Table 3.
Unadjusted associations between eating alone and parenting practices regarding fruits and vegetables (FV) among US adolescents (aged 12–17 years) who completed Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating (FLASHE) Study surveys, April–October 2014
| Eating alone group† | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All (n 1652) | Often eat alone (n 343) | Does not often eat alone (n 1309) | |||||
| Agreement with statements* | n ‡ | %‡ | n ‡ | %‡ | n ‡ | %‡ | P value§ |
| My parent(s) buy FV for me (n 1648) | |||||||
| Disagree/neither agree nor disagree | 165 | 10·0 | 56 | 16·4 | 109 | 8·3 | |
| Agree | 1483 | 90·0 | 285 | 83·6 | 1198 | 91·7 | <0·0001 |
| My parent(s) try to eat FV when I’m around (n 1645) | |||||||
| Disagree/neither agree nor disagree | 400 | 24·3 | 107 | 31·4 | 293 | 22·5 | |
| Agree | 1245 | 75·7 | 234 | 68·6 | 1011 | 77·5 | 0·0006 |
| My parent(s) encourage me to try different kinds of FV (n 1638) | |||||||
| Disagree/neither agree nor disagree | 224 | 13·7 | 72 | 21·3 | 152 | 11·7 | |
| Agree | 1414 | 86·3 | 266 | 78·7 | 1148 | 88·3 | <0·0001 |
| My parent(s) and I decide together how many FV I have to eat (n 1640) | |||||||
| Disagree/neither agree nor disagree | 960 | 58·5 | 225 | 66·4 | 735 | 56·5 | |
| Agree | 680 | 41·5 | 114 | 33·6 | 566 | 43·5 | 0·001 |
| My parent(s) have to make sure that I eat enough FV (n 1640) | |||||||
| Disagree/neither agree nor disagree | 731 | 44·6 | 180 | 52·9 | 551 | 42·4 | |
| Agree | 909 | 55·4 | 160 | 47·1 | 749 | 57·6 | 0·0005 |
| My parent(s) make me eat FV (n 1640) | |||||||
| Disagree/neither agree nor disagree | 761 | 46·4 | 190 | 55·9 | 571 | 43·9 | |
| Agree | 879 | 53·6 | 150 | 44·1 | 729 | 56·1 | <0·0001 |
| It’s OK for my parent(s) to make rules about how many FV I can have (n 1644) | |||||||
| Disagree/neither agree nor disagree | 739 | 45·0 | 177 | 51·9 | 562 | 43·1 | |
| Agree | 905 | 55·0 | 164 | 48·1 | 741 | 56·9 | 0·004 |
Adolescents responded to the following question for each statement: ‘How much do you disagree or agree with statements regarding what your parent(s) say and do when it comes to eating fruits and vegetables?’ Disagree/neither agree nor disagree=‘strongly disagree’, ‘somewhat disagree’ and ‘neither agree nor disagree’; agree=‘somewhat agree’ and ‘strongly agree’.
Responses to the statement ‘In my family, I often eat alone’ were used to identify eating alone groups: ‘does not often eat alone’ group=‘strongly disagree’, ‘somewhat disagree’ and ‘neither disagree nor agree’ responses; ‘often eat alone’ group=‘strongly agree’ and ‘somewhat agree’ responses.
n and % of total with non-missing data.
P value for χ 2 test; P<0·007 is significant after adjusting for multiple comparisons (Bonferroni correction).