scholarly journals Observations of Maternal Feeding Practices and Styles and Young Children's Obesity Risk: A Longitudinal Study of Hispanic Mothers with Low Incomes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas G. Power ◽  
Ashley D. Beck ◽  
Jennifer O. Fisher ◽  
Nilda Micheli ◽  
Teresia M. O'Connor ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Thomas G. Power ◽  
Jennifer O. Fisher ◽  
Teresia M. O'Connor ◽  
Nilda Micheli ◽  
Maria A. Papaioannou ◽  
...  

Previous research has shown that general parenting styles, general parenting dimensions, maternal feeding styles, and maternal feeding practices all show specific relationships with the weight status of young children. This study examined the relationships between general parenting and maternal feeding styles/practices in a sample of 187 Hispanic mothers with low incomes. As part of a larger study, mothers of preschool children were recruited through Head Start programs and completed validated questionnaires assessing their general parenting, feeding styles, and feeding practices. Results identified numerous associations between general parenting dimensions and specific feeding practices: i.e., maternal nurturance was positively associated with healthy eating guidance and feeding responsiveness; inconsistency was positively associated with restriction for weight and promotion of overconsumption; follow through on discipline was positively associated with monitoring, healthy eating guidance, and feeding responsiveness; and family organization was positively associated with monitoring and healthy eating guidance. General parenting styles were associated with feeding practices as well, with authoritative mothers showing the highest levels of healthy eating guidance and authoritarian mothers showing the lowest levels of monitoring. There were no significant associations between mothers’ general parenting styles and mothers’ feeding styles. Implications of these findings for the prevention of childhood obesity are considered.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 584-604
Author(s):  
Eleanor Shonkoff ◽  
Sara C Folta ◽  
Theodore Fitopoulos ◽  
Cynthia N Ramirez ◽  
Ricky Bluthenthal ◽  
...  

Abstract Less than 1% of children in the United States concurrently meet guidelines for fruit/vegetable intake, physical activity, screen time, and sugar-sweetened beverages. Prior evidence suggests that parents of this 1% potentially cope with stress differently. This qualitative study used a positive deviance-based approach to locate mothers whose children avoided negative feeding outcomes despite being ‘high-risk’ for obesity. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in Spanish for two groups: low-income, Hispanic mothers whose children were normal weight and met recommendations for fruits/vegetables and physical activity (n = 5); and a comparison group whose children had obesity and did not meet guidelines (n = 8). Topics included weight-related parenting practices, attitudes toward health, and stress management. Interviews were transcribed, translated, and coded using NVivo for theoretically driven thematic analysis. Results suggested that mothers viewed stress differently. Mothers of healthy weight children believed stress could be prevented, such as by paying children more attention or directing one’s attention away from stressors; comparison group mothers tended to report stress about managing their child’s eating and about financial worries. Future research is needed to understand the underlying sources of these differences (e.g. personality traits, coping practices) and test whether stress prevention interventions can promote healthy parental feeding practices.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther M. Leerkes ◽  
Cheryl Buehler ◽  
Susan D. Calkins ◽  
Lenka H. Shriver ◽  
Laurie Wideman

Abstract Background Childhood obesity remains a significant public health problem. To date, most research on the causes and correlates of obesity has focused on a small number of direct predictors of obesity rather than testing complex models that address the multifactorial nature of the origins of obesity in early development. We describe the rationale and methods of iGrow (Infant Growth and Development Study) which will test multiple pathways by which (a) prenatal maternal psychobiological risk predicts infant weight gain over the first 6 months of life, and (b) this early weight gain confers risk for obesity at age 2. Infant hormonal and psychobiological risk are proposed mediators from prenatal risk to early weight gain, though these are moderated by early maternal sensitivity and obesogenic feeding practices. In addition, higher maternal sensitivity and lower obesogenic feeding practices are proposed predictors of adaptive child self-regulation in the second year of life, and all three are proposed to buffer/reduce the association between high early infant weight gain and obesity risk at age 2. Methods iGrow is a prospective, longitudinal community-based study of 300 diverse mothers and infants to be followed across 5 data waves from pregnancy until children are age 2. Key measures include (a) maternal reports of demographics, stress, well-being, feeding practices and child characteristics and health; (b) direct observation of maternal and infant behavior during feeding, play, and distress-eliciting tasks during which infant heart rate is recorded to derive measures of vagal withdrawal; (c) anthropometric measures of mothers and infants; and (d) assays of maternal prenatal blood and infant saliva and urine. A host of demographic and other potential confounds will be considered as potential covariates in structural equation models that include tests of mediation and moderation. Efforts to mitigate the deleterious effects of COVID-19 on study success are detailed. Discussion This study has the potential to inform (1) basic science about early life processes casually related to childhood obesity and (2) development of targeted intervention and prevention approaches that consider mother, infant, and family risks and resources.


2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Williams ◽  
◽  
Maria Petty ◽  
Maria Schimith-Escrivão ◽  
Kyoee Chung ◽  
...  

Obesity ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 1724-1729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyung E. Rhee ◽  
Sharon M. Coleman ◽  
Danielle P. Appugliese ◽  
Niko A. Kaciroti ◽  
Robert F. Corwyn ◽  
...  

Appetite ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 130 ◽  
pp. 304
Author(s):  
Claire Farrow ◽  
Emma Haycraft ◽  
Jackie Blissett

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roxanna Camfferman ◽  
Shelley Maria Cornelia Van der Veek ◽  
Ralph Christian Alexander Rippe ◽  
Judi Mesman

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina Lora ◽  
Paul Branscum ◽  
Sixia Chen ◽  
Dorothy Wakefield

Abstract Objectives To evaluate the relationship of home fruit and vegetable (F&V) availability and maternal feeding practices (restriction, pressure, modeling, monitoring) with preschoolers’ F&V intake. Methods Hispanic mothers (n = 238) of 2-to-5-year-old children from low-income neighborhoods participated in the study. Mothers reported home availability of F&V (whole fruit, fruit juice [FJ], total fruit [FJ and whole fruit combined], and vegetables) in the past month, their feeding practices and their children's F&V consumption (cups) in the past month. Data were collected using one-to-one interviews in English or Spanish. Logistic regression models tested associations of availability of F&V groups and feeding practices with children's intake of ≥ 1 cup per day of total fruit and vegetables as per MyPlate minimum daily recommendation for preschoolers. Results Availability of total fruit and maternal modeling increased the odds of child's consumption of ≥ 1 cup of fruit: Odds ratio (OR) = 2.41; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.56-3.70; P < 0.0001, and OR = 1.73; CI, 1.10-2.74; P < 0.020, respectively. Concurrently, maternal pressure and child's being a female increased the odds of child's consumption of ≥ 1 cup of vegetables: OR = 1.44; CI, 1.10-1.90; P < 0.009, and OR = 1.91; CI, 1.07-3.40; P < 0.028, respectively. Having more children in the home reduced the odds of child's intake of ≥ 1 cup of vegetables: OR = 0.78; CI, 0.61-0.99; P < 0.037. There were no significant associations between children's Body Mass Index (BMI) percentile and children's consumption of F&V or maternal feeding practices. Conclusions Environmental factors within the home appears to influence Hispanic preschoolers’ intake of F&V differently. To increase children's intake of fruit, family interventions should promote home fruit availability and maternal food modeling practices. However, since maternal pressure to eat has not been associated with F&V intake, the significant association between vegetable intake and pressuring children to eat found in this study must be further examined in similar cultural samples to replicate this finding. Funding Sources U54GM104938.


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