Influence Of Parental Practices On Eating Habits Of Early Adolescents In Hawaiʻi

Abstract

Despite the importance of establishing healthy dietary behaviors during adolescence, most of the adolescents in Hawaiʻi do not meet the appropriate dietary recommendations. They tend to have poor fruit and vegetable intake, while overindulging in sugar-sweetened beverages, which may affect their weight and health in the present and later in life. Parental practices are one of the most significant factors that may influence the eating behaviors of early adolescents. This dissertation encompasses three manuscripts whose respective aims were to: 1) examine the psychometric properties of the Comprehensive Feeding Practices Questionnaire (CFPQ) with parents of early adolescents in Hawaiʻi; 2) describe the feeding practices of a diverse group of parents of early adolescents in Hawaiʻi and examine differences in practices according to parental demographic characteristics; and 3) identify key parental practices that influence the eating behaviors of early adolescents during the occasions when they eat alone or without their primary caregivers among low- and middle- to high-income households in Hawaiʻi. The first and the second manuscripts utilized a cross-sectional design with 155 parents of 9- to-14-year-old adolescents in Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. Recruited parents completed the revised CFPQ. The first manuscript examined factorial structure and internal consistency reliability using principal component analysis and concluded that the Hawaiʻi CFPQ demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties for ethnically diverse parents of 9- to 14-year-old children in Hawaiʻi. The second manuscript calculated a general linear model to assess the association between parental practices and each demographic characteristic using the subscales of the CFPQ that was examined in the first manuscript. The results illustrated that 6 parental practices such as environment were associated with several demographic characteristics. For the third manuscript, early adolescents (n=45) and their parents/caregivers (n=46) were recruited on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, and one-on-one interviews were conducted. Participants were classified as low- and middle- to high-income groups based on financial eligibility. Using the Sort and Sift, Think and Shift qualitative data analysis approach, interview data were analyzed and revealed four main themes and several subthemes under each main theme. The same main themes and subthemes emerged from both income groups. The outcomes of this dissertation may inform the development of effective interventions for promoting positive parental practices to establish healthy eating behaviors in adolescents in Hawaiʻi.