Role of parenting practices and digital media on beverage intake in European schoolchildren of different weight status. Feel4Diabetes-study

Kyriakos Reppas; Maria Michelle Papamichael; George Moschonis; Greet Cardon; Violeta Iotova; Yuliya Bazdarska; Nevena Chakarova; Imre Rurik; Emese Antal; Päivi Valve; Stavros Liatis; Konstantinos Makrilakis; Luis Moreno; Yannis Manios

doi:10.1016/j.nut.2023.112142

Role of parenting practices and digital media on beverage intake in European schoolchildren of different weight status. Feel4Diabetes-study

Nutrition. 2023 Nov:115:112142. doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2023.112142. Epub 2023 Jun 23.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nutrition & Dietetics, School of Health Science & Education, Harokopio University of Athens, Kallithea, Greece.
² Department of Nutrition & Dietetics, School of Health Science & Education, Harokopio University of Athens, Kallithea, Greece; Department of Dietetics, Nutrition and Sport, School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
³ Department of Dietetics, Nutrition and Sport, School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
⁴ Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
⁵ Department of Pediatrics, Medical University of Varna, Varna, Bulgaria.
⁶ Department of Endocrinology, Medical University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria.
⁷ Department of Family and Occupational Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary; Department of Family Medicine, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
⁸ Hungarian Society of Nutrition, Budapest, Hungary.
⁹ Public Health and Welfare Department, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
¹⁰ First Department of Propaedeutic Medicine, Laiko General Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece.
¹¹ Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development (GENUD) Research Group, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.
¹² Department of Nutrition & Dietetics, School of Health Science & Education, Harokopio University of Athens, Kallithea, Greece; Agri-Food and Life Sciences Institute, Hellenic Mediterranean University Research Center, Heraklion, Greece. Electronic address: manios@hua.gr.

PMID: 37541142
DOI: 10.1016/j.nut.2023.112142

Abstract

Objectives: Halting the rise in childhood obesity is an ongoing challenge in Europe. Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) and artificially sweetened beverage (ASB) consumption has become common practice at home and during family meals. The objective of this study was to investigate associations of parenting practices and home digital media availability with beverage intake in European schoolchildren of different weight groups.

Methods: Cross-sectional data were derived from six countries taking part in the multicentered Feel4Diabetes-study. Anthropometric data were measured for 12 030 schoolchildren (n = 6097 girls; median age = 8.1 y). Details on sociodemographic characteristics, beverage intake, food parenting practices, and home availability of digital media were collated from questionnaires. The outcomes, daily SSB and ASB intakes, were included as dependent variables in multivariable regression models that provided odds ratios reflecting their association with parenting practices and digital media (exposures), after stratifying for children's weight status (underweight or normal versus overweight or obese).

Results: After controlling for children's sex, region, maternal body mass index, and education, the multivariate model found that in both body mass index groups, permissive parenting practices, such as rewarding and allowing consumption of unhealthy foods "very often or often," as compared with "rarely or never," were associated with a high daily intake of SSBs and ASBs in children, while parents "watching television together with their child," rewarding with screen time, and availability of television in children's rooms increased the likelihood of both beverages in the underweight or normal-weight group.

Conclusions: Modification of permissive parenting practices and removal of television from children's rooms could effectively reduce SSB intake and curb the ongoing threat of child obesity in Europe.

Keywords: Artificially sweetened soft drinks; Childhood obesity; Digital media; Europe; Parenting practices; Sugar-sweetened soft drinks.

MeSH terms

Beverages
Child
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Internet
Parenting
Pediatric Obesity* / epidemiology
Pediatric Obesity* / prevention & control
Sweetening Agents
Thinness

Substances

Sweetening Agents