Abstract

MAYER, Ana Paula Franco; WEBER, Lidia Natalia Dobrianskyj  and  TON, Claudia Tucunduva. Children’s perception about parental educative and feeding practices: a cluster analysis. Psic., Saúde & Doenças [online]. 2014, vol.15, n.3, pp.683-697. ISSN 1645-0086.  https://doi.org/10.15309/14psd150310.

This study analyzed the relationship between parenting styles, maternal feeding practices, and children’s nutritional development. A cluster analysis of data collected from 139 children between the ages of 10 and 14 was conducted by segmenting the sample in a cluster analysis. The students in the study attended public schools in a town in the state of Parana (Brazil). This analysis grouped mothers and fathers according to similarities in their feeding education practices, as perceived by their children, describing profiles of parental feeding education. Socioeconomic status, global educative practices, parental styles, and parents’ and children’s BMI (Body Mass Index) were related to the profiles identified. Variables such as marital status, maternal employment, gender of children, number of siblings, parental BMI, child's academic performance, parental education, and family income proved to be important in the identification of behavioral profiles of mothers and fathers. A nonlinear relationship was identified between the overall educational repertoire of parents and their repertoire on the feeding of children. This may indicate a need to publicize and prepare parents for feeding education, and to devise prevention and promotion of development and family health strategies. Although a comprehensive analysis of models and moderating functions has not been possible, important variables for feeding education and child development have been identified.

Keywords : parent-child relations; feeding practices; child development.

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