Parent-child dietary intake resemblance in the United States: Evidence from a large representative survey

We studied the association in dietary intakes and patterns between parents (aged 20-65 years) and their children (aged 2-18 years), using nationally representative data collected by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals 1994-96. We analyzed two 24-h recall dietary data for 1061 fathers, 1230 mothers, 1370 sons and 1322 daughters. All analyses adjusted for sampling design complexity. We assessed multivariate-adjusted parent-child correlations in selected nutrients, food groups and overall dietary quality assessed using the new USDA 2005 Healthy Eating Index score (HEI_n). The parent-child correlations were weak or moderate (0.20-0.33) for most intake measures. There were clear patterns of interaction with gender dyads in the intakes of calcium and dairy products (P < 0.05 for dyad × parental intake), whereby multivariate-adjusted correlations in mother-daughter or mother-child dyads were significantly stronger compared to their father-child counterparts. The reverse was true for multivariate-adjusted correlations in HEI_n. Hispanics and other ethnic groups had significantly stronger resemblance than Non-Hispanic whites and blacks in soft drinks and HEI_n. Resemblance in general was stronger among older children, though the reverse was true when considering agreement in HEI_n's upper quintile. The influence of family income and parental education on the resemblance was small. In conclusion, parent-child dietary resemblance in the US is relatively weak, and varies by nutrients and food groups, and by the types of parent-child dyad and population groups. Factors other than parental eating behaviors seem to play an important role in affecting American young people's dietary intake.