The association between family meals and early-adolescents' weight status change in the context of parental discipline practices: the moderating roles of ethnicity and acculturation.

This study examines the interactions among family meals, parental discipline practices, ethnicity, and acculturation on weight status change in a diverse sample of early-adolescents. Data were obtained from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), a nationally representative sample of children who entered kindergarten during 1998-1999. In fifth grade, parents reported on child and household routines. In fifth and eighth grade, children were weighed and measured at school. Above and beyond covariates, less acculturated Hispanic adolescents who ate more family meals and experienced low parental behavioral control in fifth grade were less likely to make a healthy change (γ = -0.15, OR = 0.86, p < 0.05) and more likely to make an unhealthy change (γ = 0.32, OR = 1.38, p < 0.05) in their weight status by eighth grade, when compared to White Non-Hispanic adolescents. The implications of interactions among family meals, parental discipline practices, and healthy weight promotion are discussed in the context of ethnicity and acculturation.