IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i10p5796-d812181.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Too Many Treats or Not Enough to Eat? The Impact of Caregiving Grandparents on Child Food Security and Nutrition

Author

Listed:
  • Rahel Mathews

    (Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39762, USA)

  • Danielle Nadorff

    (Department of Psychology, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39762, USA)

Abstract

With the number of grandparent-headed households on the rise, the influence of grandparents needs to be considered in the fight to reduce child obesity. The current study investigated the influence of caregiver type (i.e., grandparents only, parents only, or multi-generational households) on children’s nutrition, food security, and BMI. This was a cross-sectional, secondary analysis based on the 2009–2010 wave of the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey in collaboration with the World Health Organization. This sample included 12,181 students from 10,837 families with only parents present in the household, 238 with only grandparents present, and 1106 multi-generational families. One-way analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) were conducted using caregiver type as the independent variable, controlling for SES, on items assessing frequency of breakfast consumption, nutrition intake, hunger, snacking frequency and location, and BMI. Children reported more unhealthy snacking in households with only grandparents. Hunger was reported more often in multi-generational households. These results support that caregiver type, especially caregiving grandparents, is a significant predictor of children’s BMI, nutrition, and food security. Tailoring nutrition education to the needs of grandparents could help both the health of grandparents and the reduction of child obesity.

Suggested Citation

  • Rahel Mathews & Danielle Nadorff, 2022. "Too Many Treats or Not Enough to Eat? The Impact of Caregiving Grandparents on Child Food Security and Nutrition," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-10, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:10:p:5796-:d:812181
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/10/5796/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/10/5796/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jinfeng Zhao & Lisa Mackay & Kevin Chang & Suzanne Mavoa & Tom Stewart & Erika Ikeda & Niamh Donnellan & Melody Smith, 2019. "Visualising Combined Time Use Patterns of Children’s Activities and Their Association with Weight Status and Neighbourhood Context," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-16, March.
    2. William Boyce & Torbjorn Torsheim & Candace Currie & Alessio Zambon, 2006. "The Family Affluence Scale as a Measure of National Wealth: Validation of an Adolescent Self-Report Measure," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 78(3), pages 473-487, September.
    3. Zoe N. Fokakis & Danielle K. Nadorff & Ian T. McKay, 2020. "Is Raising Your Grandchild Bad for Your Health? The Association Between Custodial Grandparent Status and Health Biomarkers in Taiwanese Grandparents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-10, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mia Hakovirta & Johanna Kallio, 2016. "Children’s Perceptions of Poverty," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 9(2), pages 317-334, June.
    2. Jaroslava Kopcakova & Zuzana Dankulincova Veselska & Andrea Madarasova Geckova & Daniel Klein & Jitse P. Dijk & Sijmen A. Reijneveld, 2018. "Are school factors and urbanization supportive for being physically active and engaging in less screen-based activities?," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 63(3), pages 359-366, April.
    3. Heidi Carlerby & Eija Viitasara & Anders Knutsson & Katja Gillander Gådin, 2011. "Subjective health complaints among boys and girls in the Swedish HBSC study: focussing on parental foreign background," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 56(5), pages 457-464, October.
    4. Brock Boudreau & Christiane Poulin, 2009. "An examination of the validity of the Family Affluence Scale II (FAS II) in a general adolescent population of Canada," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 94(1), pages 29-42, October.
    5. Jaroslava Voráčová & Erik Sigmund & Dagmar Sigmundová & Michal Kalman, 2016. "Family Affluence and the Eating Habits of 11- to 15-Year-Old Czech Adolescents: HBSC 2002 and 2014," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-11, October.
    6. Corominas, Mari & González-Carrasco, Mònica & Casas, Ferran, 2021. "Analyzing factors for an optimum play environment through children’s subjective well-being indicators," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    7. Elgar, Frank J. & De Clercq, Bart & Schnohr, Christina W. & Bird, Phillippa & Pickett, Kate E. & Torsheim, Torbjørn & Hofmann, Felix & Currie, Candace, 2013. "Absolute and relative family affluence and psychosomatic symptoms in adolescents," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 25-31.
    8. Natalia Arias & María Dolores Calvo & José Alberto Benítez-Andrades & María José Álvarez & Beatriz Alonso-Cortés & Carmen Benavides, 2018. "Socioeconomic Status in Adolescents: A Study of Its Relationship with Overweight and Obesity and Influence on Social Network Configuration," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-17, September.
    9. Sebastian Wachs & Michelle F. Wright, 2018. "Associations between Bystanders and Perpetrators of Online Hate: The Moderating Role of Toxic Online Disinhibition," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-9, September.
    10. Lena Detlefsen & Andreas Friedl & Katharina Lima de Miranda & Ulrich Schmidt & Matthias Sutter, 2018. "Are economic preferences shaped by the family context? The impact of birth order and siblings’ sex composition on economic preferences," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2018_12, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    11. Joanne Nicole Luke & Alister Thorpe & Carlina Black & Lisa Thorpe & David Thomas & Sandra Eades & Kevin Rowley, 2021. "Collaborative Social-Epidemiology: A Co-analysis of the Cultural and Structural Determinants of Health for Aboriginal Youth in Victorian Schools," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-22, August.
    12. Main, Gill, 2019. "Child poverty and subjective well-being: The impact of children's perceptions of fairness and involvement in intra-household sharing," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 49-58.
    13. Dimitrios V. Diamantis & Iliana Stavropoulou & Konstantinos Katsas & Lyndsey Mugford & Athena Linos & Matina Kouvari, 2023. "Assessing Quality of Life in First- and Second-Generation Immigrant Children and Adolescents; Highlights from the DIATROFI Food Aid and Healthy Nutrition Promotion Program," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-14, January.
    14. Maribel Parra-Saldías & Jose Castro-Piñero & Antonio Castillo Paredes & Ximena Palma Leal & Ximena Díaz Martínez & Fernando Rodríguez-Rodríguez, 2018. "Active Commuting Behaviours from High School to University in Chile: A Retrospective Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, December.
    15. Marwan Akel & Fouad Sakr & Iqbal Fahs & Ahmad Dimassi & Mariam Dabbous & Virginie Ehlinger & Pascale Salameh & Emmanuelle Godeau, 2022. "Smoking Behavior among Adolescents: The Lebanese Experience with Cigarette Smoking and Waterpipe Use," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-13, May.
    16. Petr Badura & Erik Sigmund & Andrea Madarasova Geckova & Dagmar Sigmundova & Jan Sirucek & Jitse P van Dijk & Sijmen A Reijneveld, 2016. "Is Participation in Organized Leisure-Time Activities Associated with School Performance in Adolescence?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(4), pages 1-13, April.
    17. Néboa Zozaya & Laura Vallejo, 2020. "The Effect of the Economic Crisis on Adolescents’ Perceived Health and Risk Behaviors: A Multilevel Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-14, January.
    18. Berger, Nicolas & Lewis, Daniel & Quartagno, Matteo & Njagi, Edmund Njeru & Cummins, Steven, 2019. "Associations between school and neighbourhood ethnic density and physical activity in adolescents: Evidence from the Olympic Regeneration in East London (ORiEL) study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 237(C), pages 1-1.
    19. Sinead Connolly & Angela Carlin & Anne Johnston & Catherine Woods & Cormac Powell & Sarahjane Belton & Wesley O’Brien & Jean Saunders & Christina Duff & Orlagh Farmer & Marie Murphy, 2020. "Physical Activity, Sport and Physical Education in Northern Ireland School Children: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-17, September.
    20. Catherine Fantaguzzi & Elizabeth Allen & Alec Miners & Deborah Christie & Charles Opondo & Zia Sadique & Adam Fletcher & Richard Grieve & Chris Bonell & Russell M. Viner & Rosa Legood, 2018. "Health-related quality of life associated with bullying and aggression: a cross-sectional study in English secondary schools," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 19(5), pages 641-651, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:10:p:5796-:d:812181. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.