Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Mar 30;13(4):1138.
doi: 10.3390/nu13041138.

The Influence of Parental Dietary Behaviors and Practices on Children's Eating Habits

Lubna Mahmood  1 , Paloma Flores-Barrantes  1 , Luis A Moreno  1   2   3   4 , Yannis Manios  5   6 , Esther M Gonzalez-Gil  1   4   7
Affiliations
Review

The Influence of Parental Dietary Behaviors and Practices on Children's Eating Habits

Lubna Mahmood et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Poor dietary habits established during childhood might persist into adulthood, increasing the risk of developing obesity and obesity-related complications such as Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. It has been found that early modifications in eating habits, especially during childhood, might promote health and decrease the risk of developing diseases during later life. Various studies found a great influence of parental dietary habits on dietary behaviors of their children regardless of demographic characteristics such as gender, age, socioeconomic status and country; however, the exact mechanism is still not clear. Therefore, in this review, we aimed to investigate both parents' and children's dietary behaviors, and to provide evidence for the potential influence of parents' dietary behaviors and practices on certain children's eating habits. Family meals were found to contribute the most in modeling children's dietary habits as they represent an important moment of control and interaction between parents and their children. The parental practices that influenced their children most were role modeling and moderate restriction, suggesting that the increase of parental encouragement and decrease of excessive pressure could have a positive impact in their children's dietary behaviors. This narrative review highlights that parental child-feeding behaviors should receive more attention in research studies as modifiable risk factors, which could help to design future dietary interventions and policies to prevent dietary-related diseases.

Keywords: breakfast; children; dietary intake; family meals; feeding practices; parents; snacking habits.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Summary of home/family-related determinants of children’s eating habits.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Albuquerque D., Nóbrega C., Manco L., Padez C. The contribution of genetics and environment to obesity. Br. Med. Bull. 2017;123:159–173. doi: 10.1093/bmb/ldx022. - DOI - PubMed
    1. ESPGHAN Committee on Nutrition. Agostoni C., Braegger C., Decsi T., Kolacek S., Koletzko B., Michaelsen K.F., Mihatsch W., Moreno L.A., Puntis J., et al. Breast-feeding: A commentary by the ESPGHAN Committee on Nutrition. J. Pediatr. Gastroenterol. Nutr. 2009;49:112–125. doi: 10.1097/MPG.0b013e31819f1e05. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Moreno L.A., Rodríguez G. Dietary risk factors for development of childhood obesity. Curr. Opin. Clin. Nutr. Metab. Care. 2007;10:336–341. doi: 10.1097/MCO.0b013e3280a94f59. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Scaglioni S., De Cosmi V., Ciappolino V., Parazzini F., Brambilla P., Agostoni C. Factors Influencing Children’s Eating Behaviours’. Nutrients. 2018;10:706. doi: 10.3390/nu10060706. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Utter J., Scragg R., Mhurchu C.N., Schaaf D. At-home breakfast consumption among New Zealand children: Associations with body mass index and related nutrition behaviors. J. Am. Diet Assoc. 2007;107:570–576. doi: 10.1016/j.jada.2007.01.010. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources