title: Ethnic differences in parental feeding behaviors in UK parents of preschoolers.
abstract: Childhood obesity is prevalent among ethnic minorities in the UK but little is known about parent feeding practices in these populations. We administered questionnaires assessing parental feeding behaviors and perceptions and concerns relating to child weight to White British (n = 271), South Asian (n = 59), and Black Afro-Caribbean (n = 42) parents of UK 3-5 year-olds. Child BMI z-scores were determined from measured heights and weights. South Asian and Black Afro-Caribbean parents exhibited greater pressure to eat than White British parents. Black Afro-Caribbean parents additionally scored higher on instrumental feeding and lower on monitoring, while South Asian parents scored higher on emotional feeding. Black Afro-Caribbean parents reported the greatest concern about both child overweight and underweight. Ethnic differences were unchanged by controlling for perceptions and concerns relating to child weight, or for actual BMI z, parent education, or household income. Exploratory analyses suggested some evidence for sex differences within ethnic groups. For example, South Asian parents of daughters scored higher than White British parents of daughters on emotional feeding, with no ethnic differences apparent for parents of sons. Our findings support considering variation in parent feeding behaviors and weight-related attitudes by parental ethnicity and child sex when developing obesity interventions.
authors.affiliation: Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. Electronic address: cgu11@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Cihang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; Discipline of Nutrology, Department of Pediatrics, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: sarah_war@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Warkentin
authors.affiliation: Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; Discipline of Nutrology, Department of Pediatrics, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: lais.amaral88@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Laís Amaral
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Mais
authors.affiliation: Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. Electronic address: susan.carnell@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carnell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001210:Asia, Southeastern / Q000208:ethnology; D001835:Body Weight; D017691:Caribbean Region / Q000208:ethnology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D016487:Parenting / Q000208:ethnology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013851:Thinness / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D006113:United Kingdom; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Child feeding; Cultural differences; Family feeding practices; Maternal feeding practices; Parental feeding style; Pediatric obesity/overweight