Maternal influences on daughters' restrained eating behavior.
This study examined whether mothers' preoccupation with their own weight and eating was linked to daughters' restrained eating behavior. Participants included 173 non-Hispanic, White mother-daughter dyads, measured longitudinally when daughters were ages 5, 7, 9, and 11. Mothers who were preoccupied with their own weight and eating reported higher levels of restricting daughters' intake and encouraging daughters to lose weight over time. Mothers' encouragement of daughters' weight loss was linked to daughters' restrained eating behavior; this relationship was partially mediated by daughters' perception of maternal pressure to lose weight. These findings suggest that mothers' preoccupation with weight and eating, via attempts to influence daughters' weight and eating, may place daughters at risk for developing problematic eating behaviors.
Francis
Lori A
LA
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. laf169@psu.edu
Birch
Leann L
LL
D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002149:Energy Intake; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012931:Social Environment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015431:Weight Loss