TY - JOUR
T1 - Ethnic differences in parental feeding behaviors in UK parents of preschoolers
AU - Gu, Cihang
AU - Warkentin, Sarah
AU - Mais, Laís Amaral
AU - Carnell, Susan
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are grateful to Leora Benson for help compiling figures. We also thank the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) for scholarships for LAM and SW, the National Institute of Diabetes and Ingestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) (Grant Number R00DK0880) for funding for SC, and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health (OD) under Grant Number U54HD070725 to the Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC) at Johns Hopkins for additional support for SC, LAM and SW.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2017/6/1
Y1 - 2017/6/1
N2 - Childhood obesity is prevalent among ethnic minorities in the UK but little is known about parent feeding practices in these populations. We administered questionnaires assessing parental feeding behaviors and perceptions and concerns relating to child weight to White British (n = 271), South Asian (n = 59), and Black Afro-Caribbean (n = 42) parents of UK 3-5 year-olds. Child BMI z-scores were determined from measured heights and weights. South Asian and Black Afro-Caribbean parents exhibited greater pressure to eat than White British parents. Black Afro-Caribbean parents additionally scored higher on instrumental feeding and lower on monitoring, while South Asian parents scored higher on emotional feeding. Black Afro-Caribbean parents reported the greatest concern about both child overweight and underweight. Ethnic differences were unchanged by controlling for perceptions and concerns relating to child weight, or for actual BMI z, parent education, or household income. Exploratory analyses suggested some evidence for sex differences within ethnic groups. For example, South Asian parents of daughters scored higher than White British parents of daughters on emotional feeding, with no ethnic differences apparent for parents of sons. Our findings support considering variation in parent feeding behaviors and weight-related attitudes by parental ethnicity and child sex when developing obesity interventions.
AB - Childhood obesity is prevalent among ethnic minorities in the UK but little is known about parent feeding practices in these populations. We administered questionnaires assessing parental feeding behaviors and perceptions and concerns relating to child weight to White British (n = 271), South Asian (n = 59), and Black Afro-Caribbean (n = 42) parents of UK 3-5 year-olds. Child BMI z-scores were determined from measured heights and weights. South Asian and Black Afro-Caribbean parents exhibited greater pressure to eat than White British parents. Black Afro-Caribbean parents additionally scored higher on instrumental feeding and lower on monitoring, while South Asian parents scored higher on emotional feeding. Black Afro-Caribbean parents reported the greatest concern about both child overweight and underweight. Ethnic differences were unchanged by controlling for perceptions and concerns relating to child weight, or for actual BMI z, parent education, or household income. Exploratory analyses suggested some evidence for sex differences within ethnic groups. For example, South Asian parents of daughters scored higher than White British parents of daughters on emotional feeding, with no ethnic differences apparent for parents of sons. Our findings support considering variation in parent feeding behaviors and weight-related attitudes by parental ethnicity and child sex when developing obesity interventions.
KW - Child feeding
KW - Cultural differences
KW - Family feeding practices
KW - Maternal feeding practices
KW - Parental feeding style
KW - Pediatric obesity/overweight
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U2 - 10.1016/j.appet.2017.03.001
DO - 10.1016/j.appet.2017.03.001
M3 - Article
C2 - 28274650
AN - SCOPUS:85015918121
VL - 113
SP - 398
EP - 404
JO - Appetite
JF - Appetite
SN - 0195-6663
ER -