The general aim of the proposed project is to chart the development of the controls of food intake among girls, with particular attention to the onset of dieting during middle childhood. Survey evidence reveals that by the age of 10, prior to the fat deposition that occurs during puberty, well over half of girls report fear of fatness and engage in dieting to attain a thin body shape. The research focuses on girls because the incidence of dieting is well documented to be much higher among women than men, and the sex difference is apparent among children: while boys and girls alike wish to avoid being fat, boys typically aspire to be bigger, taller, and more muscular, so attempts at dietary restriction are rare among boys. The investigators' prior research on the controls of food intake among young children is used as a point of departure to investigate developmental changes in the controls of food intake among girls during middle childhood. Based on preliminary data linking children's regulation of energy intake to parents' child feeding practices and parental dieting, special attention is given to familial antecedents of daughters' regulation of energy intake, food intake and preferences, early dieting, body image, and adiposity. Familial factors include parental dieting history, parental food intake and preferences, adiposity, and parental control over children's eating. Longitudinal data on 170 girls and their parents will be obtained when the girls are 6, 8, and 10 years old. Multiple regression and structural equation modeling will be used to test relationships among familial variables; peer and media influence; and girls' regulation of energy intake, onset of dieting body image, food preferences and food intake patterns. Cluster analysis will be used to explore differing styles of intake control among girls, and whether these styles differ in relative risk for dieting. Surveys report an alarming incidence of dieting among young girls, but there is little evidence regarding the weight control strategies that constitute dieting among this age group, and this research will obtain information on this point. This research will yield new and essential data on the etiology of dieting and the emergence of individual differences in the controls of food intake. In addition, the researchers will propose and test pathways by which familial influence on eating behavior and adiposity can be transmitted across generations via behavioral influence. Such evidence is essential in preventing or reducing the incidence of dieting, and the negative health consequences associated with such dieting.
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