Source: WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
CHILDREN'S SELF-REGULATION AND OBESITY RISK
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0227615
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Nov 1, 2011
Project End Date
Oct 31, 2016
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY
240 FRENCH ADMINISTRATION BLDG
PULLMAN,WA 99164-0001
Performing Department
Human Development
Non Technical Summary
Overweight and obesity pose significant health problems for children and adolescents (Ogden, Carroll, Curtin, Lamb, & Flegal, 2010). Rates of obesity have doubled for preschool children and tripled for school age children since 1980 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2010). These rates are even higher for low-income and minority children (Anderson & Whitaker, 2009). The consequences of childhood obesity are well-known, including an increased risk for a number of medical conditions, dysfunctional eating behaviors, and impaired social/emotional development (Williams, Wake, & Hesketh, Maher, & Waters, 2005). In recognition of the public health consequences of this obesity epidemic, numerous programs, mostly school-based, have been designed to prevent childhood obesity. Such interventions have had limited success. Although they may demonstrate short-term effects on the targeted behavior(s), they rarely yield sustained behavioral change or positive impacts on children's weight (Birch & Venture, 2009; Stice, Shaw, & Marti, 2006; Thomas, 2006). Reasons for their limited success are that: 1) eating and activity patterns are developed well before the school years; 2) school-based programs usually do not put sufficient emphasis on the family environment, a significant determinant of young children's eating and activity patterns; and 3) school-based programs focus primarily on nutrition education and physical activity; to date, no program has focused on the self-regulation of energy intake, a critical contributor to child obesity. The purpose of this project is to conduct research on the role of parents in influencing the self-regulation of energy intake in their children and to develop, pilot, evaluate, and disseminate a family-based, obesity prevention program for parents of preschoolers that focuses on helping parents facilitate self-regulation in their children. Together, the results of these studies should help us better understand the role of children's self-regulation in the development of childhood obesity, as well as understand how to most effectively encourage the regulation of caloric intake to prevent the develompent of obesity.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
7036020307050%
8026020307050%
Knowledge Area
703 - Nutrition Education and Behavior; 802 - Human Development and Family Well-Being;

Subject Of Investigation
6020 - The family and its members;

Field Of Science
3070 - Psychology;
Goals / Objectives
The purpose of this project is to conduct research on the role of parents in influencing the self-regulation of energy intake in their children and to develop, pilot, evaluate, and disseminate a family-based, obesity prevention program for parents of preschoolers that focuses on helping parents facilitate self-regulation in their children. Specifically, we will: 1)Examine how mothers influence their children's self-regulation of energy intake by: a)conducting detailed, observational coding and analysis of 425 previously collected videotapes of mother-child interactions at mealtime in low-income African American and Latina mothers, and b) conducting an 18-month longitudinal study on the relationships between parenting, children's self-regulation (in both the eating and non-eating domains), children's food intake, and the development of children's obesity. 2)Develop and pilot test a scientifically-based, culturally competent six-session family-focused, obesity prevention program focused on parental feeding strategies that support young children's self-regulation: a program that is informed by the results of our observational analyses, focus group data, and previous research on the determinants of childhood obesity. 3)Test the efficacy of this program by conducting a randomized controlled trial of the completed program at three locations: two in Washington state and one in Houston, Texas. 4) Begin dissemination of the materials through WSU Extension and national organizations.
Project Methods
These research studies will be conducted as part of two research grants on which the project director is a co-investigator. Sheryl Hughes at Baylor College of Medicine is principal investigator on both grants. The first, funded by NIH, is entitled "Parenting Influences on Child Self-Regulation, Energy Intake, and Weight'; the second, funded by USDA, is entitled "Promoting the Self-Regulation of Energy Intake in African American and Latino Preschoolers: A Family Focused Obesity Prevention Program." In the first grant, 220 mothers (half African-American and half Latina) will be followed for 18 months. At two timepoints, we will collect observational and questionnaire data on: 1) children's emotional self-regulation, self-regulation of caloric intake, and executive functioning; 2) mother-child interactions in feeding, play, and emotionally challenging contexts (the emotionally challenging contexts involve tasks where the child must complete a difficult task with the mother's help and a task where the child must wait for an attractive toy); 3) child intake (three 24 hour food recalls completed by the mother); and 4) child and maternal obesity status. By examining longitudinally the relationships between these measures, we can identify some of the ways that mothers influence their children's self-regulation in the feeding and non-feeding contexts. In the second study, we will develop, pilot, evaluate, and disseminate a family-focused, obesity prevention program for mothers of preschool children that focuses on children's self-regulation. This will be accomplished in four steps. First, additional insight into parental influences on children's self-regulation of energy intake will be gained through the detailed observational coding and analysis of a unique set of 425 videotapes of mother-child interactions at dinnertime collected as part of a previous USDA grant (142 mothers videotaped in their home at dinnertime on three separate occasions). Second, we will develop and pilot test a scientifically-based, six-session parent-focused, obesity prevention program informed by the results of our observational analysis, focus group data, and previous research on the determinants of childhood obesity. Focus groups will be conducted in Denver, Houston, Tacoma, and Yakima. The program will be developed by an interdisciplinary group of faculty from these four locations. Third, we will conduct a randomized control trial of the completed program at three locations: Houston, Tacoma, and Yakima. The control group will receive a food safety intervention. Finally, we disseminate the materials nationally and locally through national organizations and Washington State University Extension.

Progress 11/01/11 to 10/31/16

Outputs
Target Audience:Low-income African-American and Latina mothers and their preschool children from Tacoma WA, Pasco WA, and Houston, TX. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Nothing to report for the one month of activity before termination. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Nothing to report for the one month of activity before termination. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Nothing to report for the one month of activity before termination.

Publications


    Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16

    Outputs
    Target Audience:Low-income African-American and Latina mothers and their preschool children from Tacoma WA, Pasco WA, and Houston, TX Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The research has provided training opportunities for six Ph.D. students in Prevention Science, and about 10 BA students in Human Development. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We will begin piloting the supplemental materials that we have developed for the Eating Smart Being Active program. This program is currently being used in 44 states. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue our program implementation and evaluation activities, as well as continue to write papers for publication.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? During the reporting year we completed data collection on the 36 month follow-up for about 150 low-income, Latina mothers and their preschool children. We continued coding videotapes, analyzing data, and writing papers with this sample. We have continued to conduct the RCT study of our feeding intervention (SEEDS). During the reporting period, approximately 100 low income mothers have participated in the program, along with 100 controls. We have collected some 6- and 12-month follow-up data as well. Finally, we have completed revising our videos for use with EFNEP mothers in order to integrate them into an existing curriculum--Eating Smart Being Active.

    Publications

    • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Hughes, S. O., Power, T. G., OConnor, T. M., & Dave, J. M. (2016). Childhood environment and obesity. In R. Ahima (Ed.), Metabolic syndrome: A comprehensive textbook (pp. 243-259). New York: Springer.
    • Type: Book Chapters Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Hughes, S. O., & Power, T. G. (in press). Nutritional health. In B. Fiese (Ed.), APA handbook of contemporary family psychology. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Power, T. G., Olivera, Y. A., Hill, R. A., Beck, A. D., Hopwood, V., Silva Garcia, K., Ramos, G. G., Fisher, J. O., O'Connor, T. M., & Hughes, S. O. (in press). Emotion regulation strategies and childhood obesity in high risk preschoolers. Appetite.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Goodell, L. S., Johnson, S. L., Antono, A.C., Power, T. G., & Hughes, S. O. (in press). Strategies low-income mothers use to overcome their children's food refusal. Maternal and Child Health Journal.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: : Hughes, S.O., Power, T.G., Beck, A., Betz, D.L., Calodich, S.M., Goodell, S., Hill, L.G., Hill, R., Jaramillo Duran, A., Johnson, S., Lanigan, J.D., Lawrence, A.C., Martinez, A., Nesbitt, M., Overath, R., Parker, L.A., & Ullrich-French, S.C. (2016). Strategies for Effective Eating Development SEEDS: Design of an obesity prevention program to promote healthy food preferences and eating self-regulation in low-income children. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 48, 405-418.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Elias, C., Power, T., Beck, A., Goodell, S., Johnson, S., Papaioannou, M., & Hughes, S. (2016). Depressive symptoms and perceptions of child difficulty are associated with less responsive feeding behaviors in an observational study of low-income mothers. Childhood Obesity, 12, 418-425.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Silva Garcia, K., Power, T. G., Fisher, J. O., OConnor, T. M., & Hughes, S. O. (2016). Latina mothers influences on child appetite regulation. Appetite, 103, 200-207.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Hughes, S. O., Power, T. G., O-Connor, T. M., Fisher, J. O., & Chen, T. (2016). Maternal feeding styles and food parenting practices as predictors of longitudinal changes in weight status in Hispanic preschoolers from low-income families. Journal of Obesity, Article ID 7201082, 9 pages.


    Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

    Outputs
    Target Audience:Low-income African-American and Latina mothers and their preschool children from Tacoma, WA, Pasco, WA, and Houston, TX Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The research has provided training opportunities for five PhD students in Prevention Science, and about 20 BA students in Human Development. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We recently received a USDA NIFA grant to disseminate these results. We are adapting some of our SEEDS material to be included with the Eating Smart Being Active curriculum, an EFNEP program that is being used nationwide. The new grant is evaluating the combined program in two states--Washington and Colorado--and is comparing the effectiveness to two types of delivery--in-person and online. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Continue to code videos, analyze data, and write up papers from our two observational studies, complete the RCT of our intervention, and finish development of and conduct a pilot of the revised program for dissemination.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? During the reporting year we completed data collection on the 18 month follow-up for about 150 low-income, Latina mothers and their preschool children. We have continued coding videotapes, analyzing data, and writing papers with this sample, as well as on a previously collected sample of 150 low-income, African American and Latina mothers who were observed at three mealtimes. We have continued to conduct the RCT study of our feeding intervention (SEEDS). During the reporting year, approximately 75 low income mothers have participated in the program, along with 75 controls. We have collected some 6- and 12-month follow-up data as well. Finally, we began work on revising our videos for use with EFNEP mothers in order to integrate it into an existing curriculum--Eat Smart Being Active.

    Publications

    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hughes, S., Power, T., Liu, Y., Sharp, C., & Nicklas, T. (2015). Parent Emotional Distress and Feeding Styles in Low-Income Families: The Role of Parent Depression and Parenting Stress. Appetite, 92, 337-342.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Frankel, L., Thompson, D., Power, T., & Hughes, S. (2015). Correspondence of parent determination of child fullness and young childrens self-determined fullness level: Results from a standardized laboratory protocol. Childhood Obesity 11, 209-214.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hughes, S., Power, T., O'Connor, T., & Fisher, J. (2015). Executive functioning, emotion regulation, eating self-regulation, and weight status in low-income preschool children: How do they relate? Appetite, 89, 1-9.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Power, T., Hughes, S., Goodell, S., Johnson, S., Jaramillo Duran, A., Williams, K., Eaton, A., & Frankel, L. (2015). Feeding practices of low-income mothers: How do they compare to current recommendations?. The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 12, 34.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Johnson, S., Goodell, S., Williams, K., Power, T., & Hughes, S. (2015). Getting my child to eat the right amount: Mothers' considerations when deciding how much food to offer their child at a meal. Appetite. 88, 24-32.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2015 Citation: Vaughn, A., Ward, D., Fisher, J., Faith, M., Hughes, S., Kremers, S., Musher-Eizenman, D., O'Connor, T., Patrick, H., & Power, T. (in press). Fundamental constructs in food parenting practices: A conceptual model to guide future research.. Nutrition Reviews.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2015 Citation: Frankel, L., Fisher, J., Power, T., Chen, T., Cross, M., & Hughes, S. (in press). Confirmatory factor analysis of the Feeding Emotions Scale: A measure of parent emotions in the context of feeding. Appetite.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2015 Citation: Power, T., O'Connor, T., Fisher, J., & Hughes, S. (in press). Obesity risk in children: The role of acculturation in the feeding practices and styles of low-income Hispanic families.. Childhood Obesity
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2015 Citation: Goodell, S., Johnson, S., Antono, A.C., Power, T., & Hughes, S. (submitted). Strategies low-income mothers use to overcome their children's food refusal. Qualitative Health Research.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hughes, S., Power, T., Beck, A., Betz, D.L., Calodich, S.M., Goodell, S., Hill, L.G., Hill, R., Jaramillo Duran, A., Johnson, S., Lanigan, J.D., Lawrence, A.C., Martinez, A., Nesbitt, M., Overath, R., Parker, L.A., & Ullrich-French, S.C. (submitted). Strategies for Effective Eating DevelopmentSEEDS: Design of an obesity prevention program to promote healthy food preferences and eating self-regulation in low-income children. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.
    • Type: Book Chapters Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hughes, S., Power, T., Dave, J., & O'Connor, T. (in press). Childhood environment and obesity. New York: Springer.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hughes, S., Power, T., O'Connor, T., & Fisher, J. (2015). Obesity risk in children: The role of acculturation in the feeding patterns of low-income Hispanic families.. Society for Research in Child Development, Philadelphia.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hughes, S., Power, T., & Fisher, J. (2015). The use of goal-directed feeding behaviors among low-income Hispanic families of preschoolers: Feeding style differences.. International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, Edinburgh, Scotland.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Bonilla-Pacheco, V., Power, T., Nicklas, T., & Hughes, S. (2015). Preschoolers temperament and disinhibited eating: A study of low-income, Hispanic families. Society for Research in Child Development, Philadelphia.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Lanigan, J.D., Beck, A., Goodell, S., Johnson, S., Lawrence, A.C., Power, T., & Hughes, S. (2015). Development of the Preschool Curriculum for Strategies for Effective Eating Development (SEEDS) Intervention: A Pilot Study. International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, Edinburgh, Scotland.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Power, T., Beck, A., Betz, D.L., Calodich, S.M., Combe, A., Goodell, S., Hill, L.G., Hill, R.A., Jaramillo, A., Johnson, S., Lanigan, J.D., Martinez, A., Nesbitt, M., Overath, I., & Parker, L.A. (2015). Development of the Parent Curriculum for Strategies for Effective Eating Development (SEEDS) Intervention: A Pilot Study. International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, Edinburgh, Scotland.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hughes, S., Power, T., O'Connor, T., & Fisher, J. (2015). . A mixed-method approach to understanding components of child self-regulation and their relationship to childhood obesity. International Conference of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, Edinburgh, Scotland.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Silva, K., Power, T., Fisher, J., O'Connor, T., & Hughes, S. (submitted). Latina mothers' influences on child appetite regulation. Appetite.


    Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14

    Outputs
    Target Audience: Low-income. African American and Latino mothers and their preschool children living in Tacoma WA, Pasco, WA, and Houston Texas. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The research has provided training opportunities for three MA students in Human Development, 4 PhD students in Prevention Science, and about 20 BA students in Human Development. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Dissemination has not started, but we recently submitted a grant to do so. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Continue coding videotapes, analyzing data, and submitting papers on parenting, children's self-regulation in the eating and non-eating domains; complete the randomized control trial evaluation of our obesity prevention program; and engage in dissemination of our program in the states of WA and CO.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? We finished data collection on 186 low-income, Latina mothers and their preschool children examining their emotional self-regulation and self-regulation of energy intake, as well as maternal scaffolding of self-regulation in the eating and non-eating contexts. Videotape coding and data analysis are currently underway. We completed our six-session, family focused, obesity prevention program for mothers of preschool children that focused on promoting the self-regulation of energy intake and are currently evaluating it in a randomized control trial. Also, we continue to code videotapes and analyze data from two previous studies of maternal feeding practices, child eating behaviors, and child weight status. Finally, we recently submitted a grant for dissemination of our obesity prevention program.

    Publications

    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Silva, K., Power, T. G., Fisher, J., OConnor, T., & Hughes, S. O. (May, 2014). Latina mothers influences on their childrens self-regulation of energy intake. International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, San Diego.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Frankel, L. A., OConnor, T. M., Chen, T., Nicklas, T., Power, T. G., Hughes, S. O. (2014). Parents perceptions of preschool childrens ability to regulate eating: Feeding style differences. Appetite, 76, 166-174.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Power, T. G., Hughes, S. O., Goodell, L. S., Johnson, S. L., Jaramillo Duran, J. A., Williams, K, Beck, A. D., & Frankel, L. A. (in press). Feeding practices of low-income mothers: How do they compare to current recommendations? International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Johnson, S. L., Hughes, S. O., Cui, X., Li, X, Allison, D., Liu, Y., Goodell, S., Nicklas, T. Power, T. G., & Vollrath, K. (in press). Portion sizes for children are determined by parental characteristics and the amounts parents serve themselves. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Hughes, S. O., Power, T. G., OConnor, T., & Fisher, J. O. (under review). Obesity risk in children: The role of acculturation in the feeding patterns of low-income Hispanic families. Paper submitted to the Society for Research in Child Development, Philadelphia.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Bonilla-Pacheco, V., Power, T. G., Nicklas, T., & Hughes, S. O. (under review). Preschoolers temperament and disinhibited eating: A study of low-income, Hispanic families. Paper submitted to the Society for Research in Child Development, Philadelphia.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Power, T. G., Beck, A., Betz, D., Broughton, S., Combe, A., Goodell, S., Hill, L. G., Hill, R., Jaramillo, J. A., Johnson, S. L., Lanigan, J., Martinez, A. D., Nesbitt, M., Overath, I., Parker, L., Ullrich-French, S., & Hughes, S. O. (under review). Development of the Parent Curriculum for Strategies for Effective Eating Development (SEEDS) Intervention: A Pilot Study. Paper submitted to the International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, Edinburgh, Scotland.
    • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2014 Citation: Lanigan, J., Beck, A., Betz, D., Goodell, S., Johnson, S. L., Lawrence, A., Power, T. G., & Hughes, S. O. (under review). Development of the Preschool Curriculum for Strategies for Effective Eating Development (SEEDS) Intervention: A Pilot Study. Paper submitted to the International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, Edinburgh, Scotland.


    Progress 01/01/13 to 09/30/13

    Outputs
    Target Audience: 192 low income Latina mothers and their preschool children in Houston; 3 low income African American mothers and their preschool children in Houston; 13 low income Latina mothers and their preschool children in Pasco; 5 low income African American mothers and their preschool children in Tacoma Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Mentored one MA student (Rachael Hill) and two PhD students (Ashley Eaton and Yadi Olivera) on thesis/dissertation topics related to ARC project. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Publications and conference papers. Have developed first draft of a curricula for a seven session, family focused childhood obesity prevention program. Program has been piloted with approximate 25 families across three locations--Tacoma, Pasco, and Houston. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Complete data collection on longitudinal study, pilot test child obesity prevention curriculum, revise curriculum and begin larger scale evaluation of the program.

    Impacts
    What was accomplished under these goals? Data were collected on 186 low income Latina mothers and their preschool children on the relationships between parenting, child self-regulation, and child obesity status. We completed all time one data collection and collected data on an additional 40 mothers at time two. Developed family focused obesity prevention program for low income mothers of preschool children.

    Publications

    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Citation: Power, T. G., Sleddens, E. F. C., Berge, J., Connell, L., Govig, B., Hennessy, E., Liggett, L., Mallan, K., Santa Maria, D., Odoms-Young, A., & St. George, S. M. (2013). Contemporary research on parenting: Conceptual, methodological, and translational issues. Childhood Obesity, 9, S87-94.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Citation: Papaioannou, M. A., Cross, M. B., Power, T. G., Liu, Y., Qu, H., Shewchuk, R. M., & Hughes, S. O. (2013). Feeding style differences in food parenting practices associated with fruit and vegetable intake in children from low-income families. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 45, 643-651.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Citation: Power, T. G. (2013). Parenting dimensions and styles: A brief history and recommendations for future research. Childhood Obesity, 9, S14-21.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Citation: Morrison, H., Power, T. G., Nicklas, T., & Hughes, S. O. (2013). Exploring the effects of maternal eating patterns on maternal feeding and child eating. Appetite, 63, 77-83.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Citation: Hughes, S.O., Power, T. G., Johnson, S. L., Goodell, L. S., Duran, A. J., Williams, K. A., & Frankel, L. A. (May, 2013). Using direct observation to investigate the association between parental feeding styles and overweight status in preschoolers. Paper presented at the International Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, Ghent, Belgium.
    • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Citation: Power, T. G., Hughes, S. O., Goodell, L. S., Johnson, S. L., Jaramillo Duran, J. A., Williams, K., Eaton, A. & D., Frankel, L. A. (April 2013). Mother-child interactions at dinnertime: Exploring mothers behavior as a function of child weight status. Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development. Seattle, WA.


    Progress 01/01/12 to 12/31/12

    Outputs
    OUTPUTS: This project is still in the data collection and curriculum development stage, so no projects have been completed or disseminated at this point. I did, however, present preliminary results of this project at an invited address to family scientists at the annual conference of the National Council on Family Relations. PARTICIPANTS: Approximately 200 low income mothers and their preschool children. TARGET AUDIENCES: Low income Latina and African American mothers and their preschool children--Houston, Yakima, and Tacoma. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: None.

    Impacts
    As a result of our observations of low income African American and Latina mothers, we have identified feeding patterns that are inconsistent with current recommendations for the feeding of young children. Mothers either engaged in high levels of pressuring their children to eat (despite the children's insistence that they were finished) or gave very little structure or guidance to children's eating (demonstrated an indulgent feeding style). Moreover, mothers talked little to their children about food and its characteristics, made virtually no references to feelings of hunger or fullness, and focused more on table manners than on encouraging eating skills. Follow up focus groups showed that mothers pushed their children to eat because they didn't think that children really understood when they had eaten enough, were more concerned about ensuring that their child gets enough to eat than about overeating, and didn't want children to waste food. Results of these analyses are currently being incorporated into our curriculum for a family focused child obesity prevention program.

    Publications

    • Hughes S., M.Cross, E.Hennessy, A.Tover, C.Economos, T.Power 2012. Establishing cutoff points for use with the Caregiver's Feeding Styles Questionnaire. Appetite. 58:393-395.
    • Frankel L., S.Hughes, T.O'Connor, T.Power, J.Fisher, N.Hazen 2012. Parental influences on children's self-regulation of energy intake: Insights from the developmental literature on emotion regulation. Journal of Obesity. Volume 2012, 12 pages. doi:10.1155/2012/327259