Examining the relationships between family meal practices, family stressors, and the weight of youth in the family.
BACKGROUND
Research is limited on how the social environment of the home is related to childhood obesity.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this research was to examine the relationships between positive family meal practices, family stressors, and the weight of youth and to examine parental weight status as a moderator of these relationships.


METHODS
The study enrolled 368 parent/child dyads from a Minnesota sample. We used mediation analysis to examine the associations


RESULTS
Families represented by an overweight parent reported fewer positive family meal practices (p < 0.001), higher levels of depression (p = 0.01), and fewer family rules (p = 0.02) as compared to families represented by a healthy weight parent. For overweight parents, positive family meal practices mediated the relationship between some family stressors and child weight.


CONCLUSIONS
This research suggests that the home environment may affect the weight of children in the family, and the effect is more pronounced in families with at least one overweight parent.
Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA. lalytle@umn.edu
Leslie A
LA
Lytle
Mary O
MO
Hearst
Jayne
J
Fulkerson
David M
DM
Murray
Brian
B
Martinson
Elizabeth
E
Klein
Keryn
K
Pasch
Anne
A
Samuelson
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D057566:Self Report; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires