Home Food Rules in Relation to Youth Eating Behaviors, Body Mass Index, Waist Circumference, and Percent Body Fat

Purpose To investigate agreement and associations between parent and youth acknowledgment of home food rules, youth eating behaviors, and measures of body composition and excess weight. Methods Parent-youth dyads (N = 413) completed the “rules for eating at home” scale (Active Where Survey) and reported dietary intake. Trained research staff obtained anthropometric data. Linear regression analyses separately evaluated relationships between youth and parent acknowledgment of rules and youth-reported eating behaviors and anthropometric outcomes. Food rules were evaluated as a 12-item scale and individually. Results Score on the food rule scale was positively associated with fruit and vegetable servings by youth acknowledgment only (β =.09, p =.006), and not with anthropometric outcomes. The rule “no desserts except fruit” was positively associated with fruit and vegetable servings by youth (β =.72, p =.002) and parent (β =.53, p =.03) acknowledgment. The rules “no second helpings at meals” and “limited fast food” were positively associated with body mass index z-score by youth (β =.38, p = .002; β =.32, p =.02, respectively) and parent (β =.74, p <.001; β =.41, p =.006, respectively) acknowledgment, with similar results for waist circumference z-score and percent body fat. Conclusions Inverse associations between specific food rules and healthful eating behaviors but positive associations with anthropometric outcomes suggest potentially bidirectional relationships between food rule implementation and youth weight. Future studies should disentangle how food rules guide youth behavior in the context of youth weight status.