Parenting Practices and Adolescents’ Eating Behaviors in African American Families

Lillie Monroe-Lord, Blake L. Jones, Rickelle Richards, Marla Reicks, Carolyn Gunther, Jinan Banna, Glade L. Topham, Alex Anderson, Karina R. Lora, Siew Sun Wong, Miriam Ballejos, Laura Hopkins and Azam Ardakani
Additional contact information
Lillie Monroe-Lord: Center for Nutrition, Diet and Health, University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC 20008, USA
Blake L. Jones: Department of Psychology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Rickelle Richards: Department of Nutrition, Dietetics & Food Science, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Marla Reicks: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA
Carolyn Gunther: Human Nutrition Program, Department of Human Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Jinan Banna: Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences, University of Hawaii-Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
Glade L. Topham: Department of Applied Human Sciences, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
Alex Anderson: Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Karina R. Lora: Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
Siew Sun Wong: School of Biological and Population Health Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
Miriam Ballejos: Nutrition & Exercise Physiology, Washington State University, 412 E. Spokane Falls Blvd, Spokane, WA 99202, USA
Laura Hopkins: Department of Public Health and Prevention Sciences, Baldwin Wallace University, 275 Eastland Rd., Berea, OH 44017, USA
Azam Ardakani: Department of Nutritional Sciences, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 19, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Parents play an important role in developing the eating behaviors of their children by adopting specific parenting practices. As the prevalence of obesity is high amongst African American adolescents, investigations into associations of specific parenting practices and adolescents’ eating behaviors are essential. In this exploratory study, 14 African American parent–adolescent dyads were interviewed to characterize the influence of eight different parenting practices on the consumption of three main food categories (dairy, fruits and vegetables, and unhealthy snacks). The results revealed that authoritarian parenting practices were correlated with a higher BMI percentile in adolescents, whereas modeling and monitoring are correlated with a higher parent BMI. In addition, reasoning, monitoring, modeling, and authoritative parenting practices were associated with less unhealthy snack consumption among adolescents. Reasoning and monitoring were the only parenting practices associated with higher fruit and vegetable consumption. Finally, a significant correlation was found between eating fruits and vegetables and unhealthy snacks and the location of eating. In conclusion, different parenting practices and environmental factors may impact BMI and food consumption of African American dyads. The results of this study can be used to guide improvement in, and/or development of, nutritional education interventions considering the cultural differences of racial minorities.

Keywords: African American; eating behavior; parenting practice; adolescents; low income (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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