Do parents of obese children use ineffective parenting strategies?
Research has shown mixed findings about the relationship between parenting style and child lifestyle outcomes. This paper describes a cross sectional study that aimed to clarify the relationship between ineffective parenting and childhood obesity by using multiple measures of child and family functioning. Sixty two families with an obese child (aged four to 11 years) were matched with 62 families with a healthy weight child on key sociodemographic variables. Significant differences were found on several measures, including general parenting style, domain specific parenting practices, and parenting self efficacy (d .53 to 1.96) Parents of obese children were more likely to use permissive and coercive discipline techniques, and to lack confidence in managing children's lifestyle behaviour. In contrast, parents of healthy weight children were more likely to implement specific strategies for promoting a healthy lifestyle.
Journal of child health care for professionals working with children in the hospital and community