(P20-005-25) Feeding Practices of Hispanic Parents of Children With and Without Overweight or Obesity

Objectives: Healthful parenting feeding practices may lower the risk for childhood obesity. Despite the disproportionate burden of childhood obesity affecting Hispanics in the U.S., we do not know if parenting feeding practices differ between Hispanic parents of children with and without overweight/obesity.

Methods: This study is part of a larger formative research project. For this analysis, 17 Hispanic parents of elementary school-aged children were categorized in 2 groups: those with children with overweight/obesity according to the CDC sex-specific BMI-for-age criteria (n=9), and those with children without overweight/obesity (n=8). Parents completed a sociodemographic survey and the 34-item Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire (CFPQ), which measures 5 dimensions (monitoring, restriction, promotion of overconsumption, healthy eating guidance, and healthy eating variety) and has been validated among Hispanics. Cronbach’s alpha and means (SD) were estimated for the CFPQ. Independent t-tests were used to assess differences in the means of the CFPQ items and dimensions by parent group.

Results: Most of the parents were women (88.2%) and 47.1% had completed some high school or less. The children’s (52.9% female) mean age was 8.4±1.5 years, and 52.9% had overweight or obesity. Four CFPQ dimensions demonstrated good or excellent internal consistency (α >.8). Parents of children with overweight/obesity practiced higher restriction; the 2 items driving this difference were, “I restrict the foods my child eats that might make him/her fat” (p=.02) and “I give my child small helpings at meals to control his/her weight" (p=.004).

Conclusions: Restrictive feeding practices appear to be associated with child overweight/obesity among Hispanic families.

Funding Sources: Supporting, Promoting, and Launching the Expansion of Nutrition, Diabetes, and Obesity Researchers in North Carolina; and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Nutrition Obesity Research Center.