Abstract
This paper presents an overview to provide readers with an update on the literature about the relation between parental influences (general parenting and food parenting practices) and children’s weight-related outcomes. It first summarizes the evidence regarding the role of food parenting practices in shaping and maintaining children’s nutritional and weight status. It then describes empirical evidence on the relation between general parenting and children’s weight status. This evidence is less convincing, possibly because general parenting has a different, more distal role in influencing child behavior than parenting practices. General parenting may moderate the impact of food parenting practices on children’s nutrition behaviors. Finally, we discuss studies on interventions targeting childhood overweight and obesity. There is no consensus on the optimal intervention targets (i.e., general parenting and/or food parenting practices). Based on the overview, we offer suggestions for future research.
Highlights
Childhood overweight and obesity are increasing worldwide [1]
In a literature review by Sleddens and colleagues [33] investigating the evidence for associations between general parenting and children’s weight-related outcome measures, authoritative parents were consistently found to have healthier children in terms of weight-related outcome measures than children raised by parents using the other parenting styles
Sleddens et al [37] investigated the moderating role of parenting and found that the associations of encouragement and covert control with healthy child dietary behaviors were stronger for children who reared in a positive parenting context
Summary
Childhood overweight and obesity are increasing worldwide [1]. Overweight and obese children are at increased risk of developing chronic diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases [2] and are more likely to be obese as adults, compared to those with a healthy weight [3]. The literature review by Faith and colleagues [14] was one of the first in this field to investigate the association between parental feeding styles and children’s eating and weight status. They found the strongest effects for feeding restriction (the extent to which parents restrict their child’s access to foods; as opposed to general feeding control or another feeding domain) and children’s eating and weight status.
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