Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, United States.
Soc Sci Med. 2012 Mar;74(5):744-52. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.10.040. Epub 2011 Dec 29.
This paper examines the associations between Chinese and Korean immigrant parents' early life material and food deprivation and their concern about their child's diet or weight, preferences for heavier children, and weight-promoting diet and child weight, alongside the moderating role of parents' acculturation toward American culture. In 2010, Chinese and Korean immigrant parents of children ages 3-8 years in the United States (N = 130) completed interviews which asked about their perceived early life material deprivation and food insecurity, acculturation, child feeding practices, and evaluations of whether their child weighed more or less than the ideal, and child consumption of soda and candy. Independent measures of child and parent BMI were also obtained. Regression analyses revealed that parents' early life food insecurity was associated with the evaluation that their child should weigh more than they do and greater consumption of soda and sweets by their child, among the least acculturated parents. Parental material deprivation was associated with more laissez-faire child feeding practices: less monitoring, less concern about the child's weight or diet, and less perceived responsibility for the child's diet, but only among less acculturated parents. Overall, the results suggest that immigrant parents' child feeding practices and body size evaluations are shaped by material hardship in childhood, but these influences may fade as acculturation occurs.
本研究考察了中国和韩国移民父母在童年时期的物质和食物匮乏经历与其对孩子饮食或体重的关注、对体重较重的孩子的偏好、促进体重增加的饮食以及孩子体重之间的关联，同时还探讨了父母对美国文化的文化适应的调节作用。2010 年，在美国，3-8 岁儿童的中国和韩国移民父母（N=130）完成了访谈，询问了他们对早期生活物质匮乏和食物不安全的感知、文化适应、喂养实践以及对孩子体重是否超过理想体重的评价，以及孩子对苏打水和糖果的消费情况。还独立测量了孩子和父母的 BMI。回归分析显示，在文化适应程度最低的父母中，父母在童年时期的食物不安全感与他们认为孩子应该比现在更重的评价以及孩子喝苏打水和吃糖果更多有关。父母的物质匮乏与更放任的育儿方式有关：对孩子的体重或饮食的监控较少、对孩子的体重或饮食的关注较少、对孩子饮食的责任感较低，但仅在文化适应程度较低的父母中如此。总体而言，结果表明，移民父母的育儿实践和对孩子体型的评价受到童年时期物质困难的影响，但这些影响可能会随着文化适应而逐渐减弱。
