Paternal Child-Feeding Attitudes and Obesity in School-Age Sons

The relationship between the father's, or male guardian's, attitude toward the use of food as (a) a reward, (b) a punishment, (c) a soothing agent, or (d) an expres sion of affection and selected measures of obesity in the respective school-age son was assessed. Seventy-two fathers (male guardians) of 6- to 8-year-old sons responded. A 30-item child-feeding opinion questionnaire was used to assess attitudes toward the use of food in a contingency manner. A positive correlation was found between paternal attitude toward the use of food as a reward, soothing agent, and expression of affection, and the triceps skinfold thickness of the sons. No correlation was observed between the score on the punishment subscale and triceps skinfold measures. Although correlation coefficients were low, results indicate a possible positive relationship between the paternal use of food in a contingency manner and selected anthropometric measures in the son.