Abstract
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.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 398-404 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Appetite |
| Volume | 113 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 1 2017 |
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Keywords
- Child feeding
- Cultural differences
- Family feeding practices
- Maternal feeding practices
- Parental feeding style
- Pediatric obesity/overweight
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychology(all)
- Nutrition and Dietetics
Cite this
Ethnic differences in parental feeding behaviors in UK parents of preschoolers. / Gu, Cihang; Warkentin, Sarah; Mais, Laís Amaral; Carnell, Susan.
In: Appetite, Vol. 113, 01.06.2017, p. 398-404.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
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
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
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85015918121&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85015918121&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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 -