Relationship between Parenting Style and Eating Behavior with the Nutritional Status of Children with Disabilities

Received: 23-Jan-2023, Manuscript No. CSRP-23-87687; Accepted Date: Feb 05, 2023 ; Editor assigned: 24-Jan-2023, Pre QC No. CSRP- 23-87687 (PQ); Reviewed: 02-Feb-2023, QC No. CSRP- 23- 87687 (Q); Revised: 04-Feb-2023, Manuscript No. CSRP-23-87687 (R); Published: 06-Feb-2023, DOI: 10.3371/CSRP. MMWY.100150.

Introduction

Because each stage of a child's development, beginning in the womb and continuing through adolescence, has its own distinct characteristics, it stands to reason that if a problem arises during the development of one child, it may have repercussions for the lives of subsequent children. This is because each stage of a kid's development, beginning in the womb and continuing through adolescence, has its own distinct characteristics. However, not every kid grows and develops in a healthy way, and this implies that some children need particular care. Youngsters who have advantages in the form of intelligence or unique talents are examples of individuals who are referred to as having special needs. Other instances of those who are considered to have special needs include children who are labeled as being handicapped or impaired.

Children with impairments are individuals who are restricted in one or more areas of their talents, whether those constraints are physical, like being blind, or psychological, like having autism [1]. Children with impairments might have either a learning disability or a developmental disability [2]. The care that a child receives from his or her parents has a substantial influence on the child's development and growth, particularly if the child has special needs. This is especially true when the child in question has certain needs.

The way in which a child is raised may have a significant impact not just on their personality development but also on their capacity to maintain positive relationships with both themselves and the world around them. Parents have a duty to provide their children with the highest possible level of care while they are being raised [3]. This is due to the fact that ineffective parenting may have a negative impact on a child's development.

When we talk about "parenting," we're referring to any and all activities that are carried out with the intention of passing on to our offspring valuable knowledge and abilities for navigating life. There are a lot of various ways to raise children, including authoritarian parenting, democratic parenting, and primitive parenting, just to mention a few of the numerous possibilities [4]. When it comes to providing care for their children, parents need to be aware of the requirements that children have at each stage of their development in order to meet the needs of their children appropriately. When it comes to providing the right kind of care for their children, parents might benefit from having more information and awareness. There is a possibility that the kind of parenting that is modelled for parents will have an influence on the way their children eat.

Because eating behaviour may govern the food that is eaten by children, it is another component that may effect the nutritional status of children with disabilities. Because of this, the nutritional status of children with disabilities may be affected. This is due to the fact that children's eating behaviors may influence the foods they consume. The manner in which a person responds to the presence of food is referred to as their eating habit [5]. This reaction manifests itself in the form of knowledge, attitudes, and actions about food and the nutritional components that are included within it, as well as the processing of food and other issues linked to this field.

Eating behavior may be characterized as a person's way of thinking, perceiving, and having knowledge about food, which is then demonstrated via the behaviors of eating and the choosing of food [6]. One way to think about eating behavior is as a style of thinking, perceiving, and having knowledge about food. Participating in an activity that involves eating on a regular basis may eventually cause one to acquire a habit of eating [7]. A person's eating behavior may be defined as the actions they perform in relation to food, and it is influenced not just by how they perceive food but also by how much they know about it. The study of eating behavior focuses on how people respond to food, which is recognized as an important factor in the maintenance of life.

When we speak about a person's nutritional status, we are referring to the depiction of a state of equilibrium or the embodiment of nutrition in the form of particular variables. This is what we mean when we say that a person's nutrition is at a given level. The physiological condition that arises as a direct consequence of the presence or absence of nutrients inside the cells of the body is referred to as the state of nutrition [8]. A person's level of nutrition may be thought of as the equilibrium that exists between the amount of nutrients taken in, the amount of nutrients absorbed, and the amount of nutrients used [9]. Nutritional illnesses may be broken down into four categories: under nutrition, specific nutritional deficiency, excess nutrition, and nutritional imbalance. The term "under nutrition" refers to a state in which a person does not consume enough food throughout the course of a certain amount of time, whether partially or entirely. A shortage of specific nutrients is referred to as a particular deficiency, whereas a disproportion of nutrients is referred to as an imbalance [10, 11]. A person is said to have over nutrition if they eat an abnormally high quantity of food within a certain length of time. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not there is a correlation between the way in which parents bring up their children and the eating patterns of those children, in addition to the nutritional state of such children.

Methods

Studies that are considered to be part of this category are those that are quantitative in nature, make use of an analytical observational approach, and use a cross-sectional study design. The sample for this study was comprised of the individuals who took part in the research, and 96 of the participants' parents, guardians, or other caregivers also responded to the questionnaire. The method of sampling that is used is known as simple random sampling, and it guarantees that every population may be represented in the findings by ensuring that the samples are drawn at random.

Primary data and secondary data are both sorts of data that may be gathered, but the processes by which they are gathered are completely distinct from one another. A questionnaire was used to collect primary data, which included information on respondent identity, parenting style, eating behavior, and the determination of the nutritional status of children with disabilities was accomplished by measuring the child's height and weight with the assistance of a microtome and weighing scales. Primary data were collected using a questionnaire. Primary data were collected using a questionnaire. Primary data were collected using a questionnaire. The nutritional status of these youngsters might therefore be evaluated more precisely as a result of this.

The processing of the data was carried out by using a piece of computer software known as SPSS in addition to the WHO Child Growth Standard Program. Both of these programs were used on a computer. SPSS was used to help with the tasks of processing the data that was collected from the questionnaire and assessing the link that existed between the dependent variable and the independent variable. Both of these activities included processing the data that was gained via the questionnaire. The Child Growth Standard developed by the World Health Organization is used to the process of analyzing data received from anthropometric measures in order to arrive at a conclusion on the nutritional status of each child. There are primarily two kinds of studies that may be carried out on data, and these are known as univariate and bivariate analyses.

Result and Discussion

Twenty kids out of 96 respondents were malnourished, which accounts for 21%, while 51 students, which accounts for 53%, had a nutritional state that was adequate. while 25 more students, or 26% of the total, were considered to be overweight (Table 1).

Table 1. Distribution of Respondents Based on Student Nutritional Status

Students who had the sort of parenting style that is in the form of neglect were found to have the highest frequency out of the total of 96 respondents who participated in the study. To be more exact, the contributions of thirty students accounted for 31.2% of the total. Even though the proportion of students who were raised with authoritarian parenting was the lowest, there were still 12.5% of the total students who fell into this category (Table 2).

Table 2. Distribution of Respondents Based on Parenting Style of Students' Parents

Pupils who come from households where democratic parenting is practiced have a higher likelihood of having a good nutritional status, reaching a total of 17 students (65.4%). This is a 100% increase over the previous year's numbers. Up to 8 children, or 66.6% of the total, who are raised by a parent who relies mostly on an authoritarian parenting style are considered to have a good nutritional status. Students who were brought up in households that used a more traditional approach to parenting had, on average, a greater percentage of children who had a more advantageous nutritional status (39.3% of the total). Even though the majority of children with a neglectful parenting style had a good nutritional status, as many as 15 students (50%) had an unhealthy nutritional state. This was despite the fact that the majority of children with this parenting style had a healthy nutritional status (Table 3).

Table 3. Relationship between the type of parenting style and the nutritional status

Following the completion of the research using the Spearman test, it was found that the result of p = 0.649 > 0.05 showed that Ha was rejected and H0 was accepted. This was due to the fact that it was more than 0.05. The following are some possible ways to interpret these findings: This suggests that there is not a significant link between the sort of parenting style and the nutritional condition of children who have impairments, as shown by the fact that there is no significant correlation between the two (Table 4).

Table 4. Relationship between eating behavior and nutritional status of children with disabilities

Students who have an eating habit that incorporates a love of food are more likely to have a high nutritional status, which accounts for forty students (54.8%), and have better nutritional status, which accounts for as many as twenty-three students (31.5%). compared to the children who have a nutritional status that is below what is considered ideal; there are only 10 of these pupils (13, or 7% of the total). While youngsters whose eating habit is one that is defined by food avoidance are more likely to have a The proportion of students that had a good nutritional status was the highest, coming in at 11 (47.8%), which was the highest of all of the categories. 10 children, or 43.5%, had an insufficient nutritional status, while just 2 pupils, or 8.7%, had an acceptable nutritional condition. The percentage of children with an appropriate nutritional condition was 8.7%.

The results of the chi-square test showed that the numeric value of p = 0.004 0.05 suggested that the null hypothesis H0 was rejected, while the alternative hypothesis Ha was accepted. This was demonstrated by the fact that the alternative hypothesis Ha was accepted. This lends credence to the idea that there is a significant connection between the feeding patterns of children with disabilities and the nutritional status of those children.

Relationship of Parenting Style with Nutritional Status

30 students (31.3%), had parents who may be classified as neglectful. Authoritarian parents made up the smallest share of students, yet even they were responsible for 12.5% of the student body. An abandoning parent is one who is neither too demanding or overly attentive to their child. Mothers do not take an active role in encouraging their children to eat, as seen by the lack of demandingness [12]. A lack of response, on the other hand, may indicate that mothers aren't paying as much attention as they should to their children's nutritional needs [13]. As a result, kids may make up their own minds about what they eat, and parents have no influence on that decision, either good or bad.

Different parenting approaches, and even general parenting philosophies, may affect children's dietary well-being. Women's approach to feeding their children is referred to as "eating parenting," which focuses on how food is prepared and eaten. The nutritional health of children may be greatly affected by the amount and quality of the food they consume, thus this must be carefully considered and planned for in advance. However, the questionnaire used in this study did not reveal whether or if parents also control their children's food intake in addition to their meal choices.

Student's nutritional health was shown to be generally better in households where permissive parenting was used. Permissive parenting is a technique in which a parent enables his or her child to participate in potentially dangerous activities, such eating, without providing enough monitoring [14]. The child has complete control over when meals are eaten and what foods are offered. Because children are more likely to choose unhealthy meals over healthy ones, permissive parenting is linked to a risk of obesity that is twice as high as that associated with conventional parenting.

The majority of children whose parents displayed inattentive parenting practices had a normal or above-average body mass index, according to the study's results. Fifteen individuals, or almost half the class, were included in this study group. This is because other family members often help keep an eye on kids at mealtimes, which allows for better control over their caloric intake.

There were also five pupils, or 19.2% of the total, whose parents used authoritarian parenting styles despite their children being underweight. This is due to a combination of factors, one of which is the parent's ignorance of the need of proper nourishment and knowledge of the child's condition.

The mother's understanding of how to care for a kid with special needs is crucial because it will lead to greater awareness and, eventually, the ability to act in line with the mother's knowledge. Having solid information is crucial for this reason [15]. Knowledge is a vital component in the building of any activity. This is because the mother hasn't learned enough about raising children with special needs and hasn't actively sought out more information to improve her parenting skills in this area.

Relationship between eating behavior and nutritional status

The chi-square test findings indicated a p-value of 0.004 and 0.05, which is statistically significant enough to reject the null hypothesis H0 in favour of the alternative hypothesis Ha. Proof of this may be found in the acceptance of the null hypothesis's alternative, Ha. This provides support for the hypothesis that the eating habits of children with impairments are significantly related to their nutritional condition.

A child's nutritional condition, including the prevalence of undernutrition and over nutrition, may be affected by the way in which their food is consumed [16]. Research has been carried out since previous studies have shown that students with better diets are more likely to be regular eaters and foodies. Extreme fondness for eating may have unintended consequences for kids' health, especially when it comes to their nutritional status and the risk of obesity [17]. Young children may have difficulties with this. The health of infants and toddlers may be more vulnerable to this.

Two of the students, or 8.7% of the total, were overweight and tried to regulate their weight by skipping meals. Many factors contributed to this, including the practice of some parents who are concerned about their children's weight imposing dietary restrictions on their children [18]. This was especially true for families where mental illness or mental retardation ran rampant, as was often the case with parents of children with these conditions. These two pupils are exhibiting symptoms of food avoidance that are common among children with mental issues or mental retardation. Picky eating is another trait often noticed in children with mental disorders or mental retardation. They've both had much too much to eat today [19]. Compared to their typically developing peers, children with mental health issues have an increased chance of becoming overweight. This is due to the fact that people with poor mental health are more likely to engage in risky behaviors, such as eating unhealthy foods and not getting enough exercise.

The opposite is true for children with autism spectrum disorders, who are more prone to engage in unhealthy eating behaviors and be undernourished. This is because these kids are more likely to be on their own. Because they have trouble digesting, absorbing, and using the nutrients they eat, autistic children tend to choose low-nutrient diets and detest specific kinds of vegetables. The reason for this is that autistic youngsters tend to have a preference for low-nutrient meals. This is shown, in particular, by the fact that at this is because autistic children have been shown to exhibit a predilection for low-nutrient foods. Dietary requirements of autistic children cannot be met in a suitable way since persons with autism cannot eat foods that include gluten and casein. The aforementioned is only one of several explanations for this fact [20].

The research also revealed that 10 pupils (13.7% of the sample) were malnourished despite having eating habits close to those of foodies. Even if the students' eating habits resembled those of foodies, this was proven to be the case. It's true that kids don't eat enough to satisfy their nutritional requirements, despite the common belief that they enjoy food and are motivated to eat because of the positive effects it has on their lives. There are a variety of factors that affect children who are undernourished and whose behavior is defined by a preoccupation with food; one of them is family poverty [21]. Due to the commonality of food-related compulsions among the children who suffer from these disorders, it is important to address this issue early on. On average, a child's nutritional health suffers when their family has a low income. Families with lower finances sometimes struggle to provide their children with a balanced diet that they will like eating. Because of this, providing nutritious meals for the kids is more challenging.

Conclusion

In general, students' dietary habits are good, thus it's safe to say that the school is doing a good job. Most pupils have what researchers call a "neglectful parenting style," in which parents seldom or never engage in positive interactions with their children. When it comes to their diets, students often display the behavior of food connoisseurs. The degree to which a child's nutritional demands are met does not correlate with the parenting style of the child's parents. The nutritional status of children with disabilities is related to the method in which these kids consume. It is highly recommended that parents be able to provide their children the attention they need at every stage of development to promote the child's healthiest growth and development. Moreover, parents must be able to pay attention to, and care for, their children's nutritional needs since they are well aware that there are still many children who are in better nutritional condition than they are. It is also hoped that in the future researchers will be able to explore and discover a number of additional characteristics that may impact the nutritional state of children with disabilities, especially with respect to the quantity of food they consume.

Acknowledgments

The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University for funding this work through Small Research Groups under grant number (RGP.2 /136/43)

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Citation: Mohammad Nayef Ayasrah, Mohamad Ahmad Saleem Khasawneh, "Relationship between Parenting Style and Eating Behavior with the Nutritional Status of Children with Disabilities". Clin Schizophr Relat Psychoses 17S2 (2023) doi: 10.37421/CSRP.2023.17.150

Copyright: � 2023 Ayasrah, MN, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.