Table 1.
Description of Study Variables
| Study Variables | Definition | M (SD) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indicators | |||
| Food restriction1 | Extent to which parents restrict child’s access to foods | 19.11 (6.56) Range: 6–30 |
Constructed from 6 items : 1) “I have to watch out that my child does not eat too many sweets (candy, ice cream, cake, or pastries),” 2) “I have to watch out that my child does not eat too many high-fat foods,” 3) “I have to watch out that my child does not eat too much of his/her favorite foods,” 4) “I intentionally keep some foods out of my child’s reach,” 5) “if I do not guide or regulate my child’s eating, he/she would eat too much of his/her favorite foods,” and 6) “if I do not guide or regulate my child’s eating, he/she would eat too many junk foods.” Higher scores indicating higher restriction. |
| Pressure to eat1 | Parents’ tendency to pressure their children to eat more food | 11.45 (3.91) Range: 4–20 |
Constructed from 4 items: 1) “my child should always eat all of the food on his/her plate,” 2) “I have to be especially careful to make sure my child eats enough,” 3) “if my child says ‘I’m not hungry,’ I try to get him/her to eat anyway,” and 4) if I do not guide or regulate my child’s eating, he/she would eat much less than he/she should.” Higher scores indicating higher pressure to eat. |
| Covert feeding practices2 | Controlling food intake in a way that is undetected by the child | 20.58 (6.05) Range: 7–34 |
Constructed from 7 items: 1) “How often do you avoid going to restaurants or fast food places which sell unhealthy foods with your child?”, 2) “How often do you avoid buying candy and chips to avoid bringing them into the house?”, 3) “How often do you not buy foods that you would like because you do not want your child to have them?”, 4) How often do you try not to eat unhealthy foods when your child is around?”, 5) “How often do you avoid buying cookies, candy, and other treats to avoid bringing them into the house?”, 6) “How often do you avoid having snack foods such as candy and chips in the house?”, and 7) “How often do you avoid having unhealthy foods in the house?”. Higher score indicating higher covert feeding practices. |
| Parent food modeling2 | Parent modeling of healthy food behaviors | 12.33 (2.54) Range: 5–15 |
Constructed from 3 items: 1) “I model healthy eating for my child by eating healthy foods myself,” 2) “I try to eat healthy foods in front of my child, even if they are not my favorite,” and 3) “I show my child how much I enjoy eating healthy foods.” Higher score indicates higher food modeling. |
| Authoritative parenting style3 | Style of parenting that involves warmth & involvement, reasoning/induction, democratic participation, and good- nature/easy-going (high responsiveness, high demandingness) | 15.37(2.78) Range: 8–20 |
Constructed from 4 items: 1) “I know the names of my child’s friends,” 2) “I explain the consequences of my child’s behavior,” 3) “I show patience with my child,” and 4) “I take into account my child’s preferences in making plans for the family.” Higher scores indicating a more authoritative parenting style. |
| Authoritarian parenting style3 | Style of parenting that involves verbal hostility, corporal punishment, nonreasoning/punitive strategies, and directiveness (low responsiveness, high demandingness) | 9.19(2.61) Range: 5–16 |
Constructed from 4 items: 1) “I yell or shout when my child misbehaves,” 2) “I use physical punishment as a way of disciplining my child,” 3) “I punish by taking privileges away from my child with little, if any explanation,” and 4) “I tell my child what to do.” Higher scores indicating a more authoritarian parenting style. |
| Permissive parenting style3 | Style of parenting that involves lack of follow through, ignoring of misbehaviors, and self- confidence (high responsiveness, low demandingness) | 5.76 (2.11) Range: 3–13 |
Constructed from 3 items: 1) “I threaten my child with punishment more often than I actually punish him/her,” 2) “I ignore my child’s misbehavior,” and 3) “I find it difficult to discipline my child.” Higher scores indicating a more permissive parenting style. |
| Child Outcomes | |||
| Food fussiness4 | Being highly selective about the range of foods that are accepted | 16.49 (4.17) Range: 8–30 |
Constructed from 6 items: 1) “my child refuses new foods at first,” 2) “my child enjoys tasting new foods,” 3) “my child enjoys a wide variety of foods,” 4) “my child is difficult to please with meals,” 5) “my child is interested in tasting food he/she hasn’t tasted before,” and 6) my child decides that he/she doesn’t like food even without tasting it.” Three items were reverse coded, and then a score was calculated by summing responses. Higher scores indicate higher food fussiness. |
| Satiety responsiveness4 | Ability to regulate intake of food in relation to satiety | 13.87 (2.91) Range: 6–23 |
Constructed from 5 items:: 1) “my child has a big appetite,” 2) “my child leaves food on his/her plate at the end of a meal,” 3) “my child gets full before his/her meal is finished,” 4) my child cannot eat a meal if he/she has had a snack just before,” and 5) “my child gets full easily.” One item was reverse coded, and then a score was calculated by summing responses. Higher scores indicate higher satiety responsiveness |
| Food responsiveness4 | Susceptibility to the hedonistic qualities of food and lack of internal cues for hunger | 12.49 (3.96) Range: 5–24 |
Constructed from 5 items: 1) “my child is always asking for food,” 2) “given the choice, my child would eat most of the time,” 3) “even if my child is full he/she finds room to eat his/her favorite food,” 4) if given the chance my child would always have food in his/her mouth,” and 5) “if allowed to, my child would eat too much.” A score was calculated by summing responses. Higher score indicates higher food responsiveness. |
| Child’s dietary quality5 | Healthfulness of child dietary intake summary | 57.11 (9.37) Range: 31.18–76.74 |
Constructed from 12 components. Nine components assess adequacy of the diet: (1) total fruit (0–5 points); (2) whole fruit (0–5 points); (3) total vegetables (0–5 points); (4) greens and beans (0–5 points); (5) whole grains (0–10 points); (6) dairy (0–10 points); (7) total protein foods (0–5 points); (8) seafood and plant proteins (0–5 points); and (9) fatty acids (0–10 points). Higher scores reflect higher intake which are desirable. Three components assess food groups and dietary elements that should be consumed in moderation: (10) refined grains (0–10 points); (11) sodium (0–10 points); and (12) empty calories (i.e., energy from solid fats, alcohol, and added sugars; (0–20 points). Higher scores reflect lower intake which are desirable. |
| Child’s weight status | Sex- and age-specific cutoffs were used to classify children as overweight/obese (body mass index [BMI] > 85%ile) or nonoverweight (> 5%ile < 85%ile) (Himes & Dietz, 1994; Kuczmarski et al., 2000). | 75.78 (23.14) Range: 5–99 |
Constructed from child heights and weights which were converted to child body mass index percentile, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) criteria (Kuczmarski et al., 2000). |
| Validation Variables | |||
| Demographic characteristics6 | All demographic variables were based on responses to demographics survey including primary caregiver’s BMI, education, household income, and child’s age, sex and race | Primary caregiver’s BMI was calculated using parent’s reported height and weight, and weight status was classified based on the CDC descriptions (CDC, 2015). | |
| Negative affect (child temperament)7 | Amount of negative affect related to interruption of ongoing tasks or goal blocking | 19.36 (6.82) Range: 1–35 |
Constructed from 5 items: 1) “my child gets quite frustrated when prevented from doing something she/he wants to do”; 2) “my child is quite upset by a little cut or bruise”; 3) “my child tends to become sad if the family’s plans don’t work out”; 4) “when angry about something, my child tends to stay upset for ten minutes or longer”; 5) “my child is NOT afraid of the dark”. One item was reverse coded, and then a score was calculated by summing responses. Higher scores indicate higher negative affect. |
| Impulsivity (child temperament)7 | Speed of response initiation | 16.61 (4.70) Range: 4–27 |
Constructed from 4 items: 1) “my child often rushes into new situations”; 2) “my child seems to be at ease with almost any person”; 3) “my child seems always in a big hurry to get from one place to another”; 4) “my child likes going down high slides or other adventurous activities”. A score was calculated by summing responses. Higher scores indicate higher impulsivity. |
| Inhibitory control (child temperament)7 | Capacity to plan and to suppress inappropriate approach responses under instructions or in novel or uncertain situations | 22.00 (4.39) Range: 4–28 |
Constructed from 4 items: 1) “my child is good at following instructions”; 2) “my child when drawing or coloring in a book, shows strong concentration”; 3) “my child likes the sound of words, such as nursery rhymes”; 4) “my child comments when a parent has changed his/her appearance”. A score was calculated by summing responses. Higher scores indicate higher effortful control. |
| Food insecurity scale8 | Financially-based food insecurity and hunger | 0.85 (1.76) Range: 0–6 |
Constructed from 1) “In the last 12 months, did you (or other adults in your household) ever cut the size of your meals or skip meals because there wasn’t enough money for food?”; 2) “How often did this happen?” (recoded: 1 or 2 = 1, and 3=0); 3) “In the last 12 months, did you ever eat less than you felt you should because there wasn’t enough money to buy food?”; 4) “In the last 12 months, were you ever hungry but didn’t eat because you couldn’t afford enough food?”; 5) “In the last 12 months, the food that we bought just didn’t last, and we didn’t have money to get more”; 6) “In the last 12 months, we couldn’t afford to eat balanced meals”. All 6 are summed to create scale and then the scale is used to create categories (0–1 = high or marginal food security, 2–4: low food security, 5–6: very low food security). |
| Kitchen appliance adequacy9 | Availability of food preparation supplies used for various aspects of food preparation | 17.32 (2.56) Range: 3–19 |
Constructed from yes/no responses to “Do you currently have a (appliance) in working condition in your home? Appliances include: stove, refrigerator, microwave, freezer, large spoon, spatula, can opener, knife, colander, measuring cup, cutting board, measuring spoons, peeler, grater, oven mitt, skillet, saucepan, baking pan, and bowl. All 19 are summed to create scale. Higher scores indicate higher kitchen appliance adequacy. |
| Household chaos10 | Degree of environmental confusion (i.e., disorganization and hurriedness) | 7.60 (2.66) Range: 4–16 |
Constructed from 1) “We almost always seem to be rushed”, 2) “It’s a real zoo in our home”; 3) “No matter what our family plans, it usually doesn’t seem to work out”; 4) “You can’t hear yourself think in our home”. A score was calculated by summing responses. Higher scores indicate higher household chaos. |
| Parenting energy11 | Time scarcity and fatigue as a barrier to planning/preparing meals | 1.36 (0.70) Range: 1–4 |
Constructed from response to the following: “I do not have enough time or energy to feed my child ‘right’” |
| Teaching about nutrition12 | Extent to which parents try to teach children about nutrition | 11.90 (2.20) Range: 7–15 |
Constructed from 1) “I discuss with my child why it’s important to eat healthy foods”; 2) “I discuss with my child the nutritional value of foods”; 3) “I tell my child what to eat and what not to eat without explanation” (reverse coded). All 3 are summed to create scale. A higher score indicates higher parent teaching about nutrition. |
Note:
1
Child Feeding Questionnaire (Birch et al., 2001);
2
adapted from previous studies (Berge, Trofholz, et al., 2017; Ogden et al., 2006);
3
Parenting Practices Questionnaire (Robinson et al., 1995);
4
Child’s Eating Behavior Questionnaire (Wardle, Guthrie, Sanderson, & Rapoport, 2001);
5
Healthy Eating Index-2010 scores (Guenther et al., 2014);
6
Demographics Survey;
7
Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (Rothbart, Ahadi, Hershey, & Fisher, 2001);
8
Short Form of the Household Food Security Scale (Blumberg, Bialostosky, Hamilton, & Briefel, 1999);
9
Food Preparation Checklist (Appelhans, Waring, Schneider, & Pagoto, 2014);
10
adapted from Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale (CHAOS)(Matheny, Wachs, Ludwig, & Phillips, 1995);
11
adapted from previous studies (Storfer-Isser & Musher-Eizenman, 2013);
12
adapted from Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire (Musher-Eizenman & Holub, 2007).