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Published on: September 19, 2019
The Role of Parenting Practices in the Home Environment among Underserved Youth
Beth A Conlon1, Aileen P McGinn1, David W Lounsbury1
11 Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine , Bronx, NY.
Insights
Parenting practices influence children's health behaviors. Monitoring and setting limits on snacks and screen time are linked to healthier home environments, while food insecurity increases pressure to eat.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Behavioral Science
- Obesity Prevention
Background:
- The home environment significantly shapes children's health behaviors.
- Parenting practices are key components of the home environment.
- Underserved youth are a focus for understanding these influences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the role of parenting practices in the home environment.
- To identify associations between parenting behaviors and child health outcomes in an intervention setting.
- To explore factors influencing health behaviors among overweight/obese children.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of baseline data from a family-focused pediatric obesity intervention.
- Assessment of parenting practices (monitoring, discipline, limit setting, pressure to eat, reinforcement).
- Evaluation of home environment factors (food availability, family meals, screen time, food security) in 301 parent/caregiver-child dyads.
Main Results:
- Parenting practices varied by demographics; monitoring linked to fruit/vegetable availability (OR=2.19).
- Limit setting on snacks/sugary drinks inversely associated with SSB availability (OR=0.40).
- Limit setting on screen media inversely associated with TV during meals (OR=0.51); food insecurity linked to pressure to eat (OR=1.77).
Conclusions:
- Parenting practices are crucial in the home environment for child health.
- Longitudinal studies are recommended to confirm these associations.
- Findings support family-focused interventions for pediatric obesity.
Background:
The home environment, which includes parenting practices, is an important setting in which children develop their health behaviors. We examined the role of parenting practices in the home environment among underserved youth.
Methods:
We examined baseline data of a family-focused pediatric obesity intervention. Parenting practices (monitoring, discipline, limit setting of soda/snacks [SS] and screen media [SM], pressure to eat, and reinforcement) and availability of fruits/vegetables (FV) and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), family meals, television (TV) watching during meals, TVs in the home, owning active video games/sports equipment, and household food security were assessed in 301 parent/caregivers of overweight/obese children (ages 7-12 years; BMI≥85th percentile). Associations were evaluated using Spearman's rank correlation coefficients and logistic regression models adjusted for potential confounders.
Results:
Parents/caregivers (ages 22-67 years) were largely Hispanic/Latino (74.1%), female (92.4%), and reported high levels of limit setting SS and low levels of pressure to eat. Parent age, gender, country of birth, and years living in the United States accounted for differences among several parenting practices. Adjusted logistic regression models identified several statistically significant associations, including: Monitoring was positively associated with availability FV (odds ratio [OR]=2.19; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.25, 3.82); limit setting SS was inversely associated with availability of SSBs (OR=0.40; 95% CI, 0.21, 0.75); and limit setting SM was inversely associated with TV viewing during family meals (OR=0.51; 95% CI, 0.31, 0.85). Nearly 40% of our population was food insecure, and food insecurity was positively associated with pressure to eat (OR=1.77; 95% CI, 1.01, 3.15).
Conclusions:
Parenting practices play an important role in the home environment, and longitudinal studies are needed to examine these associations in the context of family-focused pediatric obesity interventions.
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