Strict yet loving parents raise healthy kids—study

Study details
For the research, families were divided into four groups depending on the parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful ways of parenting.

Parents in the authoritative group were understanding and respectful, yet maintained clear boundaries and expectations.

Although these parents were caring towards children, they still ensured strict discipline. They demanded certain rules to be followed but also responded to their children's opinion.

On the other hand, authoritarian parents were demanding (they insisted on strict discipline) but not responsive (they showed little warmth towards their children).

While permissive style of parenting was compassionate with some rules and regulations, neglectful style was emotionally uninvolved with no rules or expectations.

Authoritative parenting style ensures healthy eating
The study established that for adolescent boys, having an authoritative mother was more likely to bring them to frequent family meals, while for teenage girls, it was an authoritative father who inculcated the habit of eating with family.

“Although further research is needed, results suggest that it is important for dietitians and other health care providers to reinforce authoritative parenting styles in order to increase the likelihood of occurrence of family meals,” said lead author Jerica M. Berge from Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis.

“In recommending family meals, it is important for health care providers to take broader parenting styles into account. Family meals may be easier for families with authoritative parenting styles because they have routines, whereas family meals may be more challenging for other families and will require more time to address,” she added.

Researchers also used survey data from Project EAT (Eating Among Teens), in which two groups of adolescents (1608 middle school and 3074 high school students) were investigated in 1999 and 2004 regarding eating habits, parental styles, and various socioeconomic variables.

The findings of the study were published in July 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.