Intergenerational association of eating behavior: Correlations between adults' and childrens' intake

Small studies indicate that female but not male adult role models affect children's diets. This study used data obtained from a nationally representative sample of U.S. households to examine the relationship between the dietary intakes of the male and female heads of household and the 2-18 years old youngest and oldest male and female children residing in the same household (n=3144; CSFII 1994-96). Intergenerational transfer of diets was investigated by fitting multiple regression models with an increasing number of explanatory variables to determine if the adults' meeting the dietary intake recommendations for food groups and nutrients was associated with the odds of children meeting the recommendations. Models were conducted in STATA 10.1, survey corrected, and controlled for co-variates. Male and female head of household's diets significantly influenced children's intake levels differentially by age and gender. For instance, the odds for meeting the intake recommendations for milk, vegetable, and calcium higher when the female head of household met those recommendations but were not affected by the male head of household's intake level. Overall, male intake levels affected children's odds of meeting the intake recommendations at least as much as females' intake, especially the odds for the youngest male children were significantly and positively associated with the male role model's intake levels. This study indicates the need for further research to examine the effect of male adults' diets and multiple children in the same household on children's intake.