Parental feeding practice is associated with child’s body mass index in Thai school-aged children

Abstract

Purpose Parental feeding practice (PFP) plays an important role in child’s eating behavior and weight status, but less information is available about its role in the Thai family setting. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of PFP on child’s gender and body mass index (BMI). Design/methodology/approach Participants included 227 parents-child dyads from the suburban area of Nakhon Pathom province, Thailand. Children aged 9-12 years and parents who were either child’s mother, father or grandfather/grandmother were enrolled in the study. Body weight, height, waist circumference and body fat were measured in all children. Eating behavior of each child was assessed by using child’s eating questionnaire. Parents also provided their feeding practices in child feeding questionnaires. Information on household food security was also obtained from children’s parents. Findings There was significant difference in eating behaviors and home environment between child’s genders. For child’s eating behavior, mean total eating scores of girls were significantly greater (p=0.002) than that of boys and that the inappropriate home environment was more found in families of boys than girls. Regarding feeding practice, parents used more food restriction (p=0.008) and monitoring on child’s eating (p=0.042) in girls than boys. Parents put more pressure to eat on the normal weight than obese children (p=0.001). Regression analysis revealed that, apart from parental BMI and household income, PFPs have a significant impact (15.6 percent explained variance) on child’s BMI. Originality/value This study highlights the importance of being aware of child’s gender and weight status when feeding practices were provided to them. Nutrition education for parents should take account for parents’ perceptions and concerns as well as the modification of feeding practices to improve children’s eating behaviors.

Parental perspective and feeding practices effects on food neophobia in elementary school children in San Luis Obispo County

“…A significant relationship between the genders of children with parental feeding strategies was not observed. However, evidence shows that parents used more food restriction and monitoring for their girls than boys in ages 9–12 years (Yamborisut, Visetchart, Thasanasuwan, & Srichan, 2018).…”

“…shows that parents used more food restriction and monitoring for their girls than boys in ages 9-12 years (Yamborisut, Visetchart, Thasanasuwan, & Srichan, 2018). Children who were eligible for school lunch program experienced significantly more restriction for weight control and pressure to intake enough food from their parents (p < .05).…”

Parental child feeding practices and growth status of Orang Asli children in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

“…Previous studies also reported that restrictions of food for weight was associated with higher BAZ. On the other hand, use of pressure was associated with lower BAZ (Wan et al, 2012;Entin et al, 2014;Do et al, 2015;Quah et al, 2018;Yamborisut et al, 2018). High use of pressure could be expected amongst mothers who have thin, underweight or lower BAZ child.…”

“…They restricted their child from eating too much to ensure the child did not gain weight. The use of restriction to weight may mediate the association between child obesity and restriction (Yamborisut et al, 2018).…”

“…Feeding practices has also been associated with the growth status in several studies. Food restrictions for weight was associated with higher BMI z-scores while use of pressure was associated with lower BMI z-scores (Wan et al, 2012;Quah et al, 2018;Yamborisut et al, 2018). Therefore, by assessing the feeding practices used by the parents, suitable interventions could be developed to improve the overall diet quality in children, and promote healthy growth status (Quah et al, 2018).…”