Parenting Styles and Practices in Children's Obesogenic Behaviors: Scientific Gaps and Future Research Directions

Abstract

Given the emerging global childhood obesity epidemic and the specter of a generation of children who will have a shorter life expectancy than that of their parents, recent research has focused on factors that influence children's weight status and obesogenic behaviors (i.e., eating, physical activity, and screen media use). Parents act as primary socializing agents for children, and thus growing evidence supports the role of parenting styles and practices in children's obesity-related behaviors and weight. Studying these processes in children and adolescents is important for several reasons. First, diet and physical activity behaviors and weight status track from childhood and adolescence into adulthood. Furthermore, diet and physical activity behaviors and weight status confer significant risk for cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic diseases. The purpose of this article is to describe the scientific gaps that need to be addressed to develop a more informed literature on parenting styles and practices in the domains of weight status and obesogenic behaviors, as identified by an expert panel assembled by the National Cancer Institute.

Contextual and Cultural Influences on Parental Feeding Practices and Involvement in Child Care Centers among Hispanic Parents

“…25 On the other hand, Hispanic parents are also more likely to engage in permissive and indulgent feeding during meal times, compared to other racial and ethnic groups. In addition, the child feeding literature has focused primarily on parents and feeding within the home, 31 but 60% of children in the US now spend some time in a child-care setting. 32 This is important because growing evidence suggests that the child-care environment can influence positive and negative dietary behaviors in young children.…”

The Relationship between Parental Behaviors and Children's Sugary Drink Consumption Is Moderated by a Television in the Child's Bedroom

“…As discussed by Patrick and colleagues, it is important to consider parenting styles within the context of social norms, and understand that parents may choose to pick their battles for limit setting. 33 In this sample, parents who prioritize checking their children's homework and limiting how much they go out on school nights (two items from our measure) may not necessarily see keeping a TV out of their child's bedroom as essential.…”

“…The study of foodrelated parenting behaviors is a growing field, and research is needed to help parents navigate the challenges of promoting a healthy diet for their children. [29][30][31][32][33][34][35] Because much of the research on food parenting refers to specific behaviors, such as restricting a child's access to unhealthy foods or pressuring a child to eat, Hughes and colleagues suggest that future research examine food parenting practices within the context of the overall parenting style. 30 Parenting style is traditionally used to describe how high or low parents are on two dimensions: demandingness/control and responsiveness/nurturance.…”

Family Meal- and Related-Practices in Families of Preschoolers: Differences by Family Income

“…As primary socializing agents, parents play an important role in the development of their children's obesogenic behaviors related to eating, physical activity, and use of screen media (Patrick, Hennessy, McSpadden, & Oh, 2013). In short, they are responsible for raising and feeding their children, educating their children about nutrition, and providing the food available for their children to consume.…”