JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Childhood obesity prevention interventions routinely focus on changing maternal parenting practices. Failure to assess how fathers’ weight-related (i.e., diet and physical activity) parenting practices contribute to children’s energy-balance behaviors limits the understanding of their paternal role within the family. Examining the independent and interacting effects of fathers’ and mothers’ weight-related parenting practices on children’s diet and physical activity addresses this important research gap.

Objective:

The current study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to investigate the within-subject (WS) and between-subject (BS) independent and interactive effects of maternal and paternal (1) encouragement to eat and preparation of fruits and vegetables (F/V) and (2) encouragement of and taking their child to be physically active on their child’s self-reported F/V intake and physical activity engagement.

Methods:

Participants included mother-father-child triads (n=22 triads, n=205-213 prompts/occasions) in the Mothers and Their Children’s Health Study and the University of Southern California Fathers Study. Simultaneously, mothers and fathers (mean ages=44.2 + 5.6 and 45.2+ 8.1, respectively), and their children (mean age=12.0 + 0.7) completed up to 8 randomly prompted EMA surveys per day on separate smartphones for 7 days. At each prompt, mothers and fathers each reported whether they did the following in the past 2 hours: (1) encouraged their child to eat F/V, (2) prepared F/V for their child, (3) encouraged their child to be physically active, and (4) took their child to be physically active. Children self-reported whether they consumed F/V or were physically active in the past two hours.

Results:

Results from Bayesian multilevel logistic models (all in log odd units) indicated that at the WS level, greater maternal encouragement (OR=2.01, CI=0.07-5.34) of eating F/V was associated with greater child report of eating F/V, but paternal encouragement (OR=0.84, CI=-3.71-6.58) showed no additional effects above and beyond maternal encouragement. Additionally, greater than usual paternal encouragement (OR=2.0 CI=0.08-5.24) and maternal encouragement (OR=2.58, CI=0.43-6.41) of physical activity had significant independent additive effects and were associated with greater child report of physical activity. No other WS or BS associations, nor interactive effects were significant.

Conclusions:

Findings from this study suggest that fathers play a role in supporting their children’s physical activity compared to their intake of F/V. Future EMA studies should recruit larger samples to evaluate the interacting roles of mothers’ and fathers’ weight-related parenting practices on child’s obesogenic behaviors.