Parent-adolescent conversations about eating, physical activity and weight: prevalence across sociodemographic characteristics and associations with adolescent weight and weight-related behaviors

Abstract

This paper aims to describe the prevalence of parent-adolescent conversations about eating, physical activity and weight across sociodemographic characteristics and to examine associations with adolescent BMI, dietary intake, physical activity and sedentary behaviors. Data from two linked epidemiological studies were used for cross-sectional analysis. Parents (n=3,424; 62% females) and adolescents (n=2,182; 53.2% girls) were socioeconomically and racially/ethnically diverse. Fathers reported more parent-adolescent conversations about healthful eating and physical activity with their sons and mothers reported more weight-focused conversations with their daughters. Parents of Hispanic/Latino and Asian/Hmong youth and parents from lower SES categories engaged in more conversations about weight and size. Adolescents whose mothers or fathers had weight-focused conversations with them had higher BMI percentiles. Adolescents who had two parents engaging in weight-related conversations had higher BMI percentiles. Healthcare providers may want to talk about the types of weight-related conversations parents are having with their adolescents and emphasize avoiding conversations about weight specifically.

Eating- and Weight-Related Parenting of Adolescents in the Context of Food Insecurity

“…Additional information about EAT 2010 and Project F-EAT have been reported elsewhere. 41–43 Given interest in parenting around eating and weight, only those data from female parents/guardians participating in Project F-EAT who reported living with their child at least 50% of the time were included in the current analytic sample. For families in which two female parents/guardians responded (e.g.…”

Examining unanswered questions about the home environment and childhood obesity disparities using an incremental, mixed-methods, longitudinal study design: The Family Matters study

“…Using our prior study data, 71 we estimate the standard deviation of moderate or vigorous physical activity is 4.7 hrs./wk. These data suggest approximately half of the sample will fall in each of the low and high physical activity groups at the CDC recommended child physical activity guidelines (1 hour of physical activity per day), 72 which provides 80% power to detect a difference of 2.4 hours per week of physical activity with a type I error rate of 0.05 (two-sided).…”

Do parents or siblings engage in more negative weight-based talk with children and what does it sound like? A mixed-methods study

“…Familial negative weight-based talk, which includes weight teasing, negative comments about appearance, critical comments about one’s body shape or size, and conversations about dieting, is common among youth (Berge et al, 2013, 2014; Neumark-Sztainer et al, 2002). Such weight talk, also referred to as “fat talk” (MacDonald et al, 2015), has been found to be associated with multiple negative health outcomes such as low self-esteem, depressive symptoms (Eisenberg, Neumark-Sztainer, Haines, & Wall, 2006), thinking about or attempting suicide (Eisenberg, Neumark-Sztainer, & Story, 2003), loneliness, poor self-perception of one’s physical appearance, a preference for sedentary activities (Hayden-Wade et al, 2005), overweight and obesity (Berge et al, 2014), unhealthy weight control behaviors (Libbey, Story, Neumark-Sztainer, & Boutelle, 2008) and disordered eating behaviors (Berge et al, 2013; Eisenberg, Berge, Fulkerson, & Neumark-Sztainer, 2012).…”

“…Such weight talk, also referred to as “fat talk” (MacDonald et al, 2015), has been found to be associated with multiple negative health outcomes such as low self-esteem, depressive symptoms (Eisenberg, Neumark-Sztainer, Haines, & Wall, 2006), thinking about or attempting suicide (Eisenberg, Neumark-Sztainer, & Story, 2003), loneliness, poor self-perception of one’s physical appearance, a preference for sedentary activities (Hayden-Wade et al, 2005), overweight and obesity (Berge et al, 2014), unhealthy weight control behaviors (Libbey, Story, Neumark-Sztainer, & Boutelle, 2008) and disordered eating behaviors (Berge et al, 2013; Eisenberg, Berge, Fulkerson, & Neumark-Sztainer, 2012). Given the harmful outcomes associated with familial negative weight-based talk, it is important to understand more about familial sources of negative weight-based talk.…”

“…; and (c) What does familial negative weight-based talk sound like in the home environment? Understanding familial sources of negative weight-based talk and examples of what negative weight-based talk sounds like in the home environment may be useful in informing the development of family-based obesity prevention interventions to reduce the mental and medical health risks associated with familial negative weight-based talk in children (Berge et al, 2013, 2014; Eisenberg et al, 2003, 2012; Hayden-Wade et al, 2005; Libbey et al, 2008; Neumark-Sztainer, Haines, & Wall, 2006). Additionally, this study will set the stage for future work examining familial negative weight-based talk with larger racially/ethnically diverse samples.…”