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What Words and Actions Predict Adult and Daughters Weight Satisfaction?
Author(s) -
Tran Huy Q,
Wansink Brian,
Christian Daniela C
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.642.7
Subject(s) - dieting , daughter , psychology , body mass index , developmental psychology , eating disorders , weight loss , body weight , food intake , demography , social psychology , gerontology , clinical psychology , medicine , obesity , endocrinology , evolutionary biology , sociology , biology
How does a parental comment about daughter's food intake or her weight shape her as an adult? The current study attempts to address that question and demystify the relationship between childhood parental intake comments and a daughter's adult Body Mass Index (BMI), her weight satisfaction and her susceptibility to social influence regarding eating. Specifically, we investigate whether recalling more frequent intake comments is associated with higher BMI and whether comments uttered by a parent with healthy dieting have more impact than a parent with unhealthy dieting. An analysis of 502 women between the age of 20 and 33 showed that while parental comments on both weight and dietary intake may have a large impact on daughters' weight concern, comments on weight do not have as significant impact as comments on high food intake have on healthy eating habits of daughter ( p <0.05). Additionally, when parents did not comment on either weight and food intake, the biggest impact of healthy eating was the recalling of how her parents ate. This study strengthens the notion that parental influence matters when it comes to affecting and improving daughters' eating behaviors. Whereas comments on a daughter's weight relate to her adult weight dissatisfaction, the comments on intake do not lead to weight concerns and weight dissatisfaction, instead these comments lead to healthier eating. It appears that aside from eating healthier themselves, it's better for a parent to talk about a daughter's food intake than her weight.