'He's got his father's bias': Parental influence on weight bias in young children.

Our aim was to explore the role of parents in the transmission of stereotypical body size attitudes and awareness of weight loss strategies to preschool children. Participants were 279 3-year-old children and their parents, who provided data at baseline and 1 year later. Parents completed self-report body size attitude and dieting measures. Child weight bias and awareness of weight loss strategies were assessed through interview. Over time, negative associations with large bodies and awareness of weight loss strategies increased. Fathers' attitudes prospectively predicted boys' weight bias and awareness of weight loss strategies. Among girls, parental attitudes were less predictive. Findings confirm the importance of fathers in the development of boys' body attitudes and inform prevention programmes.

Relationships between body size attitudes and body image of 4-year-old boys and girls, and attitudes of their fathers and mothers.

BACKGROUND: Body size attitudes and body image form early in life, and understanding the factors that may be related to the development of such attitudes is important to design effective body dissatisfaction and disordered eating prevention interventions. This study explored how fathers' and mothers' body size attitudes, body dissatisfaction, and dietary restraint are associated with the body size attitudes and body image of their 4-year-old sons and daughters. METHODS: Participants were 279 4-year-old children (46% boys) and their parents. Children were interviewed and parents completed questionnaires assessing their body size attitudes and related behaviours. RESULTS: Socially prescribed stereotypical body size attitudes were evident in 4-year-old boys and girls; however, prevalence of body dissatisfaction was low in this sample. Correlation analyses revealed that boys' body size attitudes were associated with a number of paternal body image variables. In boys, attributing negative characteristics to larger figures and positive characteristics to thinner figures were associated with fathers having more negative attitudes towards obese persons. Attributing positive characteristics to larger figures by boys was associated with greater levels of paternal dietary restraint. In girls, attributing positive characteristics to thinner figures was only associated with greater maternal dietary restraint. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest the possibility that fathers' body size attitudes may be particularly important in establishing body size attitudes in their sons. Further research is necessary to better understand the role of fathers in the development of children's body size attitudes.

Weight attitudes in 3- to 5-year-old children: age differences and cross-sectional predictors.

We examined weight attitudes in 118 3- to 5-year-old girls and boys. Children completed an interview in which they were asked to select a figure to represent a child with positive or negative characteristics from an array of figures varying from very thin to large, and also a figure representing their own perceived size. Mothers' body dissatisfaction, internalization of the thin ideal and dieting were assessed. Children chose larger figures to represent negative compared to positive characteristics. The figure size selected for negative characteristics was significantly greater in 5- than 3-year-olds but there was no age variation in figure size selected for positive characteristics. Children's own perceived body size positively predicted the figure size selected for positive characteristics. Maternal body image attitudes predicted figure size selection for both positive and negative characteristics. Findings suggest children's social environments are important in the development of negative and positive weight attitudes.