Dads Help Shape Eating Habits of Their Children
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, June 2, 2025 — A dad’s eating habits can have a profound effect on their kid’s diets, even when those children are nothing but a twinkle in his eye, a new study says.
Men who established a healthy diet as teens were more likely to model healthy eating for their kids, and to keep a sharp eye on what their kids eat, researchers reported Saturday at a meeting of the American Society for Nutrition in Orlando, Fl.
“Our study found that fathers who ate healthier as teenagers were more likely to encourage positive food habits in their children,” lead author Mariane De Oliveira, a postdoctoral research fellow at Boston College, said in a news release.
“These fathers were better at modeling healthy eating — actively demonstrating good dietary habits — and monitoring their child's intake of unhealthy foods, such as certain sweets and snack foods,” she added.
For the study, researchers analyzed data from 669 men who answered questionnaires about their teenage eating habits, and years later answered questions about their kids' diet.
The men, who themselves were the children of nurses, entered the study in the 1990s and 2000s and completed at least two diet questionnaires during their teen years.
They were grown up and had kids ages 1 to 6 when researchers contacted them in 2021 and 2022 to participate in a follow-up study specifically for fathers.
Researchers assessed diet quality using the Healthy Eating Index, a common tool for measuring healthy eating patterns.
Eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy, and lean proteins boosts the score, as does moderating intake of refined grains, sodium, added sugars and saturated fats.
As teenagers, about 44% of the men had a poor diet; 40% had declining diet quality; and 16% had a diet that got healthier as they grew through adolescence, researchers said.
Those men whose diet improved during their teen years were 90% more likely to model healthy eating as fathers, results show.
They also were 60% more likely to monitor what their kids ate, researchers said.
As a result, their children were significantly more likely to eat the recommended daily amounts of fruits and vegetables, compared to kids with dads who had unhealthy diets as teens, researchers said.
“Healthy eating habits formed during adolescence not only benefit individuals but also shape future parenting behaviors, contributing to better nutrition for the next generation,” De Oliveira said.
“This is especially significant given the growing concerns around childhood obesity and poor dietary habits,” she added. “Investing in adolescent nutrition, including for boys, can have lasting, intergenerational benefits.”
Findings presented at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal
Sources
- American Society for Nutrition, news release, May 31, 2025
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted June 2025
Read this next
Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton Tears Achilles in Game 7 of NBA Finals
WEDNESDAY, June 25, 2025 — Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton tore his right Achilles tendon during the team’s loss in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, the team...
Insurers Promise to Speed Up Delays in Health Care Approvals
WEDNESDAY, June 25, 2025 — Getting approval from your insurance company before a procedure or treatment may soon get a little easier. U.S. Health and Human Services...
Monthly Obesity Shot, MariTide, Shows Big Weight Loss in Trial
WEDNESDAY, June 25, 2025 — Alternatives to weekly injections of weight-loss drugs may on the way. A monthly dose of a new drug called MariTide helped participants in a...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.