Conceptualizing Family Influences on Children’s Energy Balance-Related Behaviors: Levels of Interacting Family Environmental Subsystems (The LIFES Framework)
Healthy or unhealthy behavioral patterns develop and are maintained in a family context. The importance of the family environment for children’s and adolescents’ energy balance-related behaviors (EBRBs) has been shown previously. However, the way different family environmental fa...
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doaj-2c9682e2285f4e98bc0e6da3535d64cd2020-11-24T22:08:52ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health1660-46012018-12-011512271410.3390/ijerph15122714ijerph15122714Conceptualizing Family Influences on Children’s Energy Balance-Related Behaviors: Levels of Interacting Family Environmental Subsystems (The LIFES Framework)Christina Y.N. Niermann0Sanne M.P.L. Gerards1Stef P.J. Kremers2Department of Sport Science, University of Konstanz, P.O. Box 30, 78457 Konstanz, GermanyDepartment of Health Promotion, NUTRIM School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University, 6200 MD Maastricht, The NetherlandsDepartment of Health Promotion, NUTRIM School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University, 6200 MD Maastricht, The NetherlandsHealthy or unhealthy behavioral patterns develop and are maintained in a family context. The importance of the family environment for children’s and adolescents’ energy balance-related behaviors (EBRBs) has been shown previously. However, the way different family environmental factors are interrelated and interact with personal factors (e.g., motivation) are not well understood. Furthermore, the majority of studies have focused on the parent-child subsystem. However, there are family-level socialization dynamics that affect the development of a healthy lifestyle beyond the impact of parenting behaviors. The current paper aims to synthesize theoretical and empirical literature on different types of family influences. The Levels of Interacting Family Environmental Subsystems (LIFES) framework incorporates family influences on three levels (immediate, proximal, distal) and of three subsystems (individual, parent-child, family), relates them to each other and postulates potential paths of influence on children’s EBRBs. Several studies examining specific sections of the framework provide empirical support for LIFES’ propositions. Future studies should place their research in the context of the interrelationship of different family environmental influences. A better understanding of the interrelated influences would enhance the understanding of the development and maintenance of overweight and obesity among children and is crucial for the development of effective interventions.https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/12/2714health behaviorphysical activityeating behaviorsedentary behaviorfamily environmentfamily systemsparentsparental behavior |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Christina Y.N. Niermann Sanne M.P.L. Gerards Stef P.J. Kremers |
spellingShingle |
Christina Y.N. Niermann Sanne M.P.L. Gerards Stef P.J. Kremers Conceptualizing Family Influences on Children’s Energy Balance-Related Behaviors: Levels of Interacting Family Environmental Subsystems (The LIFES Framework) International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health health behavior physical activity eating behavior sedentary behavior family environment family systems parents parental behavior |
author_facet |
Christina Y.N. Niermann Sanne M.P.L. Gerards Stef P.J. Kremers |
author_sort |
Christina Y.N. Niermann |
title |
Conceptualizing Family Influences on Children’s Energy Balance-Related Behaviors: Levels of Interacting Family Environmental Subsystems (The LIFES Framework) |
title_short |
Conceptualizing Family Influences on Children’s Energy Balance-Related Behaviors: Levels of Interacting Family Environmental Subsystems (The LIFES Framework) |
title_full |
Conceptualizing Family Influences on Children’s Energy Balance-Related Behaviors: Levels of Interacting Family Environmental Subsystems (The LIFES Framework) |
title_fullStr |
Conceptualizing Family Influences on Children’s Energy Balance-Related Behaviors: Levels of Interacting Family Environmental Subsystems (The LIFES Framework) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Conceptualizing Family Influences on Children’s Energy Balance-Related Behaviors: Levels of Interacting Family Environmental Subsystems (The LIFES Framework) |
title_sort |
conceptualizing family influences on children’s energy balance-related behaviors: levels of interacting family environmental subsystems (the lifes framework) |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
issn |
1660-4601 |
publishDate |
2018-12-01 |
description |
Healthy or unhealthy behavioral patterns develop and are maintained in a family context. The importance of the family environment for children’s and adolescents’ energy balance-related behaviors (EBRBs) has been shown previously. However, the way different family environmental factors are interrelated and interact with personal factors (e.g., motivation) are not well understood. Furthermore, the majority of studies have focused on the parent-child subsystem. However, there are family-level socialization dynamics that affect the development of a healthy lifestyle beyond the impact of parenting behaviors. The current paper aims to synthesize theoretical and empirical literature on different types of family influences. The Levels of Interacting Family Environmental Subsystems (LIFES) framework incorporates family influences on three levels (immediate, proximal, distal) and of three subsystems (individual, parent-child, family), relates them to each other and postulates potential paths of influence on children’s EBRBs. Several studies examining specific sections of the framework provide empirical support for LIFES’ propositions. Future studies should place their research in the context of the interrelationship of different family environmental influences. A better understanding of the interrelated influences would enhance the understanding of the development and maintenance of overweight and obesity among children and is crucial for the development of effective interventions. |
topic |
health behavior physical activity eating behavior sedentary behavior family environment family systems parents parental behavior |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/12/2714 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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