (N = 1). We examined the associations between parental happiness and the co-occurrence of children’s healthy EBRBs (categorized as 0–1, 2 or 3–4 healthy EBRBs) using multinomial logistic regression analysis in order to calculate the ORs with the 95% CIs, in a crude model and adjusting for confounding factors.
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