Patterns of food parenting practices regarding fruit and vegetables among parent-adolescent dyads

Authors: Thomson, Jessica; HENNESSY, ERIN - Tufts University; LANDRY, ALICIA - University Of Central Arkansas; Goodman, Melissa

Submitted to: Childhood Obesity
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/25/2020
Publication Date: 7/1/2020
Citation: Thomson, J.L., Hennessy, E., Landry, A.S., Goodman, M.H. 2020. Patterns of food parenting practices regarding fruit and vegetables among parent-adolescent dyads. Childhood Obesity. 16(5):340-349. https://doi.org/10.1089/chi.2020.0087.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/chi.2020.0087

Interpretive Summary: Aspects of the home food environment, such as food parenting practices (e.g., restriction, pressure to eat, monitoring, encouragement), can influence children’s diet and food preferences. While food parenting practices are often used in combination, they are generally studied independently. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine patterns of food parenting practices and explore their relationships with demographic characteristics and fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption in a large cohort of parents and their children (12-17 years of age). Paired parent-child survey data from the Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating Study, a cross-sectional, Internet-based study, conducted in 2014 were analyzed to identify patterns of parent- and child-reported FV parenting practices (n=6). Additionally, associations between the identified patterns and parent and child sex, body mass index, FV intake, and beliefs about whether it is okay for a parent to make rules about a child’s behavior like FV intake (FV legitimacy of parental authority [LPA]) were explored. Based on 1,657 parent-child pairs, five patterns were identified representing complete use of the six FV parenting practices to almost no use of the practices. Parent and child responses were generally in agreement for four of the five patterns. Younger children were more likely to belong to the high use and pressuring patterns. Male parents were least likely to belong to the pressuring pattern, while female children were most likely to belong to the disagreeing pattern. The high use pattern had the greatest consumption amounts for fruits and vegetables and the most agreement with LPA for both parents and children. This study’s findings suggest that distinct patterns of FV parenting practices exist and are associated with parent and child demographic characteristics, FV consumption, and FV LPA. Thus, a more personalized approach may be necessary when designing nutrition interventions to promote the use of parenting practices, specifically in combination, to positively affect children’s dietary habits.

Technical Abstract: Background: The study’s objective was to determine patterns of food parenting practices regarding fruit and vegetables (FV) and their associations with demographic characteristics and dietary intake in parents and adolescents (12-17 years). Methods: Dyadic survey data from Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating, a cross-sectional, Internet-based study, conducted in 2014 were analyzed using latent class analysis. Self-report model covariates included adolescent age and parent and adolescent sex, body mass index, FV intake, and FV legitimacy of parental authority (FV-LPA). Results: Based on 1,657 parent-adolescent dyads, five latent classes were identified representing use of all six to use of few FV parenting practices. Parent and adolescent responses agreed in four classes. The high use class was the reference class. Compared to early adolescent dyads, middle adolescent dyads had 58% and 66% lower odds of belonging to moderate and low use classes. Compared to female parent dyads, male parent dyads had over 3 times greater odds of belonging to low use class. Compared to female adolescent dyads, male adolescent dyads had 44% lower odds of belonging to disagreeing class. The odds of belonging to one of the other four classes were 19%-63% lower for every 1 cup equivalent increase in parent FV intake. Compared to dyads with high parental or adolescent agreement with FV-LPA, dyads with low agreement had 2.5-7 times the odds of belonging to another class. Conclusions: Distinct patterns of FV parenting practices exist and are associated with parent and adolescent demographic characteristics, dietary intake, and FV-LPA.