Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2025
Association between food parenting practices and adulthood portion size selection to avoid overeating among Japanese: The mediating role of health and food waste concern
Food parenting practices (FPPs) play a crucial role in shaping children's adulthood-portion size selection to avoid overeating (PSO), which are integral in the prevention of obesity, reducing overproduction, and reducing food waste. Aim: This study aimed to describe the relationship between several FPPs and implementation of PSO in adulthood and the mediating role of interest in health (IH) in adulthood and attitude toward food waste (AFW) in the above-mentioned association among Japanese adults. Methods: A total of 1707 Japanese adults who responded to an anonymous web-based questionnaire survey in February 2023 were included in the analysis (women: n = 865, 50.7%). Data on FPPs (nine items), PSO (eight items), IH (five items), AFW (three items), and demographic and anthropometric data were collected. Nine mediation models for each FPP were created, and mediation analysis with percentile-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals adjusted for demographic and anthropometric data was performed to examine the direct and mediation effects. Results: Significant direct effects were observed for all nine models (B = 0.33–0.74, p < 0.001). In addition, partial mediation was established in all the models without AFW for one FPP. Adulthood IH (indirect effect-adjusted model: B = 0.06–0.13) and AFW (B = −0.03–0.06, except for one FPP model) mediated the association between FPPs and adult PSO. The indirect effects accounted for 11.4–22.3% (IH) and 3.6–5.6% (AFW) of the total effects, respectively. Conclusion: The results provide new insights for the establishment of appropriate FPPs to promote PSO. This study suggests the potential impact of FPPs on PSO in adulthood.
AfshinAForouzanfarMReitsmaM, et al. (2017) Health effects of overweight and obesity in 195 countries over 25 years. The New England Journal of Medicine377(1): 13–27.
2.
BosnjakMHaasIGalesicM, et al. (2013) Sample composition discrepancies in different stages of a probability-based online panel. Field Methods25(4): 339–360. Original work published 2013.
3.
CohenJ (1992) A power primer. Psychological Bulletin112(1): 155–159.
4.
CorepalRTullyMAKeeF, et al. (2018) Behavioural incentive interventions for health behaviour change in young people (5-18 years old): A systematic review and meta-analysis. Preventive Medicine (Baltim)110: 55–66.
5.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2011) The State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture – Managing Systems at Risk. New York: Earthscan.
6.
World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2019) Sustainable Healthy Diets- Guiding Principles. Rome: FAO and WHO. Available at: file:///C:/Users/minor/Downloads/9789241516648-eng.pdf (accessed 25 March 2022).
7.
FrankelLAPowellEJansenE (2018) The relationship between structure-related food parenting practices and children’s heightened levels of self-regulation in eating. Childhood Obesity (Print)14(2): 81–88.
8.
FritzMSMacKinnonDP (2007) Required sample size to detect the mediated effect. Psychological Science18(3): 233–239.
9.
FukuokaKAkamatsuR (2018) Wasted food on school lunch plates of elementary school children: development of theoretically founded teaching materials for instructions during school lunch. Journal of Health Psychology Research30(Special_issue): 113–119.
10.
FuligniGLGonzalezCJFigueroaR (2022) Adolescents’ proxy reports on obesity-related parenting practices: Factorial validity and reliability across four behavioral domains. BMC Public Health22(1): 329.
11.
GeversDWMKremersSPJde VriesNK, et al. (2014) Clarifying concepts of food parenting practices. A Delphi study with an application to snacking behavior. Appetite79: 51–57.
12.
GwozdzWReischLEibenG, et al. (2020) The effect of smileys as motivational incentives on children’s fruit and vegetable choice, consumption and waste: a field experiment in schools in five European countries. Food Policy96: 101852.
13.
HayesAF (2013) Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-Based Approach. NY: Guilford Press.
14.
HigginsKAHudsonJLHayesAMR, et al. (2022) Systematic review and meta-analysis on the effect of portion size and ingestive frequency on energy intake and body weight among adults in randomized controlled feeding trials. Advances in Nutrition13(1): 248–268.
15.
HolmS (1979) A simple sequentially rejective multiple test procedure. Scandinavian Journal of Statistics6(2): 65–70.
16.
HowseEHankeyCAllman-FarinelliM, et al. (2018) Buying salad is a lot more expensive than going to Mcdonalds’: young adults’ views about what influences their food choices. Nutrients10(8): 996.
17.
HudgensMEBarnesASLockhartMK, et al. (2017) Small prizes improve food selection in a school cafeteria without increasing waste. Clinical Pediatrics56(2): 123–126.
18.
IzumiBTAkamatsuRByker ShanksC, et al. (2020) An ethnographic study exploring factors that minimize lunch waste in Tokyo elementary schools. Public Health Nutrition23(6): 1142–1151.
19.
JustDRPriceJ (2013) Using incentives to encourage healthy eating in children. Journal of Human Resources48(4): 855–872.
20.
KawasakiYAkamatsuRWarschburgerP (2022) The relationship between traditional and common Japanese childhood education and adulthood towards avoiding food waste behaviors. Waste Management (New York, N.Y.)145: 1–9.
21.
KawasakiYNagao-SatoSShimpoM, et al. (2024) Development and validation of the gratitude for food scale for Japanese adults. Global Health Promotion31(3): 101–110.
22.
KawasakiYNagao-SatoSShimpoM, et al. (under review) Are weight control and food waste a trade-off?: A clustering of pre-meal portion planning and plate-clearing behaviors among Japanese adult consumers.
23.
LarsenJKHermansRCJSleddensEFC, et al. (2015) How parental dietary behavior and food parenting practices affect children’s dietary behavior. Interacting sources of influence?Appetite89: 246–257.
24.
MahmoodLFlores-BarrantesPMorenoLA, et al. (2021) The influence of parental dietary behaviors and practices on children’s eating habits. Nutrients13(4): 1138.
25.
MasumotoKShiozakiMTaishiN (2020) The impact of age on goal-framing for health messages: the mediating effect of interest in health and emotion regulation. PLoS One15(9): e0238989.
26.
Mendoza-HerreraKMonge-RojasRO’neillJ, et al. (2022) Association between parental feeding styles and excess weight, and its mediation by diet, in Costa Rican adolescents. Nutrients14(11): 2314.
27.
NishidaIAkamatsuRTonshoN (2023) Characteristics of people who order the appropriate amount of food at restaurants. The Japanese Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics81(2): 68–74.
28.
OzawaCIshikawaHKatoM, et al. (2021) Development of the Interest in Health Scale to understand the “population indifferent to health”. Japanese Journal of Health Education and Promotion29(3): 266–277.
29.
PooreJNemecekT (2018) Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science360(6392): 987–992.
30.
PreacherKJHayesJPreacherAF (2008) Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods40: 879–891. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BRM.40.3.879.
31.
RobertsLMarxJMMusher-EizenmanDR (2018) Using food as a reward: an examination of parental reward practices. Appetite120: 318–326.
32.
RobinsonEAveyardPJebbSA (2015) Is plate clearing a risk factor for obesity? A cross-sectional study of self-reported data in US adults. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)23(2): 301–304.
33.
RobinsonEHardmanCA (2016) Empty plates and larger waists: a cross-sectional study of factors associated with plate clearing habits and body weight. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition70(6): 750–752.
34.
RobinsonEMcFarland-LesserIPatelZ, et al. (2023) Downsizing food: a systematic review and meta-analysis examining the effect of reducing served food portion sizes on daily energy intake and body weight. British Journal of Nutrition129(5): 888–903.
35.
SavageJSFisherJOBirchLL (2007) Parental influence on eating behavior: conception to adolescence. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics : A Journal of the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics35(1): 22–34.
36.
SheenFHardmanCARobinsonE (2020) Food waste concerns, eating behaviour and body weight. Appetite151: 104692.
37.
ShimpoMFukuokaKAkamatsuR (2017) Lunchtime instructions by elementary school teachers: the characteristics of teachers consulting with nutrition teachers and school dietitians. Japanese Journal of Health Education and Promotion25(1): 12–20.
38.
StancuVHaugaardPLähteenmäkiL (2016) Determinants of consumer food waste behaviour: two routes to food waste. Appetite96: 7–17.
39.
StokF MHoffmannSVolkertD, et al. (2017) The DONE framework: Creation, evaluation, and updating of an interdisciplinary, dynamic framework 2.0 of determinants of nutrition and eating. PLoS One12: e0171077. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0171077.
ToyamaMAbeKAkamatsuR (2013) Factors contributing to food waste during lunchtime in junior high schools. The Japanese Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics71(6): 350–356.
42.
Tugault-LafleurCNGonzálezODJO’ConnorTM, et al. (2021) Identifying and predicting food parenting practice profiles among Canadian parents. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity18(1): 1–11.
VaughnAETabakRGBryantMJ, et al. (2013) Measuring parent food practices: a systematic review of existing measures and examination of instruments. The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity10: 61.
46.
VaughnAEWardDSFisherJO, et al. (2016) Fundamental constructs in food parenting practices: a content map to guide future research. Nutrition Reviews74(2): 98–117.
47.
WansinkBJohnsonKA (2015) The clean plate club: about 92% of self-served food is eaten. International Journal of Obesity (2005)39(2): 371–374.
48.
WansinkBPayneCR (2008) Eating behavior and obesity at Chinese buffets. Obesity16(8): 1957–1960.
49.
WillettWRockströmJLokenB, et al. (2019) Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. The Lancet. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/ (accessed 6 October 2020).
