Fathers' feeding practices and children's weight status in Mexican American families

Authors: PENILLA, CARLOS - University Of California; TSCHANN, JEANNE - University Of California; DEARDOFF, JULIANNA - University Of California; FLORES, ELENA - University Of San Francisco; PASCH, LAURI - University Of California; BUTTE, NANCY - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC); GEREGORICH, STEVEN - University Of California; GREENSPAN, LOUISE - Kaiser Permanente; MARTINEZ, SUZANNA - University Of California; OZER, EMILY - University Of California

Submitted to: Appetite
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/15/2017
Publication Date: 6/17/2017
Citation: Penilla, C., Tschann, J.M., Deardoff, J., Flores, E., Pasch, L.A., Butte, N.F., Geregorich, S.E., Greenspan, L.C., Martinez, S.M., Ozer, E. 2017. Fathers' feeding practices and children's weight status in Mexican American families. Appetite. 117:109-116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2017.06.016.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2017.06.016

Interpretive Summary: The role of fathers' feeding practices on children's weight status has not been investigated, even though mothers' feeding practices are known to influence their children’s weight status. Moreover, there is a dearth of research on Latino fathers' feeding practices and children's weight status, even though Latino children suffer some of the highest obesity rates in the U.S. Based on the Parental Feeding Practices Questionnaire, fathers' feeding practices and child weight status were studied in 174 Mexican American families with children aged 8-10 years. Fathers' feeding practices were related to their children's weight status, after accounting for mothers' feeding practices. Higher use of pressure to eat and use of food to control behavior were associated with children's lower weight status. Restriction of food was associated with children's higher weight status. Because parental feeding practices are modifiable behaviors, a better understanding of how both fathers' and mothers' feeding practices influence their children's weight status could inform obesity prevention strategies. This is the first study to examine the associations of fathers' feeding practices and children's weight status Mexican American families, after accounting for the associations of mothers' feeding practices.

Technical Abstract: Mothers' feeding practices are associated with their children's weight status, but little is known about the associations between fathers' feeding practices and children's weight status. Moreover, there is a dearth of research on Latino fathers' feeding practices and children's weight status, even though Latino children suffer some of the highest obesity rates in the U.S. We examined the associations between fathers' feeding practices and child weight status, conditional on mothers' feeding practices, within 174 Mexican American families with children aged 8–10 years. Parents completed the Parental Feeding Practices Questionnaire, which consists of four subscales: positive involvement in child eating, pressure to eat, use of food to control behavior, and restriction of amount of food. To assess child weight status, body mass index (BMI) was calculated and converted to age- and gender-specific percentile scores (BMI z-score). We fit four sets of regression models, one set for each of the four parental feeding practices subscales, with child BMI z-score as the outcome variable. Fathers' pressure to eat (b=-0.20, p=0.04; 95% CI: -0.39, -0.01) and use of food to control behavior (b=-0.36, p=0.02; 95% CI: -0.65, -0.07) were associated with lower child BMI z-score, and restriction of amount of food (b=0.56, p<0.001; 95% CI: 0.27, 0.84) was associated with higher child BMI z-score, after accounting for mothers' feeding practices. Fathers' positive involvement in child eating was not associated with child BMI z-score. These findings provide empirical evidence that fathers' feeding practices are independently associated with children's weight status, even when mothers' feeding practices are taken into account, and suggest that fathers' feeding practices also matter in regard to children's weight status.