Schuler Brittany R, Bauer Katherine W, Lumeng Julie C, Rosenblum Katherine, Clark Michael, Miller Alison L
Temple University, School of Social Work, College of Public Health, 1301 Cecil B. Moore Ave, Ritter Annex 549, Philadelphia, PA 19122, United States.
Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI.
J Child Fam Stud. 2020 Nov;29(11):3169-3183. doi: 10.1007/s10826-020-01806-1. Epub 2020 Aug 31.
Structured, well-organized mealtime routines can provide many physical and mental health benefits for children. Poverty and food insecurity (FI) are socioeconomic risk factors for less effective mealtime routines. However, the specific mechanisms by which these social factors may negatively impact mealtime structure are not well-understood. We test whether poverty and FI are associated with parenting factors (mental health and parent disciplinary practices), and whether these parenting factors in turn associate with less mealtime structure.
Low-income families (N = 270), recruited when children were approximately 6-years-old (wave 1), were followed for 2 years (wave 2). Socioeconomic and parenting factors were assessed at W1 via parent-report. Associations of poverty and FI with two measures of mealtime structure (parent-reported and observed mealtime structure at wave 1 and wave 2), mediated by parent factors (depressive symptoms, lax and overreactive parent disciplinary practices) were assessed in separate path analyses.
The association between higher depth of poverty and less mealtime structure in early childhood was mediated by greater parent depressive symptoms. FI was associated with less mealtime structure in early childhood, mediated by overreactive parenting, and with less mealtime structure in early and mid-childhood, mediated by lax parenting.
Poverty and food insecurity may contribute to suboptimal parent disciplinary practices and poor parent mental health, which may reduce mealtime structure for children. Addressing parent mental health and parent disciplinary practices in the context of socioeconomic adversity may be one way in which interventions can improve mealtime structure for low-income families.
结构化、有序的用餐常规能给儿童带来诸多身心健康益处。贫困和粮食不安全是导致用餐常规效果不佳的社会经济风险因素。然而，这些社会因素可能对用餐结构产生负面影响的具体机制尚不清楚。我们检验贫困和粮食不安全是否与育儿因素（心理健康和父母管教方式）相关，以及这些育儿因素是否反过来与较差的用餐结构相关。
招募低收入家庭（N = 270），孩子约6岁时（第1波）入组，随访2年（第2波）。在第1波通过家长报告评估社会经济和育儿因素。在单独的路径分析中评估贫困和粮食不安全与两种用餐结构指标（第1波和第2波家长报告的以及观察到的用餐结构）之间的关联，这些关联由家长因素（抑郁症状、宽松和过度反应的父母管教方式）介导。
贫困程度加深与幼儿期较差的用餐结构之间的关联由家长更严重的抑郁症状介导。粮食不安全与幼儿期较差的用餐结构相关，由过度反应的育儿方式介导，并且与儿童早期和中期较差的用餐结构相关，由宽松的育儿方式介导。
贫困和粮食不安全可能导致父母管教方式欠佳以及父母心理健康状况不佳，这可能会降低儿童的用餐结构。在社会经济逆境背景下解决父母心理健康和父母管教方式问题，可能是干预措施改善低收入家庭用餐结构的一种方式。
