Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

12-2023

Abstract

Background: Family environmental factors play a vital role in shaping children’s health practices (e.g., obesity prevention). It is still unclear how parents’ social support affects children’s obesity-related health practices. The present study argues that whether parents’ social support positively associates with children’s obesity-related health practice depends on if it could promote parents’ obesity-related health knowledge. Thus, we hypothesize that health knowledge mediates the relationship between parents’ social support and children’s health practice regarding weight management. Methods: To test the hypothesis, we conducted a questionnaire survey and collected a nationally representative sample of 1488 household responses in Singapore. The survey included questions about parents’ social support, health knowledge, children’s health practices, and socio-demographic variables. All participants have at least one child 14 years old or younger. In the sample, 66.1% of the respondents are female, and 93.7% are below 50 years old. Structural equation modeling (SEM) via Stata was used to examine the associations between parents’ social support, health knowledge, and children’s health practice. Results: The results of our analysis support our hypothesis. Specifically, (1) parents’ social support shows a positive relationship with health knowledge (Coef. = 0.17, p < 0.001 for BMI knowledge and Coef. = 0.18, p < 0.001 for nutrition knowledge); (2) parents’ social support (total effect of social support = 0.081, p = 0.071) and health knowledge positively associate with children’s obesity-related health practice (coefficient of BMI knowledge = 0.10, p < 0.01; coefficient of nutrition knowledge = 0.31, p < 0.001); and (3) the effects of parents’ social support on children’s health practice is fully mediated by parents’ health knowledge (mediating effect = 100%, p = 0.007). Conclusion: The present study provides fresh evidence from a multicultural context to understand the relationships between parents’ social support, health knowledge, and children’s obesity-related health practice. Our findings support the argument that social support from parents’ social networks does not necessarily promote health outcomes. The only social support that carries proper health knowledge can facilitate good health practice.

Keywords

Childhood obesity, Health knowledge, Health practice, Social support, Social determinants, Weight management

Discipline

Family, Life Course, and Society | Health Communication | Medicine and Health | Social Psychology and Interaction

Research Areas

Sociology

Publication

Global Health Research and Policy

Volume

84

Issue

1

First Page

1

Last Page

13

ISSN

2397-0642

Identifier

10.1186/s41256-023-00291-5

Publisher

BioMed Central

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1186/s41256-023-00291-5

Download

Share

COinS