Abstract
Most previous studies of parental influences on children’s diets included just a single or a few types of food parenting practices, while parents actually employ multiple types of practices. Our objective was to investigate the clustering of parents regarding food parenting practices and to characterize the clusters in terms of background characteristics and children’s intake of energy-dense snack foods. A sample of Dutch parents of children aged 4–12 was recruited by a research agency to fill out an online questionnaire. A hierarchical cluster analysis (n = 888) was performed, followed by k-means clustering. ANOVAs, ANCOVAs and chi-square tests were used to investigate associations between cluster membership, parental and child background characteristics, as well as children’s intake of energy-dense snack foods. Four distinct patterns were discovered: “high covert control and rewarding”, “low covert control and non-rewarding”, “high involvement and supportive” and “low involvement and indulgent”. The “high involvement and supportive” cluster was found to be most favorable in terms of children’s intake. Several background factors characterized cluster membership. This study expands the current knowledge about parental influences on children’s diets. Interventions should focus on increasing parental involvement in food parenting.
Highlights
Childhood obesity has become a problem in many countries [1], including the Netherlands, where overweight prevalence rates have increased from about 5% of boys and 7% of girls in 1980 to about13% and 15%, respectively, in 2009 [2]
In the national food consumption survey 2007–2010 in the Netherlands (NFCS), children were found to have an average of about three energy-dense snack food (EDSF) occasions a day, yielding more than 1500 kJ [6]
We used a clustering approach to examine the interrelatedness of food parenting practices (FPPs) and investigated how these patterns relate to parental and child characteristics, including children’s intake of energy-dense snack foods (EDSFs)
Summary
Childhood obesity has become a problem in many countries [1], including the Netherlands, where overweight prevalence rates have increased from about 5% of boys and 7% of girls in 1980 to about13% and 15%, respectively, in 2009 [2]. An increasing number of studies have indicated that being overweight in childhood persists during later life [4], so encouraging healthy energy balance-related behaviors in young children is important. One of the behavioral aims for interventions could be to reduce the consumption of energy-dense nutrient-poor foods, which include non-core foods, such as potato chips, chocolate and cookies. More research is needed to disentangle the association between the consumption of these foods and children’s weight status, there is ample evidence indicating that intakes of such foods have increased substantially in U.S children in recent decades, as well as some evidence that the frequency of snacking is positively related to total energy intake [5]. Less than 10% of the children researched met dietary guidelines regarding energy intake from non-core foods, illustrating the need for programs addressing this behavior
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