Table 1 Overall study description

Harris, Jansen & Rossi, 2020 

Australia [28]

To explore fathers' perceptions,

beliefs, attitudes and lived experiences of mealtime interactions with children and other family members

Convenience sampling at a work site

Fathers of children aged 0 –12 years

27

Fathers

\(\le\) 12 years

Not specified

Focus group

Grounded theory

7

Khandpur, Charles, & Davison,

2016 

USA [16]

To examine co-parenting dynamics in the context of food parenting in a diverse sample of fathers

Purposive sampling and snowball sampling from the community, existing database, social network

Fathers of a child aged between 2–10 years

37

Fathers

2–10 years

White or black, non-Hispanic

semi-structured interviews

Thematic analysis

8

Khandpur, Charles, Blaine et al., 2016

USA [33]

To identify the specific food parenting practices utilized by fathers and describe how these practices varied by fathers’ education levels and their residential status

Purposive sampling and snowball sampling from the community, existing database, social network

Fathers of a child aged between 2–10 years

40

Fathers

2–10 years

White & black

Semi-structured interviews

Thematic analysis

8

Lindsay et al. 2018

USA [19]

To examine Latino fathers’ beliefs, attitudes and practices related to their young children’s eating, physical activity, and sedentary behavior

28

Fathers

2 – 8 years

Latino

Focus group

Thematic analysis

7

Lowenstein et al

2013

USA [34]

To explore the cultural implications on Latino caregivers’ definition of obesity and feelings about the provider–parent interaction when dis cussing

weight, diet and physical activity

Convenience sampling in the community

Male parent/caregiver of a child who was 12 years or younger

24

Fathers

\(\le\) 12 years

Black, White & Latino

Focus groups discussion; observation of verbal and nonverbal interactions

Thematic analysis

7

Neshteruk et al., 2020 [20]

To characterise fathers’ involvement in children’s physical activity as well as to identify the physical activity parenting practices commonly used by fathers

Convenience sampling in the community

Fathers aged \(\ge\) 18 years having a child aged between 3–11 years

24

Fathers

3 – 11 years

White,

Black

Semi-structured interviews

Deductive thematic analysis

8

Salemonsen et al., 2022 [35]

to explore perceptions of contributing factors to childhood overweight and obesity among fathers of children with overweight or obesity and the fathers’ experiences of their parental role caring for a child with overweight or obesity

Purposive sampling in the community

8

Fathers

4–16 years

Not specified

Semi-structured interview

Thematic analysis

8

Sherman & Smith, 2019

USA [32]

To investigate African American (AA) fathers’ perceived role in promoting healthful decisions related to dietary patterns among their children

Purposive sampling with snowball sampling in the community

AA fathers aged \(\ge\) 18 years having a child aged between 6–18 years

20

Fathers

6 – 18 years

AA

Focus group

Grounded theory

8

Tan et al

2020

USA [26]

To understand how fathers and mothers jointly navigate child feeding and identify areas of child feeding where fathers and mothers agree and/or disagree

Convenience sampling in the community, clinics, child care centers etc

married or cohabitating heterosexual couples, both have lived with the child for at least 1 years

30 couples = 60

Mothers, fathers

3– 5.99 years

White & black

Non-Hispanic

Focus group

Thematic analysis

8

Turner et al

2014 

USA [27]

To examine Mexican American and Mexican immigrant fathers’ and mothers’ approaches to making decisions about their family’s lifestyle behaviors, as well as current diet and physical activities

Convenience sampling in the Mexican community (local libraries and schools)

Two parents Mexican–American or Mexican–immigrant families with school aged children

66

Mothers, fathers

1–18 years

Mexican- American & Mexican

Focus groups

Grounded theory

8

Vollmer

2018

USA [30]

To understand how fathers of preschool-age children define overweight and obesity in children and what leads a child to become overweight or obese, investigate how fathers control or attempt to control their child’s weight, and explore the father’s perceived role in making decisions regarding his child’s weight status

Online survey

Fathers of \(\ge\) one child aged 3–5 years reporting eating more than one meal/wk with the child, and being aged \(\ge\) 18 years

117

Fathers

3–5 years

White, Non-Hispanic

Open-ended questions

Content analysis

7

Walsh et al. 2017

Australia [31]

To assess fathers' beliefs and perceived roles in the eating and physical activity behaviors of their young children, and examine fathers' views regarding the type of support they require to best promote healthy eating and physical activity behaviors in their young children

Purposive sampling and snowball sampling in the community

Fathers of at least one child aged \(\le\) 5 years

20

Fathers

Mean age = 3.6 years

Not specified

Semi-structured interviews

Thematic analysis

7

Zhang et al

2018

USA [29]

To explore Latino fathers’ perspectives and parenting practice experiences regarding early adolescents’ eating, physical activity, and screen-time behaviors

Convenience sampling at the Latino community centers and one charter school

Fathers self-identified as Latino having a least one child aged 10–14 years

26

Fathers

10–14 years

Latino

Focus groups

Grounded theory

7