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Updated: May 10, 2026

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
The associations of parenting factors with adolescent body mass index in an underserved population
Elizabeth M Schneider1, Dawn K Wilson, Heather Kitzman-Ulrich
1Department of Clinical & Health Psychology, University of Florida, P.O. Box 100165, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA. elizabethmschneider@gmail.com
Background:
The current study examined parental factors related to risk of adolescent obesity within the context of a family systems framework.
Methods:
Seventy predominantly African American, low-income caregiver-adolescent dyads participated in the study. Validated measures of parental perceived child risk for development of type 2 diabetes mellitus, parental limit setting for sedentary behavior, and parental nurturance were evaluated as predictors of adolescent body mass index.
Results:
In this cross-sectional study, multiple linear regression demonstrated that parents of adolescents with higher zBMI reported worrying more about their child's risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus. Parent limit setting was also a significant predictor of adolescent zBMI. Contrary to expectations, higher levels of nurturance were associated with higher adolescent zBMI. Post hoc analyses revealed a trend towards a significant interaction between nurturance and limit setting, such that high levels of both parental nurturance and limit setting were associated with lower adolescent zBMI.
Conclusions:
Current findings suggest the importance of authoritative parenting and monitoring of adolescent health behaviors in the treatment of obesity.
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