Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 3, 2026

Author Spotlight: Studying the Impact of Maternal Dietary Deficiencies on Long-Term Offspring Health Outcomes
Published on: June 28, 2024
Men's preconception diet quality patterns predict supportive food parenting practices: evidence from a longitudinal
Mariane H De Oliveira1, Brian K Lo2, Matthew M Lee3
1Boston College, School of Social Work, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA. mariane.deoliveira@bc.edu.
Background:
Food parenting practices play a vital role in shaping children's food intake, yet evidence linking fathers' earlier diet patterns to later parenting is limited. This study examined the association between fathers' diet quality patterns during their adolescence and food parenting practices during fatherhood.
Methods:
Data were drawn from Fathers & Families (F&F), a father-based cohort that recruited participants from an ongoing cohort in the United States that has followed participants since adolescence. Participants (n = 584) reported their dietary intake during adolescence (ages 10-18) using a Youth/Adolescent Food Frequency Questionnaire across multiple survey waves (1996-2011), and reported their food parenting practices using an online survey completed in 2021-2022. Fathers' diet quality patterns during their adolescence were derived from Healthy Eating Index-2020 (HEI-2020) scores using sequence analysis and hierarchical clustering. Associations between these adolescent diet quality patterns and food parenting practices (coercive control, structure, autonomy support) were estimated with ordinal logistic regression, adjusting for sociodemographic covariates and family meal frequency measured during adolescence.
Results:
Three diet quality patterns were identified in adolescence: Low HEI-2020 (50.0%), Declining HEI-2020 (36.5%), and Increasing HEI-2020 (13.5%). Compared to those with Low HEI-2020, fathers demonstrating Increasing HEI-2020 had higher odds of using supportive food parenting practices with their preschool-aged children including higher use of structure-based food parenting practices (OR = 1.93, 95%CI [1.18-3.18]) and lower use of coercive control-based food parenting practices (OR = 0.57, 95%CI [0.36-0.91]).
Conclusions:
Improving men's diet quality during adolescence may have enduring benefits, promoting not only healthier adult eating patterns but also more supportive food parenting practices as fathers.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Longitudinal Research
Parentral Nutrition: Centeral and Peripheral Parental Nutrition
PN can be administered through two primary routes:
1. Central Parenteral Nutrition (CPN):
CPN involves delivering a high concentration of nutrients through a large vein. This is typically achieved using a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) or,...
Parental Care
Self-Schemas
Relationship with Parents: Attachment
Parenting Styles
Authoritarian Parenting
This style is strict and controlling, with little room for open dialogue. Authoritarian parents demand obedience and often enforce rules with minimal warmth. Children raised this way may lack social skills and initiative, usually comparing themselves to others unfavorably.
Authoritative...

