Differences between parents' and adolescents' perceptions of family food rules and availability.
OBJECTIVE
To test the hypotheses that adolescents have different perceptions of family-environmental factors than do their parents, and that dietary intake of adolescents is more highly associated with the adolescent's own perceptions than those of their parents.


METHODS
Data from self-administered questionnaires were used.


METHODS
Five-hundred two students aged 12 to 14 years, and one of each student's parents.


METHODS
Two types of family-environmental factors (ie, family food rules and home availability and accessibility of food) for 3 self-reported dietary behaviors (ie, fruit, snack, and breakfast intake).


METHODS
Unpaired t tests, chi-square tests, percentage (gross) disagreement, standardized regression coefficients, and linear regression analyses.


RESULTS
For most rules and most perceptions of availability and accessibility, considerable disagreement was found between parents and students. Self-reported intake of fruit and snacks was more highly associated with student measures, but breakfast intake was more highly associated with parent measures of rules and availability.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings might explain mixed results on the associations between family-environmental factors and children's dietary intake that were found in earlier studies. Researchers need to be aware that in studies into family-environmental determinants of dietary habits using self-reports, the results are possibly influenced by whether the data were reported by parents or by children.
van Assema
Patricia
P
Nutrition and Toxicology Research Institute Maastricht (NUTRIM), Department of Health Education and Promotion, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands. p.vanassema@gvo.unimaas.nl
Glanz
Karen
K
Martens
Marloes
M
Brug
Johannes
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D017195:Adolescent Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000328:Adult; D004034:Diet Surveys; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires