Parental Influence on Children's Dietary Patterns

Parental influence on children’s dietary patterns encompasses the interwoven effects of parental behaviours, feeding practices and the broader home food environment on offspring eating habits. Research spans observational cohorts, genetic studies and interventional trials across diverse socio-economic and cultural contexts. Evidence indicates that while children’s food preferences and energy intake share weak to moderate associations with those of their parents, the frequency of shared meals, parental encouragement, moderate restriction and food availability play crucial roles. Genetic and familial aggregation analyses reveal modest heritability for different food groups, underscoring the interplay between inherited predispositions and modifiable environmental factors. Furthermore, epigenetic insights suggest that prenatal exposures may have lasting effects on offspring metabolism. This body of work underpins family-based strategies and nutrition education programmes aimed at fostering healthy dietary behaviours early in life, thereby contributing to global efforts to prevent childhood obesity and related non-communicable diseases.

Research from Nature Portfolio

A large longitudinal cohort study investigated familial aggregation and heritability of dietary intakes using intraclass correlation coefficients across parent–offspring and sibling pairs. Findings demonstrated weak to moderate parent–child similarities, with correlations generally higher for parent–offspring than between siblings. Family-based heritability estimates varied markedly by food group, ranging from approximately 6% for snacks to around 26% for fruits and legumes. Notably, mother–daughter dyads exhibited the strongest resemblance in dietary components, underscoring the nuanced interplay between genetic factors and shared home environments in shaping children’s food consumption.

Parental Influence on Children's Dietary Patterns publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in parental influence on children's dietary patterns across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Intraclass correlation coefficient: statistic quantifying similarity of measurements (such as dietary intake) within clusters or family units.

Heritability: proportion of phenotypic variation in a trait (for example food group consumption) attributable to genetic differences within a population.

Dietary pattern: overall combination and habitual intake of foods and beverages that characterises an individual’s diet.

Role modelling: parental demonstration of behaviours (such as healthy eating) that children observe and may emulate.

References

1. The myth and reality of familial resemblance in dietary intake: a systematic review and meta-analysis on the resemblance of dietary intake among parent and offspring. EClinicalMedicine (2023).
2. Evidence of familial resemblance and family-based heritability of food intakes derived from a longitudinal cohort study. Scientific Reports (2023).
3. Parent–child correlation in energy and macronutrient intakes: A meta‐analysis and systematic review. Food Science & Nutrition (2024).
4. Inherited Epigenetic Hallmarks of Childhood Obesity Derived from Prenatal Exposure to Obesogens. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2023).
5. The Influence of Parental Dietary Behaviors and Practices on Children’s Eating Habits. Nutrients (2021).