The relationship of parents' perceptions of their health and communication with their young children about food

Alexandra Malia Timpson Jackson

The promotion and adoption of healthy behaviors in children are critical. Parents play an important role in the development of these behaviors, wanting their children to adopt healthy behaviors, yet struggling to do so. The impact of communication about food and nutrition on the development of healthy behaviors in young children is relatively unknown. Additionally, as communication is bidirectional, it is important to understand how factors within the parent, including their perceived health and body image dissatisfaction, may influence communication about food and nutrition within the parent-child dyad. This study explored how the parents' perceived health, including their own body dissatisfaction, may relate to communication about food and nutrition with their young children. The theory of planned behavior and family communication patterns theory informed this exploratory study as theoretical frameworks used in the development of the qualitative interview and as a potential description of communication styles within the parent-child dyad. Due to the limited data about communication about food and nutrition within the parent-child dyad, a mixed-method approach using grounded theory was utilized to collect and analyze data. The data obtained in this study led to the development of a substantive model of communication about food and nutrition within the parent-child dyad including the perceived health of the parent and their body image dissatisfaction. Three main themes of communication were identified including purpose, content, and utilizing connections. The perceived health of the parent and their body image dissatisfaction were related to motivations and the purpose of communication within the dyad. Perceived health was related to the motivation of the parent, high perceived health parents described avoiding concern, while parents with low perceived health focused on promoting health. Parent body dissatisfaction was related to the purpose of communication within the parent-child dyad, as parents with high body dissatisfaction focused on consumption and low body dissatisfaction described communication about balance. The findings of this study provide a deeper understanding of how factors within the parent impact communication with their children about food and nutrition and the need to incorporate parent factors in strategies for intervention.

The relationship of parents' perceptions of their health and communication with their young children about food

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