WHAT ARE YOUR

PARENTS LIKE?
Parenting Style May Matter in Pediatric Weight Gain

Salome Beyene

PEDIATRIC OBESITY: the facts

A public health concern

over 1/3 of children and

adolescents are obese
Most common chronic

disease in children
A child that enters

adolescence obese has an

80% chance of remaining
obese through adulthood

PEDIATRIC OBESITY: the factors

Psychological
Coping with emotions
Fighting Boredom
Socioeconomic
Environment - Media
Accessibility
Limitations
History
High birth weight
Parental obesity
Lack of breastfeeding support

Who to Blame?
School administration
Government officials
Parents
Children
Media
Community

Organizations

Focusing on Parents
Parents hold a high degree of control during the early years
of a childs life
Parents play a critical role in the development of a childs
dietary behavior and eating patterns

Diana Baumrind
Leading clinical and developmental psychologist
groundbreaking discovery in the parenting styles and its impact on
childhood behavior
Her studies showed:
Unhappy preschoolers = controlling and neglecting parents
Self-reliant and happy preschoolers = demanding, nurturing, and

communicative parents
Immature but dependent preschoolers = warm parents with no
limitations

Diana Baumrinds Proposed Styles

Authoritarian Style
high demand, low responsiveness
Authoritative Style
reasonable demand, high responsiveness
Permissive Style
low demand, high responsiveness

Authoritarian Style
Rigid and demanding parents who exhibit controlling
behaviors
Have high expectations without offering warmth,
feedback, or nurturance
Authoritative Style
Nurturing and affectionate parents who have high
expectations
Provide warmth and resources for their children to
succeed
Permissive Style
Understanding and affectionate parents
Parents appear to be a friend more so a parental figure
Tend to be nurturing yet provide few guidelines and rules

Parenting Style and Type of Children

Authoritarian Style
Results in unsure children who have troublesome
behavior and withdrawal socially due to an inability of
forming trusting relationships
Authoritative Style
Encourages independence and allows children to express
opinion
Results in children who are self-confident, exhibit happier
attitudes, and increased self-regulation skills
Permissive Style
Results in children who may lack in social skills and feel
insecure do to an absence of boundaries and guidance

Relationship Between Parenting Style and Pediatric

Obesity
Authoritative Parenting Style
Linked to lowered obesity and the development of negative health
risk behaviors
Permissive Parenting Style
More likely to be obese throughout early and middle childhood
Illustrates very low demands of what foods to eat/how much to
eat and parents cater to their childs preferences calorically
dense foods may result in poor diet quality, increasing the risk of
high BMI
Authoritarian Parenting Style
Parents control energy intake childrens ability to regulate their
own energy intake is underdeveloped and are likely to overindulge
when the opportunity is given

The Best Intervention

Positive response in decreasing obesity rates when a
unified effort is made from health care professionals,
parents, schools, community organizations, policy
makers, and children.

Parental Style and Intervention

Authoritarian Style increased risk of obesity rates,
troublesome children, socially awkward
Authoritative Style lowered risk of obesity rates, builds
self-confidence, happier attitudes and behaviors
Permissive Style increased risk of obesity rates,
overindulging, lack in social skills and are insecure

Limitations
Unfair to conclude that all parents
should practice an authoritative style
Culture
Religion
Norms
Adjusting parenting style alone is not
enough to combat pediatric obesity
Provides insight to psychological aspect of
parenting but unified efforts must be made

Citations
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/obesity/facts.htm
http://www.obesityaction.org/understanding-obesity-in-children/what-is

childhood-obesity
Hawkins, M. D., & Edwards, S. (2015). Childhood Overweight and Obesity.
Kentucky Nurse, 63(3), 4-5 2p.
Faguy, K. (2016). Obesity in Children and Adolescents: Health Effects and
Imaging Implications. Radiologic Technology, 87(3), 279-302 24p.
Xu, H., Wen, L. M., Rissel, C., Flood, V. M., & Baur, L. A. (2013). Parenting
style and dietary behaviour of young children. Findings from the Healthy
Beginnings Trial. Appetite, 71171-177 7p. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2013.08.011
The Baumrind Theory of Parenting Styles. (2013). Retrieved April 24, 2016,
from http://www.livestrong.com/article/1001090-baumrind-theoryparenting-styles/