An examination of association of parental feeding practices with childhood obesity among school children aged 6-12 years in Ghana: A mixed method study.
type: CreativeWork
description: Childhood obesity is a growing public health concern in developing countries, with consequences for children's lives and limited healthcare resources. This research examined how parental involvement in child feeding affects their risk of developing childhood obesity. The study employed an explanatory sequential research mixed methods design where data was collected and analysed in two phases. The first phase of the research involved the use of a survey approach in tandem with multiple structured research instruments- including the Demography questionnaire, Food Frequency questionnaire, Comprehensive Feeding Practice Questionnaire and Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire from 434 randomly sampled respondents, comprising school children aged 6-12 and their parents/carers/guardians. In addition, anthropometric measures were adopted to gather data on the body composition of the school children. Then, qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions and interviews to capture cultural nuances and perceptions of parents/carers/guardians (n=24) and children (n=16). The qualitative data was analysed using a thematic analysis approach. Quantitative analysis revealed that parental feeding practices encompassed various dimensions, including child control, emotional regulation, and food restriction for weight control. The largest intake of sweetened food was found in healthier weight categories; however, mean score comparisons showed no significant correlation between high consumption of sweetened food and obesity. Additionally, milk, yoghurt, and cocoa beverages were consumed at high levels, Rice, tubers (Yam), and legumes were among the staple foods, whilst bread and biscuits were some of the commonly consumed foods, influenced by household dynamics and cultural factors. Further, parents were found to adopt different strategies to manage their children's emotional responses to food. Parents used food as a reward or comfort, while others encouraged alternative co…
abstract: Childhood obesity is a growing public health concern in developing countries, with consequences for children's lives and limited healthcare resources. This research examined how parental involvement in child feeding affects their risk of developing childhood obesity. The study employed an explanatory sequential research mixed methods design where data was collected and analysed in two phases. The first phase of the research involved the use of a survey approach in tandem with multiple structured research instruments- including the Demography questionnaire, Food Frequency questionnaire, Comprehensive Feeding Practice Questionnaire and Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire from 434 randomly sampled respondents, comprising school children aged 6-12 and their parents/carers/guardians. In addition, anthropometric measures were adopted to gather data on the body composition of the school children. Then, qualitative data were collected through focus group discussions and interviews to capture cultural nuances and perceptions of parents/carers/guardians (n=24) and children (n=16). The qualitative data was analysed using a thematic analysis approach. Quantitative analysis revealed that parental feeding practices encompassed various dimensions, including child control, emotional regulation, and food restriction for weight control. The largest intake of sweetened food was found in healthier weight categories; however, mean score comparisons showed no significant correlation between high consumption of sweetened food and obesity. Additionally, milk, yoghurt, and cocoa beverages were consumed at high levels, Rice, tubers (Yam), and legumes were among the staple foods, whilst bread and biscuits were some of the commonly consumed foods, influenced by household dynamics and cultural factors. Further, parents were found to adopt different strategies to manage their children's emotional responses to food. Parents used food as a reward or comfort, while others encouraged alternative co…
author: Ewusie, Tutuwaa Baffo
license: https://dora.dmu.ac.uk/bitstreams/00f22837-ff2d-48e1-a553-2d7f1e93af11/download
date published: 2023-09
date modified: 2026-07-24T06:18:33Z
provider: De Montfort University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: De Montfort University