Retrospective Reports of Child Feeding Practices,Current Eating Behaviors,and BMI in College Students

Research concerning child feeding practices has focused on children and adolescents, and little is known about how feeding practices used in childhood relate to eating behaviors and weight status in early adulthood. We assessed college students' and their parents' retrospective reports of child feeding practices used when the students were in middle childhood. We also assessed the college students' current reports of their eating behaviors using the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) and the Intuitive Eating Scale (IES), and measured their current BMI. Results showed that college students' and their parents' reports about previous parental use of child feeding practices were not correlated. Parent reports of their own use of child feeding practices were more related to students' eating behaviors and BMI than were students' recollections about feeding practices used by their parents. An analysis of gender effects showed that there were positive correlations between parental child feeding practices, BMI, and emotional eating for female students. These relationships did not exist for male students. The results suggest that child feeding practices recollected by parents are linked to the development of emotional eating and weight status of women in early adulthood.     

Parental perceptions of overweight counseling in primary care: the roles of race/ethnicity and parent overweight

Objective: To examine parental perceptions of primary care efforts aimed at childhood obesity prevention Methods and Procedures: We interviewed 446 parents of children, aged 2–12 years, with an age‐ and sex‐specific BMI ≥85th percentile; interviews occurred within 2 weeks of their child's primary care visit. We assessed parental ratings of the nutrition and physical activity advice received. Using children's clinical heights and weights and parents' self‐reported heights and weights, we classified children into three categories: BMI 85th–94th percentile without an overweight parent, BMI 85th–94th percentile with an overweight parent (adult BMI ≥25 kg/m²), and BMI ≥95th percentile. Results: In multivariate analyses, compared to parents of children with BMI ≥95th percentile, overweight parents with children whose BMI was 85th–94th percentile were more likely to report receiving too little advice on nutrition and physical activity (odds ratio (OR) 3.05; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.49, 6.25) and to rate as poor or fair the quality of advice they received (OR 2.23; 95% CI 1.18, 4.24). Independently, African‐American (OR 2.55; 95% CI 1.18, 5.51) and Hispanic/Latino (OR 2.78; 95% CI 1.27, 6.10) parents were more likely than white parents to rate as poor or fair the quality of advice they received. Discussion: Parental overweight is associated with low subjective ratings of overweight counseling in pediatric primary care. Our findings of poorer perceived quality among racial/ethnic minority parents need further investigation.     

Parents' difficulties and information needs in coping with acute illness in preschool children: a qualitative study.

OBJECTIVES: To identify and explore difficulties parents experience with acute illness in young children and the information they seek to help them. DESIGN: Qualitative study using semi-structured one t one and group interviews with parents of preschool children. SETTING: Disadvantaged inner city community. SUBJECTS: 95 parents of preschool children. RESULTS: Parents felt disempowered when dealing with acute illness in their children because of difficulties making sense of the illness. Central to parents'' difficulties were their experiences of inadequate information sharing by their general practitioners and variations in their doctors'' decisions and behaviour. Disparity between parents'' beliefs and expectations about illness and treatment and professionals'' behaviour further frustrated parents'' attempts to understand illness. Parents expressed a need for a range of accessible and specific information to support them through their negotiation of children''s illness. CONCLUSIONS: Communication with parents requires greater recognition of parents'' difficulties. Professionals have considerable potential to empower parents by sharing more information and skills. Such information should be consistent and address parents'' concerns, beliefs, and expressed needs if this potential is to be realised.     

The Trivers–Willard hypothesis of parental investment: No effect in the contemporary United States

The Trivers–Willard hypothesis (TWH) predicts that parents will bias their sex ratio toward sons when in good condition and toward daughters when in poor condition. Many human studies have tested the related hypothesis that parents' bias allocation of resources to existing sons and daughters according to the same principle. The present study used time diary and self-report data from the parents of 3200 children in the US to test the hypothesis that as status increases, parents will allocate more resources to sons vs. daughters. It finds no evidence that higher-status parents invest more in sons or that lower status parents invest more in daughters. This finding illustrates the specificity of situations in which the TWH effects should be expected. Only certain types of parental investment — such as protection and a bias in the sex ratio — may have been selected to vary according to parental condition. Optimal allocation of resources after the child is born, however, is achieved not by the simple bias predicted by the TWH, but by allocating resources among offspring in ways that yield the largest marginal inclusive fitness gains.     

What worries parents when their preschool children are acutely ill,and why: a qualitative study.

OBJECTIVE: To identify and explore parents'' concerns when young children become acutely ill. DESIGN: Qualitative study making use of semi-structured one to one and group interviews with parents of preschool children. SETTING: Disadvantaged inner city community. SUBJECTS: 95 parents of preschool children. RESULTS: Fever, cough, and the possibility of meningitis were parents'' primary concerns when their children became acutely ill. Parents'' concerns reflected lay beliefs, their interpretation of medical knowledge, and their fears that their child might die or be permanently harmed. Parents worried about failing to recognise a serious problem. Concerns were expressed within the context of keenly felt pressure, emphasising parents'' responsibility to protect their child from harm. They were grounded in two linked factors: parents'' sense of personal control when faced with illness in their child and the perceived threat posed by an illness. CONCLUSIONS: Better understanding of parents'' concerns may promote effective communication between health professionals and parents. Modification of parents'' personal control and perceived threat using appropriate information and education that acknowledge and address their concerns may be a means of empowering parents.     

Maternal and paternal controlling feeding practices: reliability and relationships with BMI

Objective: This study aimed to examine the interrelationships between mothers' and fathers' reports on the child‐feeding questionnaire (CFQ), the BMI of parents and their children, and observations of parents' controlling feeding practices at mealtimes. Methods and Procedures: Twenty‐three mothers and twenty‐three fathers of children aged between 18 and 67 months reported on their child‐feeding practices, on their child's height and weight, and were observed during a normal family mealtime at home. Results: No associations were found between mothers' reported and observed feeding practices. Fathers' reported pressure to eat and restriction were associated with more controlling observed mealtime feeding practices. Mothers and fathers did not significantly differ in their reported or observed child‐feeding practices. Children's BMI was not related to maternal or paternal reported or observed feeding practices. More mealtime pressure was observed in parents with a higher BMI. Discussion: Fathers' self‐reports of their mealtime practices are reliable. Mothers' feeding practices may differ when fathers are present and further work should examine mothers at mealtimes with and without fathers. Although children's BMI was not related to parents' use of reported or observed control, parents with a higher BMI were more controlling, highlighting the importance of considering parents' own weight in future studies.     

Universal HIV Screening at Postnatal Points of Care: Which Public Health Approach for Early Infant Diagnosis in C?te d'Ivoire?

Background

Universal HIV pediatric screening offered at postnatal points of care (PPOC) is an entry point for early infant diagnosis (EID). We assessed the parents'' acceptability of this approach in Abidjan, Côte d''Ivoire.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, trained counselors offered systematic HIV screening to all children aged 6–26 weeks attending PPOC in three community health centers with existing access to HAART during 2008, as well as their parents/caregivers. HIV-testing acceptability was measured for parents and children; rapid HIV tests were used for parents. Both parents'' consent was required according to the Ivorian Ethical Committee to perform a HIV test on HIV-exposed children. Free HIV care was offered to those who were diagnosed HIV-infected.

Findings

We provided 3,013 HIV tests for infants and their 2,986 mothers. While 1,731 mothers (58%) accepted the principle of EID, only 447 infants had formal parental consent 15%; 95% confidence interval (CI): [14%–16%]. Overall, 1,817 mothers (61%) accepted to test for HIV, of whom 81 were HIV-infected (4.5%; 95% CI: [3.5%–5.4%]). Among the 81 HIV-exposed children, 42 (52%) had provided parental consent and were tested: five were HIV-infected (11.9%; 95% CI: [2.1%–21.7%]). Only 46 fathers (2%) came to diagnose their child. Parental acceptance of EID was strongly correlated with prenatal self-reported HIV status: HIV-infected mothers were six times more likely to provide EID parental acceptance than mothers reporting unknown or negative prenatal HIV status (aOR: 5.9; 95% CI: [3.3–10.6], p = 0.0001).

Conclusions

Although the principle of EID was moderately accepted by mothers, fathers'' acceptance rate remained very low. Routine HIV screening of all infants was inefficient for EID at a community level in Abidjan in 2008. Our results suggest the need of focusing on increasing the PMTCT coverage, involving fathers and tracing children issued from PMTCT programs in low HIV prevalence countries.     

Survey of parents' attitudes to the recommended Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine program.

A survey was conducted in a general pediatric practice to determine parents'' attitudes to and compliance with the recommended Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine program. Of 133 families surveyed 127 (95%) responded to the questionnaire. About one third of the parents did not have their children vaccinated. The decision against vaccination was made despite parent education, follow-up telephone contact and the pediatrician''s expressed support of the vaccine program. Most of the respondents (86%) had no previous knowledge of the vaccine. The factor of greatest concern was the possibility of an adverse reaction. This concern was significantly more common among the parents who decided not to have their children vaccinated than among those who had their children vaccinated (chi 2 = 6.52, p less than 0.025). One third of the parents who indicated that they intended to have their children vaccinated required a telephone reminder. The findings suggest a need for public education about the vaccine, with particular emphasis directed at allaying fears about side effects.     

支气管哮喘患儿病情控制的影响因素及其家长知信行问卷调查分析

摘要 目的：调查支气管哮喘患儿家长知信行情况,并分析支气管哮喘患儿病情控制的影响因素。方法：于2016年7月~2020年7月期间,选取我院收治的500例支气管哮喘患儿及其家长作为研究对象。患儿家长知信行情况采用《哮喘患儿家长知信行问卷》调查。患儿近4周的病情控制水平参照《诸福棠实用儿科学(第8版)》中的相关标准进行确定,病情控制水平包括良好控制、部分控制和未控制。将良好控制、部分控制的患儿纳为哮喘控制组,将未控制的患儿纳为哮喘未控制组。采用本院自制的调查量表调查患儿及其家长的信息,分析支气管哮喘患儿病情控制的影响因素。结果：支气管哮喘儿童家长知信行情况不容乐观。支气管哮喘患儿病情控制率为38.06%（187/491）。单因素分析结果表明,支气管哮喘患儿病情控制与家庭人均月收入、患儿个人过敏史、家长受教育程度、哮喘家族史、是否坚持长期用药、是否定期复诊有关（P<0.05）。多因素Logistic回归分析结果显示,家长受教育程度、家庭人均月收入、患儿个人过敏史、哮喘家族史、是否坚持长期用药、是否定期复诊均是支气管哮喘患儿病情控制的影响因素（P<0.05）。结论：本研究中支气管哮喘患儿病情控制水平一般,且支气管哮喘儿童家长知信行情况不容乐观,其中家长受教育程度、家庭人均月收入、患儿个人过敏史等均是支气管哮喘患儿病情控制的影响因素,临床中应结合相关因素进行针对性的干预或治疗,以期实现对支气管哮喘患儿病情的良好控制。     

Managing Fever in Children: A National Survey of Parents' Knowledge and Practices in France

Introduction

Identifying targets to improve parental practices for managing fever in children is the first step to reducing the overloaded healthcare system related to this common symptom. We aimed to study parents'' knowledge and practices and their determinants in managing fever symptoms in children in France as compared with current recommendations.

Methods

We conducted an observational national study between 2007 and 2008 of French general practitioners, primary care pediatricians and pharmacists. These healthcare professionals (HPs) were asked to include 5 consecutive patients from 1 month to 12 years old with fever for up to 48 hr who were accompanied by a family member. Parents completed a questionnaire about their knowledge of fever in children and their attitudes about the current fever episode. We used a multilevel logistic regression model to assess the joint effects of patient- and HP-level variables.

Results

In all, 1,534 HPs (participation rate 13%) included 6,596 children. Parental concordance with current recommendations for temperature measurement methods, the threshold for defining fever, and physical (oral hydration, undressing, room temperature) and drug treatment was 89%, 61%, 15%, and 23%, respectively. Multivariate multi-level analyses revealed a significant HP effect. In general, high concordance with recommendations was associated with high educational level of parents and the HP consulted being a pediatrician.

Conclusions

In France, parents'' knowledge and practices related to managing fever symptoms in children frequently differ from recommendations. Targeted health education interventions are needed to effectively manage fever symptoms in children.     

Parents' knowledge of students' beliefs and attitudes: An indirect assay of parental solicitude?

In two studies, undergraduates filled out questionnaires containing various attitude and belief items, and their parents then provided both their own responses to the same items and their best guesses as to how their children had responded. As predicted, stepfathers were significantly less accurate then genetic fathers, and maternal accuracy increased as a function of the mother's age when her child was born. On average, mothers and fathers did not differ in accuracy, nor was offspring sex a significant predictor of parental accuracy. However, mothers were most accurate in guessing the views of firstborn sons, whereas fathers tended to be more accurate about daughters' views. These results suggest that parents' ability to guess their children's views may provide a useful index of parental interest and/or of parent-child closeness.     

Heritability and Fitness Correlates of Personality in the Ache,a Natural-Fertility Population in Paraguay

The current study assessed the heritability of personality in a traditional natural-fertility population, the Ache of eastern Paraguay. Self-reports (n = 110) and other-reports (n = 66) on the commonly used Big Five Personality Inventory (i.e., extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness) were collected. Self-reports did not support the Five Factor Model developed with Western samples, and did not correlate with other-reports for three of the five measured personality factors. Heritability was assessed using factors that were consistent across self- and other-reports and factors assessed using other-reports that showed reliabilities similar to those found in Western samples. Analyses of these items in combination with a multi-generation pedigree (n = 2,132) revealed heritability estimates similar to those found in most Western samples, although we were not able to separately estimate the influence of the common environment on these traits. We also assessed relations between personality and reproductive success (RS), allowing for a test of several mechanisms that might be maintaining heritable variation in personality. Phenotypic analyses, based largely on other-reports, revealed that extraverted men had higher RS than other men, but no other dimensions of personality predicted RS in either sex. Mothers with more agreeable children had more children, and parents mated assortatively on personality. Of the evolutionary processes proposed to maintain variation in personality, assortative mating, selective neutrality, and temporal variation in selection pressures received the most support. However, the current study does not rule out other processes affecting the evolution and maintenance of individual differences in human personality.     

Life History Changes in Coral Fluorescence and the Effects of Light Intensity on Larval Physiology and Settlement in Seriatopora hystrix

Fluorescence is common in both coral adult and larval stages, and is produced by fluorescent proteins that absorb higher energy light and emit lower energy light. This study investigated the changes of coral fluorescence in different life history stages and the effects of parental light environment on larval fluorescence, larval endosymbiotic dinoflagellate abundance, larval size and settlement in the brooding coral Seriatopora hystrix. Data showed that coral fluorescence changed during development from green in larvae to cyan in adult colonies. In larvae, two green fluorescent proteins (GFPs) co-occur where the peak emission of one GFP overlaps with the peak excitation of the second GFP allowing the potential for energy transfer. Coral larvae showed great variation in GFP fluorescence, dinoflagellate abundance, and size. There was no obvious relationship between green fluorescence intensity and dinoflagellate abundance, green fluorescence intensity and larval size, or dinoflagellate abundance and larval size. Larvae of parents from high and low light treatments showed similar green fluorescence intensity, yet small but significant differences in size, dinoflagellate abundance, and settlement. The large variation in larval physiology combined with subtle effects of parental environment on larval characteristics seem to indicate that even though adult corals produce larvae with a wide range of physiological capacities, these larvae can still show small preferences for settling in similar habitats as their parents. These data highlight the importance of environmental conditions at the onset of life history and parent colony effects on coral larvae.     

Living with a crucial decision: a qualitative study of parental narratives three years after the loss of their newborn in the NICU

Background

The importance of involving parents in the end-of-life decision-making-process (EOL DMP) for their child in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is recognised by ethical guidelines in numerous countries. However, studies exploring parents'' opinions on the type of involvement report conflicting results. This study sought to explore parents'' experience of the EOL DMP for their child in the NICU.

Methods

The study used a retrospective longitudinal design with a qualitative analysis of parental experience 3 years after the death of their child in four NICUs in France. 53 face-to-face interviews and 80 telephone interviews were conducted with 164 individuals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore how parents perceived their role in the decision process, what they valued about physicians'' attitudes in this situation and whether their long-term emotional well being varied according to their perceived role in the EOL DMP.

Findings

Qualitative analysis identified four types of perceived role in the DMP: shared, medical, informed parental decision, and no decision. Shared DM was the most appreciated by parents. Medical DM was experienced as positive only when it was associated with communication. Informed parental DM was associated with feelings of anxiousness and abandonment. The physicians'' attitudes that were perceived as helpful in the long term were explicit sharing of responsibility, clear expression of staff preferences, and respectful care and language toward the child.

Interpretation

Parents find it valuable to express their opinion in the EOL DMP of their child. Nonetheless, they do need continuous emotional support and an explicit share of the responsibility for the decision. As involvement preferences and associated feelings can vary, parents should be able to decide what role they want to play. However, our study suggests that fully autonomous decisions should be misadvised in these types of tragic choices.     

Comparison of parents' expectations and importance ratings for specific aspects of childbirth.

We examined parents'' expectations of many aspects of the birth experience and compared them with the importance they attached to these aspects. Expectation was defined as a respondent''s rating that a given practice would be reality, and importance was defined as a respondent''s rating of the personal importance of a practice were all options possible. Subjects in the last 6 to 8 weeks of pregnancy were asked by their obstetricians to complete a questionnaire; 231 mothers and 227 fathers responded, for a response rate of 95%. In each of six subcategories parents'' importance ratings significantly exceeded their expectation ratings. Certain items were rated as relatively less important postnatally than prenatally and by multigravid women than by primigravid women. Parents'' perceptions of available options reflect consistent discrepancy with what they wish were possible. However, increased efforts to inform parents of existing options and to provide the rationale for specific practices may reduce the discrepancy between importance and expectations. This would in turn heighten the likelihood of a psychologically positive birth experience for parents.     

Respiratory Symptoms in Children and Parental Smoking and Phlegm Production

A study of respiratory symptoms in 2,426 schoolchildren aged 6-14 years was carried out in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1971. The prevalence of cough in the children was associated with the parents'' smoking habits; prevalence was lowest where both parents were non-smokers, highest where both parents smoked, and lay between these two levels where only one parent smoked. A close association was found between parents'' and children''s respiratory symptoms that was independent of parents'' smoking habits. There was no suggestion that exposure to the cigarette smoke generated when parents smoked had any more than a small effect upon the child''s respiratory symptoms. While the sharing of genetic susceptibility between parents and children is a factor, therefore, cross infection, particularly in the families where parents smoke, is an important element in the association.     

Child fostering as a reproductive strategy among Southern African pastoralists

Information on child fosterage was obtained on 1902 individuals in the course of collecting 611 reproductive histories from Herero and Mbanderu pastoralists in northwestern Botswana in southern Africa. The hypothesis that women foster out their children as a strategy for increasing the number of children they produce is tested. Analysis of these data indicate that sex and birth year of children and parents' marital status significantly influence a child's risk of being fostered, but the relationship of fostering to fertility is unclear. More recently born individuals, females, and children born to parents who were not married to each other are more likely to be fostered than older individuals, males, and children born to parents who were married to each other. A child's risk of being fostered does not appear to be influenced by mother's age if the parents were married to each other, while children born to parents who were not married to each other are more likely to be fostered if the mother is very young, but this pattern is not clear. No association between fostering and mortality was found.     

哮喘儿童父母知识知晓率、用药依从性及影响因素分析

目的:了解哮喘儿童父母的对疾病知识的掌握情况以及儿童的服药依从情况和影响因素,为提高哮喘儿童的控制率提供参考依据。方法:选择2015年1月-2015年12月于上海市第十人民医院儿科门诊诊治的支气管哮喘儿童93例,调查其哮喘控制情况、哮喘服药依从性和父母基本情况与相关知识。依从性与知识知晓率的比较采用双向有序的检验,影响因素采用有序结果的累积优势Logistic回归分析。结果:本次调查93例哮喘儿童中,哮喘完全控制率为23.7%,儿童服药依从性好的比率为25.8%,哮喘儿童父母相关知识知晓率高的比率为25.8%,儿童哮喘控制率与服药依从性之间存在相关性(P=0.029),哮喘儿童服药依从性与哮喘儿童父母相关知识知晓率之间存在相关性(P=0.035)。哮喘儿童的服药依从性受到儿童性别(OR=1.153,95%CI:1.04-1.96)、家族史(OR=1.402,95%CI:1.20-2.33)、知识知晓率(OR=1.828,95%CI:1.05-3.17)和病程(OR=0.758,95%CI:0.35-0.97)等因素的影响(P0.05)。结论:哮喘儿童的服药依从性受到儿童性别、家族史、知识知晓率和病程等因素的影响,要充分发挥儿童父母的作用,从医院内干预逐渐进入家庭干预,通过对父母或者监护人的认知或用药知识的提高,切实提高哮喘儿童的用药依从性和哮喘的控制率。     

Do Parents Meet Adolescents’ Monitoring Standards? Examination of the Impact on Teen Risk Disclosure and Behaviors if They Don’t

In this study, we examined how adolescents compare monitoring efforts by their parents to those of a "good parent" standard and assessed the impact of these comparisons on adolescent self-disclosure and risk behavior and their perceptions of their parents'' monitoring knowledge. Survey responses from 519 adolescents (12–17 years) at baseline of a larger, longitudinal study examining parental monitoring and adolescent risk were examined. Adolescents’ “good parent comparisons” differed greatly by monitoring areas (e.g., telephone use, health, money); however, between 5.5% and 25.8% of adolescents believed their parents needed to monitor their activities more than they currently were monitoring. Alternatively, between 8.5% and 23.8% of adolescents believed their parents needed to monitor their activities less often. These perceptions significantly distinguished adolescents in terms of their level of disclosure, perceived monitoring knowledge, and risk involvement. Adolescents who viewed their parents as needing to monitor more were less likely to disclose information to their parents (p<.001), less likely to perceive their parents as having greater monitoring knowledge (p<.001), and more likely to be involved in a risk behaviors (p<.001) than adolescents who perceived their parents needed no change. Adolescent disclosure to a parent is a powerful predictor of adolescent risk and poor health outcomes. These findings demonstrate that adolescents'' comparisons of their parents'' monitoring efforts can predict differences in adolescent disclosure and future risk. Obtaining adolescent "good parent" comparisons may successfully identify intervention opportunities with the adolescent and parent by noting the areas of need and direction of monitoring improvement.