Feeding Dynamics in the Family: Relationships between Parental Feeding Practices and Child Fussy Eating

Abstract

Fussy eating, characterised by persistent refusal of familiar and/or novel food, is a risk factor for poor dietary variety, particularly fruits and vegetables which are protective against diet-related chronic diseases. Parents may attempt to modify children's diets by using feeding practices that are not responsive to a child's appetite, such as pressuring, restricting and using food as a reward. Little is known about the nature of children's fussy eating within the social, emotional and economic context of the family. This PhD thesis, presented as five papers (four published, one accepted), demonstrated the complexity of family feeding dynamics and fussy eating in children aged 5-years old and younger, in the family context of socioecocomic disadvantage. Evidence generated from this thesis suggests bi-directional behavioural associations between parental non-responsive feeding practices and child fussy eating, which may be mediated by parental concern for the child's fussy eating.