Gender and Body-Fat Status as Predictors of Parental Feeding Styles and Children’s Nutritional Knowledge, Eating Habits and Behaviours

Małgorzata Lipowska, Mariusz Lipowski, Paweł Jurek, Anna M. Jankowska and Paulina Pawlicka
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Małgorzata Lipowska: Institute of Psychology, University of Gdansk, Bażyńskiego 4, 80-309 Gdansk, Poland
Mariusz Lipowski: Department of Health Psychology, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, Górskiego 1, 80-336 Gdansk, Poland
Paweł Jurek: Institute of Psychology, University of Gdansk, Bażyńskiego 4, 80-309 Gdansk, Poland
Anna M. Jankowska: Institute of Psychology, University of Gdansk, Bażyńskiego 4, 80-309 Gdansk, Poland
Paulina Pawlicka: Institute of Psychology, University of Gdansk, Bażyńskiego 4, 80-309 Gdansk, Poland

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: The home food environment is critically important for the development of children’s health-related practices. By managing dietary restrictions, providing nutritional knowledge and demonstrating eating behaviours, parents contribute to children’s food preferences and eating patterns. The present study examined nutritional knowledge, eating habits and appetite traits among 387 Polish five-year-old healthy and overfat boys and girls in the context of parental feeding styles and body-fat status. We observed that girls presented healthier eating habits than boys; however, overfat boys had better nutritional knowledge. Children’s body-fat percentage (%BF) was found to be linked with eating behaviours such as low satiety responsiveness and increased food responsiveness in girls as well as low emotional undereating and increased emotional overeating in boys. Our results revealed that overfat mothers, who were more prone to use the encouragement feeding style, rarely had daughters with increased %BF. Parents of overfat girls, however, were less likely to apply encouragement and instrumental feeding styles. Contrary to popular belief and previous studies, overfat women do not necessarily transmit unhealthy eating patterns to their children. Parents’ greater emphasis on managing the weight and eating habits of daughters (rather than sons) probably results from their awareness of standards of female physical attractiveness.

Keywords: overfat; obesity; nutritional knowledge; eating patterns; feeding styles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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