Association Between Parenting Style and Body Mass Index

Parenting styles play an essential role in determining the weight of a child. Studies have shown that increased attention to parenting styles has a direct association with a child’s obesity. The main concern about being overweight is the likelihood of a person being obsessed which is a predisposing factor to many life-threatening outcomes (Sokol, Qin and Poti 283). Obesity is caused by a lot of factors, such as lifestyle habits and the environment. Some of the factors that are contributing are to weight gain among children include playing video games, watching television, taking sweetened drinks, and physical inactivity.

Studies have also shown that parenting styles are of great importance in determining the body mass index of a child. The authoritative parenting style has led to great food choices and healthier eating styles. Parents have a great responsibility in limiting behaviors among children (Sokol, Qin and Poti 285). Such behaviors include watching television, playing video games, sleeping time, and diet. Parents should not only control such practices, but they should be great role models to the children because most children will mimic the behaviors of the parents.

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This essay seeks to explore the relationship between various parenting styles and the body mass of a child.

Parenting Styles

Parenting styles influence the lifestyle factors and the body mass index of children.

Authoritative

The parents that practice the authoritative parenting lifestyle sets clear boundaries and warm discipline for the child (Kakinami et al 18) In such an environment, the children can follow the rules because they understand why the rules have been stipulated.

Authoritarian

The parents give clear guidelines and don’t expect any questioning from the child. The child is expected to have high levels of control, but to some extent, the child might start rebelling, which increases the stress levels leading to increased body mass index.

Permissive

In this kind of parenting style, the parent allows the child to get their decisions on food choices. Most of the children don’t have comprehensive knowledge of diet; therefore, they are likely to make the wrong choices (Kakinami et al 20). Children who are brought up by such parents have a great chance of having excess body mass index, which is likely to lead to obesity and other outcomes.

Neglectful

In this kind of parenting style, the parent is not involved in controlling the behavior of a child, and they don’t set clear boundaries
The authoritative parenting style exerts protective behavior that helps in managing the body mass index of a child until midlife. The authoritarian and neglectful parenting style is likely to fetch negative results as compared to the authoritarian parenting style. More so, the parents’ warmth towards a child affects the bodyweight of offspring (Bergmeier et.al 09). This is because the parent’s warmth provides the child with emotional security and self-worth. Emotional security helps in developing self-regulation behavior among children which helps in increasing resilience and reducing unhealthy eating styles.

Further stated, authoritative parents are in a better position to teach children on health practices such as dieting, exercising and eating habits. Such behaviors are likely to be persistent until adulthood (Bergmeier et.al 15). However, it is important to note that the behaviors may be influenced later in life-changing the developmental trajectory because of social relationships development later in life. According to studies, increased body mass index is associated with an authoritarian parenting style because of low parental warmth and emotions. Low parental warmth results in low efficacy and emotional distress among the children.

Works Cited

1. Bergmeier, Heidi, et al. "Associations between child temperament, maternal feeding practices, and child body mass index during the preschool years: a systematic review of the literature." Obesity Reviews 15.1 (2014): 9-18.
2. Kakinami, Lisa, et al. "Parenting style and obesity risk in children." Preventive medicine 75 (2015): 18-22.
3. Sokol, Rebecca L., Bo Qin, and Jennifer M. Poti. "Parenting styles and body mass index: a systematic review of prospective studies among children." Obesity Reviews 18.3 (2017): 281-292.