The relationship between children's home food environment and dietary patterns in childhood and adolescence.
OBJECTIVE
To identify the correlates of the home food environment (parents' intake, availability and food-related parenting practices) at the age of 10 years with dietary patterns during childhood and in adolescence.


METHODS
Primary-school children of fifty-nine Flemish elementary schools completed a questionnaire at school in 2002. Four years later they completed a questionnaire by e-mail or mail at home. Their parents completed a questionnaire on food-related parenting practices at baseline.


METHODS
Longitudinal study.


METHODS
The analyses included 609 matched questionnaires.


METHODS
Multi-level regression analyses were used to identify baseline parenting practices (pressure, reward, negotiation, catering on demand, permissiveness, verbal praise, avoiding negative modelling, availability of healthy/unhealthy food items and mothers' fruit and vegetable (F&V) and excess scores) associated with children's dietary patterns (F&V and excess scores).


RESULTS
Mother's F&V score was a significant positive independent predictor for children's F&V score at baseline and follow-up, whereas availability of unhealthy foods was significantly negatively associated with both scores. Negotiation was positively associated with children's follow-up score of F&V, while permissiveness was positively associated with children's follow-up excess score. Availability of unhealthy foods and mother's excess score were positively related to children's excess score at baseline and follow-up.


CONCLUSIONS
Parental intake and restricting the availability of unhealthy foods not only appeared to have a consistent impact on children's and adolescents' diets, but also negotiating and less permissive food-related parenting practices may improve adolescents' diets.
Vereecken
Carine
C
Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Research Foundation-Flanders, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, 9000 Gent, Belgium. Carine.Vereecken@UGent.be
Haerens
Leen
L
De Bourdeaudhuij
Ilse
I
Maes
Lea
L
D000293:Adolescent; D001530:Belgium; D002648:Child; D003625:Data Collection; D004032:Diet / Q000592:standards; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D017008:Negotiating; D016487:Parenting; D010541:Permissiveness; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012574:Schools; D012931:Social Environment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires