Associations Between Parent-Child Communication and Connectedness, Parent Feeding Behavior, and Child Body Mass in Pre-Adolescent Children.
OBJECTIVE
This study evaluated associations between parent-child connectedness and communication, parent feeding behaviors (restriction, pressure to eat, and monitoring), and age- and sex-standardized child body mass index (zBMI) in a sample of pre-adolescent children aged 8-12 years.


METHODS
A community sample of three hundred and eight child-parent dyads completed measures of communication and connectedness. Parents completed a feeding behavior measure and children were weighed and their height was measured. We examined whether parental feeding behaviors and parent-child communication and connectedness predicted child zBMI and whether parental feeding behaviors moderated the association between parent-child communication and connectedness and child zBMI.


RESULTS
Feeding restriction was positively associated with zBMI, while both pressure to eat and food monitoring exhibited negative associations with zBMI. Child-reported communication was inversely associated with zBMI and parental pressure to eat moderated this association such that lower pressure to eat predicted a stronger association between communication and zBMI.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings are consistent with previous research suggesting that parent feeding strategies and parent-child communication are important contributors to child weight status. This study also provides preliminary evidence suggesting that adaptive parent-child communication is associated with lower body mass when parents avoid pressuring their child to eat. Our study provides an important extension of this body of research into middle childhood, a relatively understudied developmental stage.
['Lowe|Kristina D|KD|', 'Lott|Mark A|MA|', 'Jensen|Chad D|CD|']
D000293:Adolescent D015992:Body Mass Index D001835:Body Weight D002648:Child D002652:Child Behavior D003142:Communication D005247:Feeding Behavior D006801:Humans D010287:Parent-Child Relations D016487:Parenting D010290:Parents D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
parents nutrition weight management