Parent dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviors associated with child behaviors and weight status among private school children in Delhi, India: A cross-sectional study

• Main Author: Blanche Greene-Cramer
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Makhdoomi Printers 2016-01-01
• Series: Global Journal of Medicine and Public Health
• Online Access: http://gjmedph.com/uploads/O8-Vo5No3.pdf
• ISSN: 2277-9604; 2277-9604

Background Family can be an important socializing agent that strongly influences child and adolescent behavior. While studies have found associations between parent modeling of healthy behaviors and these behaviors in children in the US and other western countries, there is a dearth of research examining these associations among low and middle-income countries like India. This study examines the association between parent dietary, physical activity, and sedentary behaviors and child behaviors and weight status in Delhi, India. Methods The study was cross-sectional by design. The target population was comprised of a convenience sample of 6th and 8th grade children enrolled at 6 private schools in Delhi, India and their parents. A total of 551 child-parent dyads were used in analysis. Measures included parent and child BMI; physical activity and sedentary behavior; and dietary intake, such as weekly breakfast consumption, daily fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption, daily low-fat dairy consumption, daily energy-dense (ED) food consumption, daily sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption. Mixed-effects linear regression models were used to test for the association between parent dietary, physical activity, and sedentary behaviors (independent variables) and child dietary, physical activity and sedentary behaviors (dependent variables) while controlling for parent and child demographics. Results Significant, positive associations were observed between all parent and child dietary behaviors (weekly breakfast consumption, daily FV consumption, daily low-fat dairy consumption, daily ED food consumption, daily SSB consumption) after adjusting for child sex and grade, parent sex, and parent weight status (p<0.05, all). Parent moderate/vigorous physical activity was positively associated with child moderate/vigorous physical activity (p=0.000), however there was no significant association between parent and child light physical activity levels (p=0.310). Parent energy-dense food consumption was negatively associated with child overweight/obesity (OR=0.70, p=0.026), while parent sugar-sweetened beverage consumption was positively associated with child overweight obesity (OR=1.63, p=0.018). Conclusions This study provides initial support for an association between parent and child dietary and physical activity behaviors among urban families in India. The findings highlight the need for further longitudinal investigation of this research area to elucidate temporal relationships between these variables.