The relationship between food parenting practices, parental diet and their adolescents' diet

Objective: To determine whether parents' and adolescents' dietary behaviors for fruits and vegetables [FV], junk foods, and sugar sweetened beverages [SSBs] align with parents' food parenting practices for these behaviors. Design: Data from the Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health and Eating (FLASHE), a cross-sectional, internet-based study, were analyzed. Participants: Parent and adolescent dyads (n = 1859) representative of the general U.S. population. Main outcome measures: Dependent variables: adolescent and parental dietary behaviors. Independent variables: parents' food parenting practices for FV, SSBs, and junk food were assessed. Analysis: General linear models with test of equal slopes were used to test study aims. Results: Parents' diets and food parenting practices were consistent with their dietary behaviors. For their adolescents, parenting practices for FV consumption was positively related to adolescents' FV consumption, but parents/caregivers' rules/limits to avoid junk food/SSBs were positively related to adolescents' junk foods and SSBs consumption. Conclusions and implications: Continued parental modeling of dietary practices is important during adolescence. Future analyses should investigate adolescents' perceptions of parents' practices and behaviors as well as their exposure from other sources and their effect on adolescent (dietary) decision-making.