Dataset Information

A Bidirectional Analysis of Feeding Practices and Eating Behaviors in Parent/Child Dyads from Low-Income and Minority Households.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To prospectively examine the bidirectional relationship between parental feeding practices (eg, instrumental feeding, encouragement to eat) and child eating behaviors (eg, food responsiveness, emotional eating) in low-income, ethnically diverse preschool children over a 3-year period.

Study design

Parent/child (age 2-4 years at baseline) pairs (n = 222 non-Hispanics; n = 312 Hispanics) participated in NET-Works (Now Everybody Together for Amazing and Healthful Kids), a randomized controlled trial carried out in community and in-home settings in urban areas of Minnesota. Data were collected at baseline and 12, 24, and 36 months. The present study is a secondary data analysis using cross-lagged models to identify bidirectional associations between parental feeding practices and child eating behaviors.

Results

Three models showed significant cross-lagged effects (P < .05): model 1, parental instrumental feeding influencing later child food responsiveness; model 2, parental emotional feeding influencing later child food responsiveness; and model 3, parental emotional feeding influencing later child eating satiety. Model 1 showed significant bidirectional temporal paths, whereas models 2 and 3 showed significant unidirectional temporal paths from parental feeding practices to child eating behaviors.

Conclusions

Parental instrumental and emotional feeding practices prospectively influence child food responsiveness and satiety. This study demonstrates causal temporality between parental feeding practices and child eating behaviors. Heath care providers may want to use findings regarding parent feeding practices as part of their anticipatory guidance during well-child visits with parents of preschoolers.

SUBMITTER: Berge JM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7252585 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Background:Parent feeding styles have been linked to child weight status across multiple studies. However, to our knowledge, the link between feeding styles and children's dietary quality, a more proximal outcome, has not been investigated. Objective:The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between parent feeding styles and dietary quality of Head Start preschoolers' dinner meals. Design:The amount of food served and consumed by children was measured by using a standardized digital photography method during 3 in-home dinner observations of low-income minority families in Houston, Texas. Trained dietitians entered food served and consumed into the Nutrient Data System for Research 2009 for nutrient analysis. Overall dietary quality of the food served and consumed at dinner was evaluated by using the Healthy Eating Index 2010 (HEI-2010). Parent feeding style was assessed with the use of the Caregiver's Feeding Style Questionnaire (CFSQ). On the basis of a parent's level of demandingness and responsiveness to his or her child during feeding, the CFSQ categorizes parent feeding into 4 styles: authoritative (high demandingness and high responsiveness), authoritarian (high demandingness and low responsiveness), indulgent (low demandingness and high responsiveness), or uninvolved (low demandingness and low responsiveness). Results:For the overall sample, the mean ± SD HEI score for dinner served was 44.2 ± 8.4, and the mean ± SD HEI score for dinner consumed was 43.4 ± 7.0. In the fully adjusted model, ANCOVA indicated that the authoritative parent feeding style was associated with significantly higher child dietary quality compared with the authoritarian feeding style (mean ± SEE HEI consumed-authoritative 45.5 ± 0.9; authoritarian: 41.9 ± 0.7; P = 0.001). Conclusions:Parent feeding style contributes to the overall dietary quality of children, and among low-income minority preschoolers an authoritative feeding style was associated with the highest dietary quality of the 4 feeding styles. Interventions to promote feeding practices that contribute to authoritative feeding are needed to improve the dietary quality of preschool children at dinner. This trial was registered at https://clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02696278.

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