Parental health status and children’s eating behaviors: An epidemiological study in 1728 Greek 10-12 years old students

Although the parental influence on children’s dietary habits has been widely studied, little is known about the effect of parental health status on children’s dietary behavior. Thus, the association between the parental burden of cardiometabolic disease and its impact on children’s eating habits and behaviors was examined. Material and Methods: 1,728 children aged 10-12 years old along with one of their parents were enrolled in a cross-sectional study conducted during 2014-2016. Among others, children’s dietary habits and parental medical history were recorded. Children’s adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) was evaluated through the KIDMED score while the parental health status was assessed through a cardiometabolic risk score calculated for this study. The working sample was 1,133 children with a recorded parental health status. Results: Most parents (92.1%) reported at most 2 cardiometabolic risk factors including overweight/obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. Ordinal logistic regression analyses showed a significant association between children’s eating habits and adherence to the MD with the parental burden of cardiovascular disease. Children showed 6% higher odds of higher adherence to the MD (OR: 1.06, 95% CI: 1.01-1.12) and 54% lower odds of not having breakfast at all (OR: 0.46, 95% CI: 0.27-0.80) for a one-unit increase in the cardiometabolic risk score. The stratified analysis revealed a significant association between KIDMED score and CVD risk score only among boys (OR: 1.09, 95% CI: 1.01-1.18). Conclusions: Parental health status is positively associated with children’s dietary behavior and adherence to the MD indicating an additional source of influence.