WIC female parents' behavior and attitudes toward their children's food intake — Relationship to children's relative weight

Abstract

This study measured female parents' self-reported behavior and attitudes toward selected parent-child food intake interactions, and compared these behaviors and attitudes between female parents of normal weight and obese children. Questionnaires were completed by predominantly white female parents of 130 normal weight and 48 obese three- and four-year old children enrolled in four Iowa WIC programs. Data collected included descriptive characteristics, the female parent's self-reported behavior regarding control of the child's food behavior, and attitudes toward both satisfaction with the child's food behavior and the degree to which she felt her food behavior influenced that of her child. Several significant differences between the two groups were found. Female parents of obese children tended to exercise less control over and to be more dissatisfied with the type of foods their children ate. In addition, these female parents seemed more dissatisfied with the amount of food their children consumed between meals. It appeared that obese children were encouraged less often to eat all the food on their plate and were allowed less often to eat as much food as they would like. Normal weight children tended to be offered sweets only after eating a good meal more often than obese children. Female parents of normal weight children appeared more likely than those of obese children to feel their children played too much while eating.