Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School, 717 Delaware St SE, Suite 425, Minneapolis, MN, 55414, USA.
University of Minnesota, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, USA.
Appetite. 2022 Apr 1;171:105870. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2021.105870. Epub 2021 Dec 30.
Childhood obesity prevalence is high among children from immigrant/refugee households who live in high-income countries. Poor child dietary intake is a critical risk factor for elevated obesity prevalence and food parenting practices have been found to be associated with child dietary intake and eating behaviors. The main aim of this study was to examine the associations between migrants'/refugees' food parenting practices, the length of residence time in the US, race/ethnicity, and child diet quality. The current study included 577 families from three racial/ethnic groups that include mostly foreign-born parents (Latino, Hmong, and Somali/Ethiopian), and a comparison group of 239 non-Hispanic White families. Results showed that for Latino and Hmong parents, some food parenting practices varied by how long they had lived in the US. For example, more recently moved parents engaged in more non-directive (e.g., avoid buying sweets) practices compared with US-born parents. In contrast, Somali/Ethiopian parents engaged in different food parenting practices than White parents, regardless of time in the US. Results also showed that diet quality among Hmong children was lower if their parents were US-born compared to foreign-born. Future researchers may want to consider studying why some food parenting practices change when parents move to the US and explore whether there is a combination of food parenting practices that are most useful in promoting a healthful child's diet and weight among immigrant and refugee families.
儿童肥胖症在高收入国家中，来自移民/难民家庭的儿童中较为普遍。儿童饮食摄入不良是肥胖症高发的关键风险因素，而饮食养育实践已被发现与儿童饮食摄入和饮食习惯有关。本研究的主要目的是检验移民/难民的饮食养育实践、在美国的居住时间长短、种族/民族与儿童饮食质量之间的关联。本研究纳入了三个种族/民族群体的 577 个家庭，这些家庭的父母主要是外国出生（拉丁裔、苗族和索马里/埃塞俄比亚裔），并与 239 个非西班牙裔白人家庭进行了比较。结果表明，对于拉丁裔和苗族父母来说，他们在美国居住的时间长短影响了一些饮食养育实践。例如，与美国本土出生的父母相比，新近移民的父母更倾向于采取非指令性的做法（例如，避免购买甜食）。相比之下，索马里/埃塞俄比亚裔父母采取了与白人父母不同的饮食养育实践，而不论他们在美国的居住时间长短如何。研究结果还表明，如果父母是美国本土出生的，苗族儿童的饮食质量会较低。未来的研究人员可能需要考虑研究为什么父母移民到美国后会改变一些饮食养育实践，并探讨是否存在最有利于促进移民和难民家庭中儿童健康饮食和体重的饮食养育实践组合。
