Race/Ethnicity, Acculturation, and Sex Differences in the Relationship between Parental Social Support and Children’s Overweight and Obesity

In the present study we use the 2007 National Survey of Child Health to examine whether parental social support is associated with children’s overweight/obesity and if this relationship is moderated by race/ethnicity, acculturation, and/or parent’s sex. Results reveal that Hispanics (English and Spanish-speaking) and African Americans have considerably higher rates of child overweight/obesity and are less likely to have social support with parenting than Whites. Social support emerged as a significant predictor of overweight/obesity only for English-speaking Hispanic fathers. However, the magnitude of this effect was substantial. English-speaking Hispanic fathers were more than twice as likely as White fathers to have an overweight/obese child, but with social support, the odds declined by 80%. Findings suggest a need to understand better how race/ethnicity and acculturative stress shape fathers’ parenting practices and how social support serves to buffer these strains.