Parents Can Experience Impairment Because of Their Children's Weight and Problematic Eating Behaviors

Pediatric obesity and eating disorders have adverse consequences on children's health and psychosocial functioning. Parents are involved in children's daily lives and their health, but the extent to which children's eating behaviors or weight impact parents' daily functioning is unknown.

The present study examined parent and child impairment because of child eating problems and weight in key life domains, including work/school, social life, and family life. Participants were parents (N = 861; 35.5% fathers) who completed an online cross-sectional survey, including perceived impairment because of their child's weight and eating behaviors.

Overall, 7.0% of parents reported clinically significant impairment because of child weight, and 6.9% reported clinically significant impairment because of child eating behaviors. Significantly more parents of children categorized as having obesity reported clinically significant parent and child impairment than other weight categories. Parents of children who regularly engaged in secretive eating reported greater child impairment than those without problematic eating. When child weight and problematic eating behaviors were analyzed jointly with parent sex, child sex, and parents' overinvestment in their child's weight, parents' overinvestment in child weight was associated significantly with parent and child impairment, and secretive eating maintained a significant association, but weight status was no longer associated significantly with impairment.

Understanding and considering individual and family impairment associated with obesity and problematic eating behaviors is critical for family-based prevention and treatment programs.