Parental feeding practices in Mexican American families: initial test of an expanded measure

International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity

Methodology

Elena Flores¹  Steven E Gregorich²  Nancy F Butte³  Cynthia L de Groat⁴  Lauri A Pasch⁴  Carlos Penilla⁴  Jeanne M Tschann⁴  Julianna Deardorff⁵  Louise C Greenspan⁶ 

[1] Counseling Psychology Department, School of Education, University of San Francisco, 2130 Fulton Street, 94118, San Francisco, CA, USA;Department of Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, Box 0856, 94143-0856, San Francisco, CA, USA;Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center, 1100 Bates Street, 77030-2600, Houston, TX, USA;Department of Psychiatry, University of California at San Francisco, Box 0848, 94143-0848, San Francisco, CA, USA;Division of Community Health and Human Development, School of Public Health, 50 University Hall, University of California at Berkeley, 94720-7360, Berkeley, CA, USA;Kaiser Permanente, 2200 O'Farrell Street, 94115, San Francisco, CA, USA;

关键词: Feeding practices;    Mexican Americans;    Latinos, Child weight;    Child obesity;    Mothers;    Fathers;    Parent–child relationships;    Scale development;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1479-5868-10-6

 received in 2012-05-17, accepted in 2013-01-08,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAlthough obesity rates are high among Latino children, relatively few studies of parental feeding practices have examined Latino families as a separate group. Culturally-based approaches to measurement development can begin to identify parental feeding practices in specific cultural groups. This study used qualitative and quantitative methods to develop and test the Parental Feeding Practices (PFP) Questionnaire for use with Mexican American parents. Items reflected both parent’s use of control over child eating and child-centered feeding practices.MethodsIn the qualitative phase of the research, 35 Latino parents participated in focus groups. Items for the PFP were developed from focus group discussions, as well as adapted from existing parent feeding practice measures. Cognitive interviews were conducted with 37 adults to evaluate items. In the quantitative phase, mothers and fathers of 174 Mexican American children ages 8–10 completed the PFP and provided demographic information. Anthropometric measures were obtained on family members.ResultsConfirmatory factor analyses identified four parental feeding practice dimensions: positive involvement in child eating, pressure to eat, use of food to control behavior, and restriction of amount of food. Factorial invariance modeling suggested equivalent factor meaning and item response scaling across mothers and fathers. Mothers and fathers differed somewhat in their use of feeding practices. All four feeding practices were related to child body mass index (BMI) percentiles, for one or both parents. Mothers reporting more positive involvement had children with lower BMI percentiles. Parents using more pressure to eat had children with lower BMI percentiles, while parents using more restriction had children with higher BMI percentiles. Fathers using food to control behavior had children with lower BMI percentiles.ConclusionsResults indicate good initial validity and reliability for the PFP. It can be used to increase understanding of parental feeding practices, children’s eating, and obesity among Mexican Americans, a population at high risk of obesity.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Tschann et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013