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Significance of Food Modelling: Relations Between Caregiver Eating Patterns and

Children with Diabetes Two

S1113185: Liubomir O. Dimitrov

Faculty of Social Sciences, Radboud University

SOW-PSB1AS05E: Academic Skills for Psychologists

Grace Wiewel

December 21, 2023

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Significance of Food Modelling: Relations Between Caregiver Eating Patterns and

Children with Diabetes Two

The prevalence of obesity in children has drastically increased in recent years

(Skinner et al., 2018). Obesity is defined as excessive fat that presents a health risk (World
Health Organization, 2022). It has been estimated that roughly 18.5% of American children
and adolescents were obese in 2016 compared to 1999 when obesity was calculated to be
around 14.6%. (Anderson et al., 2019). It has been proven that obesity results in higher risks
of morbidity and mortality, thus highlighting the importance of treatment (National Institutes
of Health, 1998). Many factors could contribute to the development of obesity, such as food
intake, physical activity, and other social, behavioral, and physiological factors (National
Institutes of Health, 1998). One such supposed social factor is the influence of caregiver
eating behavior.

According to the Australian Government Department of Human Services (2023), the

definition of caregivers is the member of a couple identified as having greater responsibility
for the children. It has been concluded, after decades of research, that children tend to view
their caregivers as role models, and are likely to copy their behavior (Jennifer et al., 2007).
Therefore, this puts a spotlight on how negative eating behaviors can influence the youth. If
bad eating habits are reinforced or shown as the norm, kids will likely engage in unhealthy
eating, which could lead to obesity (Khan et al., 2022). As mentioned in the paragraph above,
obesity is linked to a magnitude of other illnesses. A clear-cut example of this would be
diabetes. By increasing glucose levels to an all-time high, the likelihood of developing
diabetes 2 is very prominent.

Once a person ingests food, glucose is formed and is absorbed by cells with the
assistance of insulin from the pancreas, so that it can generate energy for the human body
(Diabetes UK, 2018). However, if this process is interrupted, it leads to high amounts of
glucose in the blood, which results in Type 2 diabetes. This disease is regarded as a chronic
metabolic disorder in which the level of glucose in the blood tends to become extremely high
(NHS, 2022). Obese children in particular are at a higher risk of developing diabetes. Some
common treatments that are used to combat this are encouraging to eat healthy, promoting
physical activity, and insulin medication, although the last one is usually only used for adults.
(Mayo Clinic, 2022).