Maternal Socialization of Children's Eating Habits: Strategies Used by Obese Mexican-American Mothers

Mexican-Americans are more likely to be obese than the general population, yet little research has been conducted on the socialization of eating habits in Mexican-American children. 38 obese mothers enrolled in a weight-loss program and their 4-8-year-old children were observed during mealtime and the mothers interviewed about their socialization practices. Mothers relied primarily on nondirective verbal control strategies during the observation. Child compliance was more likely to follow a maternal serving or command than a nondirective behavior. Mothers encouraged sons to eat more than did mothers of girls. Child age was negatively correlated with mother's use of commands, reasoning, threats, and bribes, and positively correlated with maternal nondirectives, servings, and child compliance. Mothers with more years of formal education served healthier foods and were more likely to report using reasoning strategies, prohibiting consumption of unhealthy food, monitoring child food consumption away from home, and allowing child input into the eating situation than were less educated mothers.