1 School of Health Sciences, Sansom Institute for Health Research, City East Campus, University of South Australia, Frome Road, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.
Public Health Nutr. 2013 Nov;16(11):1979-87. doi: 10.1017/S1368980012004648. Epub 2012 Oct 22.
During the early years, parents have a major influence on children’s diets and developing food choices. We investigated parenting styles as predictors of 2–5-year-old children’s diets and whether general nutrition knowledge (GNK) mediated these influences.
Cross-sectional research. Questionnaires measured demographic and lifestyle variables, family environment, parenting styles and feeding practices, child diet and GNK. Regression models tested GNK as a mediator of relationships between parenting variables and child diet (fruit/vegetable and non-core food consumption), controlling for confounders and family environment.
Questionnaires were completed by main caregivers at home.
Parents of children aged 2–5 years (n 269).
Higher child fruit/vegetable consumption was associated with lower overreactive parenting and restriction, higher authoritative parenting and dining together as a family; with lax parenting approaching statistical significance (P50?083) and 19% of variance explained by the model. GNK was not a significant predictor. Conversely, non-core food consumption was associated with higher over-reactive and lax parenting as well as child age, increased takeaway food consumption and higher television viewing; GNK had a small effect (P = 0.043) and 28% of variance was explained by the model. GNK was a significant mediator only for authoritative parenting on non-core food (effect = -0.005).
These findings highlight that young children’s diets may be improved by interventions targeting a range of positive and supportive parenting practices in conjunction with nutrition knowledge education for parents of young children. Further insights will come from closer attention to the nature and role of restrictive feeding practices v. laxness and longitudinal research.
在儿童成长的早期，父母对其饮食和食物选择有着重要影响。本研究旨在探讨父母教养方式对 2-5 岁儿童饮食的影响，并分析一般营养知识（GNK）在其中的中介作用。
横断面研究。通过问卷调查收集儿童人口统计学及生活方式变量、家庭环境、父母教养方式、喂养实践、儿童饮食及 GNK 等信息。回归模型检验了 GNK 作为父母教养方式与儿童饮食（水果/蔬菜和非核心食物摄入）之间关系的中介变量的作用，同时控制了混杂因素和家庭环境的影响。
在家中由主要照顾者填写问卷。
2-5 岁儿童的家长（n=269）。
儿童水果/蔬菜摄入量较高与较低的过度反应型教养、限制型教养，较高的权威型教养和家庭共同进餐有关；而宽松型教养与水果/蔬菜摄入量呈正相关（P50?083），模型解释了 19%的方差。GNK 不是显著的预测因子。相反，非核心食物摄入量与较高的过度反应型和宽松型教养以及儿童年龄、外卖食品消费增加和较高的电视观看时间有关；GNK 有较小的影响（P=0.043），模型解释了 28%的方差。只有权威型教养对非核心食物的影响中，GNK 是一个显著的中介变量（效应=-0.005）。
这些发现强调，通过针对一系列积极和支持性的父母教养实践，并结合对幼儿家长的营养知识教育，可以改善幼儿的饮食。进一步的研究需要更密切关注约束性喂养实践与宽松性之间的性质和作用，以及纵向研究。
