Table 1.
Sample characteristics and key study variables stratified by parent sex.
| Mothers (n=206) | Fathers (n=112) | |||||
| Mean or N | SD or % | Mean or N | SD or % | p-value | ||
| Demographics | ||||||
| Parent age | 37.32 | 7.04 | 38.39 | 5.62 | 0.166 | |
| Child age | 6.80 | 3.23 | 6.41 | 2.94 | 0.290 | |
| Child sex | Female Male Prefer not to say |
100 105 1 |
48.5 51.0 0.5 |
53 58 1 |
47.3 51.8 0.9 |
0.894 |
| Total children in household (current) | 2.21 | 1.19 | 1.99 | 0.87 | 0.088 | |
| Relationship status | Single Partnered/married Divorced/separated |
15 178 13 |
7.3 86.4 6.3 |
4 102 6 |
3.6 91.1 5.4 |
0.375 |
| Race | Black/African American Indian American/Native Alaskan Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander Asian Hispanic/Latin White Other More than one race |
15 2 0 17 6 156 1 9 |
7.3 1.0 0 8.3 2.9 75.7 0.5 4.4 |
3 3 0 6 4 90 2 4 |
2.7 2.7 0 5.4 3.6 80.4 1.8 3.6 |
0.358 |
| Employment | Student Self-employment Part-time Full-time Homemaker/full-time parent Unemployed Retired |
3 12 33 98 50 10 0 |
1.5 5.8 16.0 47.6 24.3 4.9 0 |
1 1 2 106 0 1 1 |
0.9 0.9 1.8 94.6 0 0.9 0.9 |
<0.001 |
| Essential worker | Yes No |
52 154 |
25.2 74.8 |
48 64 |
42.9 57.1 |
0.001 |
| Socioeconomic status | ||||||
| Education | No or partial college 4-year college Graduate degree |
90 80 36 |
43.7 38.8 17.5 |
27 45 40 |
24.1 40.2 35.7 |
<0.001 |
| 2019 household income | <$50,000 $50,000+ |
60 141 |
29.9 70.1 |
14 98 |
12.5 87.5 |
0.001 |
| Food insecurity (current) | Insecure Secure | 55 148 |
27.1 72.9 |
21 90 |
18.9 81.1 |
0.106 |
| Receipt of public assistance (current) | Yes No |
53 153 |
25.7 74.3 |
9 101 |
8.2 91.8 |
<0.001 |
| Socioeconomic disadvantage index | 1.25 | 1.23 | 0.63 | 0.75 | <0.001 | |
| Anthropometrics | ||||||
| Parent BMI | 27.93 | 6.62 | 28.08 | 5.12 | 0.843 | |
| Child BMIz (CDC) | 0.57 | 1.78 | 0.53 | 1.59 | 0.837 | |
| Child BMI percentile (CDC) | 63.29 | 35.36 | 61.08 | 34.40 | 0.604 | |
| Stress & mental health* | Possible range | |||||
| Stress rating (pre-COVID) | 0-10 | 4.10 | 2.23 | 3.61 | 2.27 | 0.064 |
| Stress rating (current) | 0-10 | 5.22 | 2.65 | 4.52 | 2.71 | 0.025 |
| COVID-19 related stress | 1-5 | 2.82 | 0.85 | 2.47 | 0.94 | 0.001 |
| Parenting stress | 1-5 | 2.57 | 0.64 | 2.37 | 0.70 | 0.011 |
| Poor mental health | 4-16 | 8.31 | 3.48 | 6.91 | 3.00 | <0.001 |
| Food parenting & co-feeding | Possible range | |||||
| Snack planning and routines | 1-5 | 2.15 | 0.88 | 2.27 | 0.81 | 0.255 |
| Snack rules and limits | 1-5 | 2.72 | 0.91 | 2.80 | 0.73 | 0.418 |
| Structured meal setting | 1-5 | 3.79 | 0.95 | 3.85 | 0.86 | 0.620 |
| Structured meal timing | 1-5 | 3.34 | 0.84 | 3.45 | 0.78 | 0.275 |
| Family meal setting | 1-5 | 3.85 | 0.97 | 3.71 | 1.03 | 0.217 |
| Shared positive views and values in child feeding | 1-5 | 3.76 | 0.84 | 4.05 | 0.65 | 0.002 |
| Active engagement in child feeding | 1-5 | 3.34 | 0.96 | 3.81 | 0.80 | <0.001 |
| Child eating behaviors | Possible range | |||||
| Food responsiveness | 1-5 | 2.72 | 0.88 | 2.58 | 0.86 | 0.190 |
| Emotional overeating | 1-5 | 2.10 | 0.84 | 2.21 | 0.91 | 0.306 |
* Correlations between the socioeconomic disadvantage index and the stress and poor mental health (anxiety, depression, loneliness, hopelessness) variables are presented in Supplemental Table 2.