Exploring a theory of change: Are increases in parental empowerment associated with healthier weight-related parenting practices?

• Published in: Social science & medicine (1982) 2022-03, Vol.296, p.114761-114761, Article 114761
• Main Authors: Gago, Cristina M., Jurkowski, Janine, Beckerman-Hsu, Jacob P., Aftosmes-Tobio, Alyssa, Figueroa, Roger, Oddleifson, Carly, Mattei, Josiemer, Kenney, Erica L., Haneuse, Sebastien, Davison, Kirsten K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Change agents; Child; Child poverty; Child, Preschool; Childhood; Childhood obesity; Empowerment; Exercise; Family health; Feeding Behavior; Head Start project; Health behavior; Health education; Health Promotion; Healthy diet; Healthy food; Healthy weight; Humans; Life control; Low income areas; Low income groups; Northeastern United States; Obesity; Obesity - prevention & control; Parent-Child Relations; Parenting; Parenting practices; Parents; Parents & parenting; Physical activity; Polls & surveys; Preschool children; Sleep; Surveys and Questionnaires
• ISSN: 0277-9536; 1873-5347; 1873-5347
• DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114761

Parent health-related empowerment is defined as the process by which parents realize control over their life situation and take action to promote a healthier lifestyle. For decades, researchers have described the theoretical potential of empowerment in health promotion efforts, though few have empirically examined this hypothesized relationship. This study is one of the first to examine the relationship between parental empowerment and healthy weight parenting practices (i.e., food, physical activity, sleep, and media parenting), as a mechanism for early childhood health promotion in community settings. Low-income parents of preschool-aged children attending Head Start in Greater Boston between fall 2017 and spring 2019 were invited to complete a survey in the fall and spring of each academic school year (n = 578 with two surveys and n = 45 with four). Parental empowerment and healthy weight parenting practices were assessed using validated surveys. We used a multilevel difference-in-difference approach to estimate changes in healthy weight parenting practices score by changes in parental empowerment score. Out of a possible score of four, the unadjusted mean (SD) score in fall was 3.20 (0.40) for empowerment and 3.01 (0.40) for parenting. An increase in parental empowerment was associated with an increase in healthier parenting practices (b = 0.14; 95% CI = 0.08, 0.20; p