Parenting and Obesity

1. Parenting and Obesity Julie C. Lumeng, MD University of Michigan Center for Human Growth and Development Department of Pediatrics

2. No Data<10%10%–14% Obesity Trends* Among U.S. AdultsBRFSS, 1985 (*BMI ≥30, or ~ 30 lbs overweight for 5’ 4” woman)

3. No Data<10%10%–14% 1990

4. 1995 No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19%

5. 1997 No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24%

6. 1999 No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24%

7. 2002 No Data <10% 10%–14% 15%–19% 20%–24% ≥25%

8. 2005 No Data <10% 10–14% 15–19% 20–24% 25–29% ≥30%

9. Increase in Child Overweight

10. Increase in Rates of Overweight in Children by Race Over 10 Years Strauss RS, Pollock HA, Epidemic increase in childhood overweight, 1986 – 1998. JAMA 286(22). 2845-2848, 2001.

11. Increase in Child Overweight by Race and Socioeconomic Status Strauss RS, Pollock HA, Epidemic increase in childhood overweight, 1986 – 1998. JAMA 286(22). 2845-2848, 2001.

12. US Obesity Prevalence by Race and Age, 2003-2006 Ogden et al, High Body Mass Index for Age Among US Children and Adolescents, 2003-2006 . JAMA. 2008;299(20):2401-2405.

13. Overweight Prevalence in Preschoolers and Poverty M Feese et al. Prevalence of Obesity in Children in Alabama and Texas Participating in Social Programs. JAMA 289. 1780 – 1781; 2003.

14. Etiology of Overweight Calories taken in exceed calories expended

15. Institute of Medicine, Committee on Childhood Obesity: Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance • A National Priority • Industry, advertising, media • Local Communities • Schools • Home

16. “Expert Committee Recommendations for Parents” • Limit consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages • Encourage diets with recommended quantities of fruits and vegetables • Limit television and other screen time by allowing no more than 2 hours per day • Remove television and computer screens from children's primary sleeping areas MM Davis, Pediatrics 2007

17. “Expert Committee” Recommendations for Parents • Eat breakfast daily • Limiting eating at restaurants • Havefamily meals • Limit portion sizes • Have an authoritative parenting style • Avoid a restrictive parenting style • Model healthy behaviors MM Davis, Pediatrics 2007

18. Watching Television JC Lumeng, et al. Television Exposure and Overweight Risk in Preschoolers Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2006;160:417-422.

19. Which Children Watch More TV? • Low maternal education • Minority race/ethnicity • More televisions in the home • More eating meals while watching television • TV in the bedroom • Maternal depression • Maternal obesity • Child behavior problems • Low quality home environment Saelens 2002. J Dev & Behav Pediatrics; Burdette 2003. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med; Certain 2002. Pediatrics; Dennison 2002. Pediatrics; Lumeng 2006. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med.

20. Safety of the Neighborhood Relationship not altered by child’s sex, race, maternal marital status, maternal education, maternal depression, the child’s participation in structured after-school activities, parental perception of neighborhood social cohesiveness, quality of the home environment JC Lumeng et al., Neighborhood Safety and Overweight Status in Children. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2006;160:25-31.

21. Who Feels Unsafe in Their Neighborhood? • Parents of African American children (as opposed to parents of white children), regardless of socioeconomic status • Mothers who are depressed, have low education, and are single

22. Feeding and Parenting

23. Parenting Behavior Impacts How Much Children Eat from Infancy • 8- to 14-week-old infants who are provided social interaction while feeding eat 40% more than those who are not provided social interaction • Infants who are held while fed closely relate the time elapsed since the last feeding to the amount they eat; when infants are not held, this relationship dissipates Lumeng, Patil, & Blass, Developmental Psychobiology, 2007.

24. Behavior Problems Predicting Childhood Obesity • National Longitudinal Survey of Youth • N = 629 non-obese children, ages 8 – 11 years • 53% male • 53% white • 9% with behavior problems • Tested relationship between baseline “significant behavior problems” and becoming obese 2 years later

25. Tested potential confounders: • child’s sex • Race • mother’s marital status • mother’s education • family poverty status • mother’s obesity • mother’s depressive symptoms • Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment-Short Form (HOME-SF) cognitive stimulation score • mother’s smoking status • use of behavior-modifying medication • hours of television per day • history of academic grade retention

26. Odds ratios for childhood obesity 2 years later JC Lumeng et al. Association Between Clinically Meaningful Behavior Problems and Overweight in Children. Pediatrics (112). 1138-1145. 2003.

27. Which children are at higher risk for behavioral problems? • Poverty • Single mother • Grade retention • Low maternal education • Maternal depression JC Lumeng et al. Association Between Clinically Meaningful Behavior Problems and Overweight in Children. Pediatrics (112). 1138-1145. 2003.

28. Media Response • “Isn’t it all just bad parenting?” • “I've long suspected that rapidly growing rates of childhood obesity in the United States may be tied, at least in part, to the fact that American children in general seem more out of control and ill-behaved than ever. And that that's because their parents seem more ineffective and less likely to tell their children "no" than ever. You've seen it. The screaming, crying, foot-stomping little kids yelling at their parents and making demands in the mall, the grocery store, and virtually every restaurant one enters. It is not particularly surprising kids try that stuff -- what's stunning is watching the impotent, terrified parents looking like deer caught in headlights as it's happening.” – one journalist

29. Affect Regulation, Food, Mood, and Parenting • Children with behavior problems, difficult temperaments more likely to be overweight • Children who have tantrums over food more likely to become overweight • Food regulates affect (cortisol, stress axis) • Use of food to regulate mood in parents and children • “Food is love”

30. The Parent-Child Interaction

31. What Everyone Needs from Relationships • To feel known and understood • To feel “chosen” • To experience a balance of giving and getting

32. What Everyone Needs from Relationships • To feel safe to be yourself and to explore options for change • To be able to predict the reactions of the other • To experience conflict cooperatively

33. Parenting Style

34. Parenting Style and Childhood Obesity • NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development • N = 872 children in 1st grade • 49% male • 83% white • 11% obese • Maternal sensitivity (scored from videotaped standardized interaction, “supportive presence”, “respect for autonomy”, “hostility”) • Maternal expectations for self-control

35. Maternal Expectations for Self-Control How often do you expect your child to (1) Sit or play quietly (or refrain from interrupting) while adults are having a conversation? (2) Be agreeable about an unexpected change in plans? (3) Accept a new babysitter or caregiver without complaint? (4) Be patient when trying to do something difficult? (5) Go to bed without a hassle? (6) Refrain from interrupting when you are on the telephone? (7) Show self-control when disappointed? (8) Stay in bed once put to bed? (9) Be on "best behavior" when you are in public? (10) Wait his or her turn without fussing? (11) Control anger outbursts?

36. Potential Confounders • Race • Maternal education • Income-to-Needs Ratio • Family Composition (single mother v. not) • Child behavior problems (Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist)

37. Odds ratios for child being obese in first grade

38. Authoritarian Neglectful Permissive % obese Authoritative *Adjusted for income-to-needs ratio and race K Rhee, JC Lumeng, et al. Parenting Styles and Overweight Status in First Grade. Pediatrics (117). 2047-2054. 2006.

39. Media Response • “Strict Parenting Raises Risk of Childhood Obesity” • “How Parents Mold Their Children’s Weight” (NYT) • “Do Very Strict Parents Raise Fat Kids” (CBS) • “Insensitive Parents, Chubby Children” • “Study: Mean, Maniacal Mom Made you Fat” • “It’s All Our Fault Anyhow”

40. Why? • Supporting response to satiety? • Supporting physical activity? • Affect regulation? • Stress?

41. Sleep and Childhood Obesity: Does “Poor” Parenting Explain the Link? • NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development • N = 785 children in 6th grade • 50% male • 81% white • 18% obese • Sleep duration by maternal response to Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire

42. Potential Confounders • Gender • Race • Maternal education • Child Behavior Checklist, internalizing and externalizing subscale scores • Parenting measures • CHAOS Scale • Mid-Childhood Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (quality of the home environment) • Greenberger's Raising Children Checklist, lax control subscale

43. Odds ratios for child being obese in 6th grade JC Lumeng, et al. Shorter Sleep Duration Is Associated With Increased Risk for Being Overweight at Ages 9 to 12 Years. Pediatrics (120). 1020-1029. 2007.

44. Is it All Just “Bad Parenting”?

45. Beliefs about Childhood Obesity Among Low-Income Mothers • N = 91 • Ages 3-5 years • Children: 21% obese, 26% overweight • Mothers: 49% obese, 41% overweight • 41% of mothers < high school education • 26% of families food insecure

46. “Why are children obese?” • I definitely blame overweight children on the parents. One hundred percent. I think it’s because they’re not educated, because they don’t know any better, because they’re feeding them things that are making [them] overweight and not giving them a healthy diet. Um, too much fast food. Um, a lot of parents just don’t care. I mean, honestly, there’s a lot of parents that just don’t care. Some parents feed their kids fat and let them be lazy in front of the TV all day, every day. I think children are overweight because of parents neglecting to do their jobs the way that they should, and [not] caring about their weight and their health. • There is people that, like the women that work here a lot, sometimes can’t take care of their children and when they take care of them, they are not used to making them something to eat, then they take them to those restaurants and I think that that makes you gain weight a lot. • So, I see a lot of kids that have, a lot of mothers that have heavy-set kids and they just…just because they’re hungry…they just ate two cheeseburgers…you know, just because they hungry you don’t have to feed them. And they’d say never turn down a child to eat. Yeah, I think you do. You just don’t feed your kid every time they’re hungry. • The mothers give them Twinkies, candy and ice cream and -- everyday, this is an everyday thing -- cookies and, you know, to me that’s what causes a child to be overweight.

47. In every nursery there are ghosts. They are the visitors from the unremembered past of the parents. While no one has invited them, they take up residence and conduct the rehearsal of the family drama. In healthily developing relationships, the parents can move the ghosts aside to be present for the child. Selma Fraiberg, 1980

48. “How were you fed as a child?” • When I was a kid we didn’t have dinners. “Here’s a hot dog. Here’s a sandwich. Eat it.” You know? Not with me and my daughter. I make dinner. I don’t throw a hot dog at her and say, “Here you go. Eat that. You’re good.” No. I don’t do that. wish things would have been different for me, but it wasn’t. • My parents were actually very strict so dinner was somewhat stressful. We were expected to use our manners and, like, we weren’t allowed to drink while we ate. You couldn’t sit and slug down your glass of milk. You had to either sip it or it was taken away from you. Um, we had to clean our plates and it didn’t matter portion size, whatever, you had to eat everything that was on your plate. • I spend a lot of time with my kids and we eat together and my dad never did that, so, um, we do eat together and I do cook a little bit. But I always make sure my kids have breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My dad never did that. He just --- fend for yourself, really. I make sure that they eat and I make sure that we eat together. • My dad raised me by himself. Um, and he had a gambling problem. There was a bar just down the road. So, from like, ten and up, um -- I don’t remember much from ten and down -- I fed myself.

49. Maternal Feeding Behaviors Parenting and Obesity

50. Conceptualizations of Maternal Feeding Behaviors • along a continuum of more or less controlling (which may encompass both pushing and restricting intake) (2) 2 separate domains of prompting versus restricting (3) 4 parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and indulgent