Adolescent Girls’ Weight-Related Family Environments, Minnesota | Preventing Chronic Disease: May 2011: 10_0025

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Adolescent Girls’ Weight-Related Family Environments, Minnesota

Katherine W. Bauer, PhD, MS; Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, PhD, MPH, RD; Jayne A. Fulkerson, PhD; Mary Story, PhD, RD

Suggested citation for this article: Bauer KW, Neumark-Sztainer D, Fulkerson JA, Story M. Adolescent girls’ weight-related family environments, Minnesota. Prev Chronic Dis 2011;8(3). http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2011/may/10_0025.htm. Accessed [date].

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Abstract
Significant sociodemographic disparities exist in the prevalence of obesity among adolescent girls, and in girls’ participation in physical activity, sedentary activity, and healthful dietary intake. However, little is known of how factors in the family environment associated with weight and behavior vary by sociodemographic groups. We examined differences and similarities in the weight-related family environments of adolescent girls by race/ethnicity, parental educational attainment, and US nativity. Data are from the baseline assessment of 253 parent/daughter dyads. Parents completed survey items on the family environment; parents and girls reported their sociodemographic characteristics. Hierarchical regression models were used to test relationships between the family environment and sociodemographic characteristics. Parents of Asian girls reported qualities supportive of physical activity and healthy eating. Higher parental education was associated with more parental modeling of and support for physical activity and greater frequency of family meals. Parents of foreign-born girls reported having fewer televisions in the home, more frequent family meals, and fewer fast-food family meals. Understanding sociodemographic differences in the family environments of adolescent girls can inform the development of obesity prevention programs and reduce disparities in adolescents’ weight status, physical activity, sedentary behavior, and healthful dietary intake.

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Preventing Chronic Disease: May 2011: 10_0025


Author Information
Corresponding Author: Katherine W. Bauer, PhD, MS, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, West Bank Office Bldg, 1300 S 2nd St, Ste 300, Minneapolis, MN 55454. Telephone: 612-624-8223. E-mail: bauer223@umn.edu.

Author Affiliations: Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, Mary Story, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Jayne A. Fulkerson, School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.