MCH Student:

Alyssa Sakhitab-Kerestes

Date of Defense:

June 2011

Abstract:

As overweight and obesity is a critical health issue for children and adolescents, it is imperative to better understand the means through which parents influence and are influenced by their children’s weight and diet. The purpose of this secondary data analysis is to expand the understanding associations between both parenting practices and styles and children’s body mass index (BMI) and dietary intake. Most current research focuses on the association between parenting practices or parenting styles and one child outcome, usually BMI or dietary intake. A cross-sectional analysis of data from parent-child dyads (n=44) in the Healthy Home Offerings via the Mealtime Environment (HOME) pilot study was completed to examine the associations between parent feeding styles, parent feeding practices, children’s BMI, children’s dietary intake.