Preventing Childhood Obesity - Evidence Policy and Practice.pdf

Socio-cultural issues and body image
groups. For example, many children in Western/white
families have substantial control of what and how
much they eat, 50 especially during adolescence. 48 This
is not necessarily the case for children from all ethnic
groups; many parents in Fijian 51 and African 44 families
have an authoritarian parenting style, with children
having little control over their eating patterns.
This has also been reported for African American
families. 21
The expression of socio - cultural factors varies
within ethnic groups. For example, children experience
the same exposures differently from their parents,
who in turn have different perceptions from older
generations. These intergenerational differences have
major implications for body - size preferences, as well
as ideas about how to attain the optimal body size.
Studies with Fijians, 52 African Americans 47 and African
migrants in Australia 28,35 all report that adolescents
preferred a leaner body than their parents. Thirty - one
percent of Fijian adolescent females believed that that
their parents wanted them to eat more than they
thought was ideal. 5 In a US cohort study of pre - adolescent
girls, African Americans were much more
likely than white girls to report trying to gain weight. 47
Weight - gain strategies were associated with parents,
especially in those with less education, telling girls that
they were too thin. 47 African migrant parents reinforced
traditional African body - size ideals using
weight - gain strategies to achieve a culturally - desired
body size, overfeeding their offspring and/or promoting
energy-dense foods.53 These strategies were often
resisted by young African migrants. 53
There are also intergenerational differences between
parents and older family members in terms of body -
size preferences and body - change strategies. Fijian
mothers reported that their mothers/mothers - in - law
shaped their ideas about appropriate infant feeding
and optimal body size. 54 Co-resident grandmothers
often dominated feeding decisions in African
American families, especially when they were key
21
caregivers.
Children from all three ethnic groups are exposed
to a wide continuum of values and expectations from
parents, older generations, siblings and peers. Children
in ethnic minority groups are likely to experience a
wider spectrum of body - size ideals and eating and
activity practices compared to Fijians, the largest
ethnic group in Fiji. African American and African
migrant children are not only exposed to the different
values, ideals and practices within their own group,
but also those of other ethnic groups with whom they
live while retaining a separate cultural identity. Both
realities may be influential. When competing cultural
perspectives are incongruent, the context, for example,
the types and amounts of interactions with the mainstream
groups, will determine which perspectives are
most influential and the types of intrapersonal conflicts
that arise from trying to be bicultural. 33
Cultural influences are also derived from various
media sources and marketing strategies that interact
with culturally - shaped preferences and practices —
reflecting the larger culture in the case of ethnic
minority groups —thus influencing body-size preferences
and eating and activity patterns. For example,
within three years of television exposure in Fiji, Fijian
female adolescents 5 and adults 6 changed their body -
size ideals; compared to a pre - television cohort. More
adult females: were dissatisfied with their bodies;
believed that body size could be changed; and made
an effort to do so. 6 Marketing practices also contribute
to an obesogenic environment for African American
children. 55,56 Studies examining the frequency and
content of food advertisements in television markets
with a high viewership of African American children
have documented the higher than average occurrence
of food advertisements, especially targeting high -
calorie snack foods, soft drinks and candy, relative to
21,57 – 59
advertisements in predominantly white markets.
The impact of the Australian media and marketing on
African migrant children in Australia has yet to be
studied.
While socio - cultural factors underpin body size,
eating and activity patterns, the socio - cultural environment
is shaped by historical, 21,32 physical and economic
factors. 21,30,60 We now discuss interactions
between the socio - cultural environment and historical
and economic factors.
The s ocio - c ultural e nvironment
in c ontext
Historical events influence body - size ideals and strategies
to achieve these ideals. The cultural acceptability
of overeating may be conditioned by economic deprivation,
with feasting occurring whenever food is
available. 61 The most valued foods may be associated
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