Parenting Behaviors and Child Health

Catalog description

Parents play an integral role in developing, supporting, and managing children's health-related behaviors. We will examine how parenting influences child behaviors and health outcomes across development, from infancy through adolescence. We will explore parenting styles, knowledge, attitudes, and practices, including specific behaviors in various domains such as food parenting and sleep parenting. Using socio-ecological models and a community-engaged approach, we will investigate how sociodemographic characteristics, culture, family structure, the physical environment, and other contextual factors impact parenting and subsequently child health behaviors and outcomes. We will discuss of the unique experiences and stressors of diverse and/or non-traditional families including single parent households, families in poverty, LGBT families, and immigrant and/or racial/ethnic minorities. Finally, we will examine parenting as a modifiable intervention target to improve child health. Through it all, students will understand how parenting behaviors shape child health.