Skip to main content
Log in

“Don’t eat so much:” how parent comments relate to female weight satisfaction

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

How will the words of a parent influence the adult weight of their daughter? This retrospective study evaluates how the recalled comments of parents made about the weight or eating habits of a daughter related to her adult BMI and satisfaction with her weight.

Method

A nationwide cross-sectional survey was conducted with 501 young women ranging in age from 20 to 35 (age 26.8, SD 3.1; BMI 25.96, SD 6.2), who were asked to indicate their weight satisfaction, eating habits, and BMI along with their recall of the extent to which they recalled their parents making weight-related or eating-related comments about them as a young girl. Linear regression analyses were run to examine the relationship between parental comments and women’s weight satisfaction and BMI.

Results

A woman’s dissatisfaction with her adult weight was only related to the extent she remembered her parents making any comments about her weight (p < 0.01), but not about how much she ate (p < 0.05)—even though both were positively related to her BMI (p < 0.001 and p < 0.01). Even among normal-weight young women with similar weights, those who recalled their parents commenting about their weight were more dissatisfied with their body weight (p < 0.01).

Discussion

In this retrospective study, a parent’s comments about her childhood weight were related to her weight and body dissatisfaction as an adult. In contrast, comments about her eating habits were not significantly related to weight dissatisfaction.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Scaglioni S, Salvioni M, Galimberti C (2008) Influence of parental attitudes in the development of children eating behaviour. Br J Nutr 99:S22–S25. doi:10.1017/S0007114508892471

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Johnson SL, Birch LL (1994) Parents’ and children’s adiposity and eating style. Pediatrics 94:653–661

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Vollmer RL, Mobley AR (2013) Parenting styles, feeding styles, and their influence on child obesogenic behaviors and body weight. A review. Appetite 71:232–241. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2013.08.015

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Nickelson J, Bryant CA, McDermott RJ, Buhi ER, DeBate RD (2012) A Modified Obesity Proneness Model Predicts Adolescent Weight Concerns and Inability to Self-Regulate Eating. J Sch Health 82:560–571. doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2012.00737.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Francis LA, Hofer SM, Birch LL (2001) Predictors of maternal child-feeding style: maternal and child characteristics. Appetite 37:231–243. doi:10.1006/appe.2001.0427

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Aquilino WS, Supple AJ (2001) Long-term effects of parenting practices during adolescence on well-being outcomes in young adulthood. J Fam Issues 22:289–308. doi:10.1177/019251301022003002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Kluck AS (2010) Family influence on disordered eating: The role of body image dissatisfaction. Body Image 7:8–14. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2009.09.009

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Berge JM, Arikian A, Doherty WJ, Neumark-Sztainer D (2012) Healthful eating and physical activity in the home environment: results from multifamily focus groups. J Nutr Educ Behav. 44:123–131. doi:10.1016/j.jneb.2011.06.011

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Sharpe H, Damazer K, Treasure J, Schmidt U (2013) What are adolescents’ experiences of body dissatisfaction and dieting, and what do they recommend for prevention? A qualitative study. Eat Weight Disord 18:133–141. doi:10.1007/s40519-013-0023-1

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Wansink B (2006) Nutritional gatekeepers and the 72 % solution. J Am Diet Assoc 106:1324–1327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Harvey-Berino J, Krukowski RA, Buzzell P, Ogden D, Skelly J, West DS (2011) The accuracy of weight reported in a web-based obesity treatment program. TELEMEDICINE e-HEALTH 17:696–699. doi:10.1089/tmj.2011.0032

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Parsons TJ, Power C, Logan S, Summerbelt C (1999) Childhood predictors of adult obesity: a systematic review. Int J Obes 23(suppl 8):S1–S107

    Google Scholar 

  13. Quick V, Wall M, Larson N, Haines J, Neumark-Sztainer D (2013) Personal, behavioral and socio-environmental predictors of overweight incidence in young adults: 10-yr longitudinal findings. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 10:37. doi:10.1186/1479-5868-10-37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Burke LE, Wang J, Sevick MA (2011) Self-Monitoring in Weight Loss: a Systematic Review of the Literature. J Am Diet Assoc 111:92–102. doi:10.1016/j.jada.2010.10.008

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brian Wansink.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Research involving human participants and/or animals

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wansink, B., Latimer, L.A. & Pope, L. “Don’t eat so much:” how parent comments relate to female weight satisfaction. Eat Weight Disord 22, 475–481 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-016-0292-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-016-0292-6

Keywords

Navigation