Parental Feeding Strategies Research Articles

Sex-specific negotiation rules in a costly conflict over parental care

Sexual conflict theory predicts a trade-off in individual parental care allocated to either current or future reproduction. The optimal amount of current parental effort is expected to differ between adult males and females, with a conflict resolution being reached by negotiation depending on multiple family cues. Currently, a debate exists on how negotiation takes place, along with its potential costs or benefits for all family members. In particular, the specific negotiation rules that male and female parents apply often remain obscure, which in part results from a shortage of empirical studies. We used captive canaries, Serinus canaria, to evaluate consequences of sexual conflict for the offspring by comparing uniparental (female cared for a half clutch) and biparental (both parents cared for a full clutch) families. Our results suggest overall less parental effort in biparental families and offspring were observed to beg harder for parental resources, weigh less as fledglings and tended to grow slower compared to uniparental families. To further increase our understanding of parental negotiation rules, we manipulated the degree of partner visibility and thus information about partner effort by temporarily splitting biparental families. Male and female provisioning strategies depended on both partner visibility and brood demand. An increase in male provisioning was observed after mate removal, whereas the opposite pattern was observed in females. Females, however, increased provisioning in response to offspring begging. We conclude that (1) sexual conflict over parental care is costly for the offspring, (2) sex-specific negotiation rules exist and probably relate to an asymmetry in gathered information and (3) changes in parental feeding strategies trigger a feedback mechanism via brood demand, highlighting the need to consider all family members in order to understand family conflicts and their potential resolution.

Parents’ perceptions of children's weight: the accuracy of ratings and associations to strategies for feeding

The general objective of this study was to assess parents’ perceptions of their preschooler's body weight, and the association between children's current weight status and parental feeding strategies. A sample of 150 parents of three- to five-year-old children (72 girls and 78 boys) completed questionnaires on sociodemographic information, body-size perception of their child, and feeding practices information. Children were classified into weight categories according to body mass index scores. Results showed that: (1) parents of children who were overweight were less accurate in determining their child's body size, (2) parents who did perceive their child's body size accurately reported being more concerned with their child's eating habits and weight when this child was actually overweight, (3) parents who were accurate in perceiving their child's weight reported using more food restriction than parents who were inaccurate, and (4) parents of girls reported significantly more monitoring of sweets and snack food consumption than parents of boys. Prevention programmes should be implemented in early childhood and include parent education components.

Continuity in Primary School Children’s Eating Problems and the Influence of Parental Feeding Strategies

Eating problems are highly prevalent and seem to show continuity in children. Nevertheless, the effect of different maternal and paternal feeding practices on changes in these problems is not fully understood yet. This study examines short-term continuity in primary school children's overeating, loss of control (over eating), restraint and concerns (about eating, body shape and weight) and the predictive value of parental feeding strategies on change in these eating problems. Children (8-12years, n=613, 46.5% girls) completed the Child Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (ChEDE-Q) twice with the second measurement (T2) taking place 6months after the first (T1). Parents (n=714, 57.7% mothers) completed the Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ) at T1 to assess the level of controlling feeding strategies. More overeating, restraint and concerns at T1 predicted higher levels of the same eating problems 6months later, whereas more of loss of control at T1 predicted lower levels of loss of control 6months later. Additionally, the interaction between maternal pressure and the gender of the child was predictive for increases in overeating, whereas the interaction between paternal monitoring and gender of the child was a marginally significant predictor for decreases in overeating. These findings point to the possible negative and positive effects of parental feeding practices as well as to the possible larger influence of mothers on their daughters' and of fathers on their sons' eating behaviors. The importance of studying mothers and fathers, as well as daughters and sons, and of including different feeding strategies and eating problems is discussed.

Problematisches Essverhalten im Kindesalter:

Past research indicates an association in adults and young people of emotional and contextual factors with a higher risk for the development of eating disorders or obesity. Few studies focus on problematic eating patterns in childhood, especially in association with parental feeding strategies. 482 mothers completed a questionnaire about eating behaviors and the weight status of their 1- to 10-year-old child as well as their own feeding strategies. A classification of the child's eating behavior (food responsiveness, emotional eating, external eating, eating time and meal structure) using hierarchical cluster analysis revealed a conspicuous eating pattern (10%) showing above-average values in all eating behaviors. Controlling for weight and demographic variables mothers of children with conspicuous eating patterns were characterized by restrictive strategies and were less likely to encourage or facilitate their child to control his or her eating. Similar problematic eating patterns were also identified in early childhood. The association of maternal feeding strategies--beyond weight control issues--with conspicuous eating patterns in children might indicate a possibility of early prevention through parent training.

Parent Feeding Strategies: Behavior Change Following an Intervention Program

Parent Feeding Strategies: Behavior Change Following an Intervention Program

The psychology behind growth faltering

Infants and children can regulate their intake reasonably well from an early age to accord with their growth requirements (Fomon et al., 1975). Young children whose growth is faltering have been shown to have a significantly lower energy intake at meal times than control-group children (Drewett et al., 2004). Therefore, when children do not maintain growth at the expected rate and, if there are no medical reasons for growth failure, we might look at various psycho-physiological factors to explain why they are not taking in sufficient food. These factors would be past pain or vomiting associated with eating, poor appetite regulation, missed sensitive periods for food introduction, oral-motor dysfunction, developmental stages in preference acquisition, such as the onset of the neophobic or disgust response, child sensory sensitivity, and parental feeding strategies.

Feeding goals sought by mothers of 3–5‐year‐old children

One means through which children learn eating behaviours is the feeding strategies used by parents. Although research has studied the effects of parental feeding strategies on consumption, choice, and liking, little is known about the goals parents themselves seek. The study aimed to explore the feeding goals sought by parents of preschool children. An exploratory qualitative study using in-depth, semi-structured interviews was undertaken. Data were analysed using thematic and interpretative techniques. A snowballing sample of 12 mothers of children aged 3-5 years was used. Mothers were asked to recall and talk through their feeding experiences with this child. Probe questions were used to explore the reasoning behind the actions described. Data were transcribed and subjected to concurrent coding and interpretation. Mothers spontaneously classified their child as a 'good' or a 'bad' eater. Consumption emerged as the dominant feeding goal. For 'bad' eaters, a short-term goal of consuming any food, rather than no food, was adopted. For 'good' eaters, a long-term goal of consuming a varied, well-balanced diet was favoured. Liking as a feeding goal was not mentioned. Although the literature suggests that liking is the most appropriate feeding goal for the establishment of long-term healthy eating behaviours, parents do not knowingly, repeatedly and consistently target food likes as a direct outcome of their feeding strategies. Interventions that focus on 'how' parents feed their children, as well as 'what', are recommended.

Treatment of a 7-Year Old Girl With Long-standing Disordered Eating Behaviors Since Infancy

The authors present the case of a 7-year-old girl with disordered eating secondary to severe symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux (GER) experienced during infancy. Symptoms include deficits in interpreting signs of hunger and refusals to eat, leading to latent physical development. Methods of assessment include parent and child interviews, child eating behaviors and parental feeding strategies questionnaires, a 2-week food record, and mealtime behavioral observations. The objective of treatment was weight gain through decreasing problematic eating behaviors: dawdling eating, excessive talking at mealtime, and frequently leaving the table during meals. Cognitive-behavioral approaches (eg, using reinforcements and consequences, increasing food intake by small portion sizes, and increasing the child's awareness of signs of hunger through direct prompts and parental modeling) were successful, and parents reported physical growth weight gain at 6-month follow-up.

Maternal feeding strategies and child's food intake: considering weight and demographic influences using structural equation modeling

BackgroundResearch concerning child's food intake have considered various influencing factors, for example parental feeding strategies, demographic and weight factors. At this time, however, there are few findings that explore these factors simultaneously. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to test a structural equation model regarding the associations between maternal feeding strategies and child's food intake.Methods556 mothers and their children between 1 and 10 years of age participated in this cross-sectional study. Besides socio-demographic and weight data, the mothers were asked about their feeding strategies as well as their child's food intake.ResultsThe well-fitting model explained 73% of the variance in the child's consumption of healthy and 34% of unhealthy food. In addition to the effect of the mother's social status and the child's age, a rewarding and modeling feeding behavior significantly influenced the child's food intake.ConclusionThe results highlight the relevance of maternal feeding behavior on the child's food intake. In terms of preventing eating- or weight-related problems, the findings indicate the usefulness of training parents in explicit modeling behavior and avoiding food as a reward.

Feeding strategies used by mothers of 3–5-year-old children

Appropriate use of parental feeding strategies could help establish healthy childhood eating practices. Research suggests that repeated taste exposure and modelling may be effective, pressuring and restricting may be counterproductive, and rewards may be effective or counterproductive depending on their use. However, little is known about the extent to which parents employ these strategies and within what contexts. The present study explored this using qualitative interviews with twelve mothers of children aged 3–5 years. Common strategies involved modelling, attempts to influence the child's attitudes and norms, and use of moderate pressure. The results are discussed in relation to the literature.

Parental feeding practices and children's weight

Global increases in childhood obesity rates demand that we tackle the problem from many directions. One promising avenue is to explore the impact of parental feeding practices, particularly those related to parental control over children's intake. In this paper, we review studies of parent feeding and child adiposity covering a range of research methodologies (case-control studies, high risk studies, cross-sectional community studies and longitudinal cohort studies). We also present results from a cross-sectional community study of pre-schoolers (n = 439) and a longitudinal study of twins from ages of 4 to 7 years (n = 3175 pairs). We conclude that parents are more likely to encourage leaner than heavier children to eat, but relationships between adiposity and other parental feeding strategies are unclear. We suggest that future research should: (i) explore the impact of a comprehensive range of authoritative and authoritarian parental feeding behaviours, preferably using the same validated scales consistently across studies; (ii) test the generalisation of existing findings to diverse socio-economic and ethnic groups and (iii) utilise experimental, prospective and genetic methodologies to explore the causal relationships between parental feeding and child weight. We describe current projects in our own group that are designed to take forward these recommendations.

Predictors of disinhibited eating in children with and without overweight

Objective This study examined how 7–13-year-old children with and without overweight respond to free access to snack food in the absence of hunger and whether this eating behaviour could be predicted by parental feeding strategies and child's characteristics. Methods A total of 52 children (26 normal weight and 26 overweight children) were exposed to snack food after consuming a typical meal. Parental feeding practices and child's variables were assessed via self-report. Results Two-third of the sample ate of the presented snacks and consumed an average of 68 g. Overweight boys consumed twice as much than the normal weight boys. Parental feeding strategies did not contribute to the prediction of this eating behaviour. Regardless of the children's weight status, the child's eating style strongly predicted snack intake. Conclusions This study provides evidence that overweight boys show difficulties in regulating their eating behaviour. Inconsistent with previous work, no evidence for parental contribution of snack intake was found. The present findings suggest that in older children especially children's own eating style account for the variance in snack eating behaviour.

Maternal Feeding Strategies, Child Eating Behaviors, and Child BMI in Low‐Income African‐American Preschoolers

To test the hypothesis that low-income African-American preschool children would have a higher BMI if their mothers reported greater "restriction" and "control" in feeding and if mothers reported that children showed greater "food responsiveness" and "desire to drink." In addition, to test whether higher maternal "pressure to eat" would be associated with lower child BMI. A questionnaire was completed by 296 low-income African-American mothers of preschool children. It assessed three constructs on maternal feeding strategies ("restriction," "pressure to eat," and "control") and two on child eating behaviors ("food responsiveness" and "desire to drink"). Children's BMI was measured, and mothers' BMI was self-reported. The mean (standard deviation) BMI z-score of the children was 0.34 (1.5), and 44% of the mothers were obese (BMI > or =30 kg/m(2)). Only maternal "pressure to eat" had a significant overall association with child BMI z-score (r = -0.16, p < 0.01). Both maternal "restriction" and "control" were positively associated with children's BMI z-score in the case of obese mothers (r = 0.20, p = 0.03 and r = 0.24, p = 0.007, respectively), but this was not so in the case of non-obese mothers (r = -0.16, p = 0.05 and r = -0.07, p = 0.39, respectively). Among low-income African Americans, the positive association between maternal restriction and control in feeding and their preschoolers' BMI was limited to obese mothers. Relations between parent feeding strategies and child weight status in this population may differ on the basis of maternal weight status.

Measuring feeding in low-income African–American and Hispanic parents

Current feeding measures have been developed based on the premise that a child's obesity risk is increased when parents exert high levels of control over feeding. Although these measures provide useful ways to assess parental restrictiveness in feeding, they do not capture other important aspects of feeding that describe the behavior of parents not overly concerned about child obesity. Alternative measures are important to develop, especially for minority populations where concerns about child obesity are often not a significant determinant of parental feeding practices. The current study describes a culturally informed method used to develop a broader assessment of parental feeding strategies across two low-income ethnic groups. To be able to accurately measure cultural differences associated with feeding, qualitative and quantitative methods were used to assure conceptual, linguistic, and measurement equivalency across African–American and Hispanic parents. Based on responses from 231 parents, mean differences in feeding strategies were found with Hispanic parents reporting significantly more parent-centered/high control and child-centered feeding strategies compared to African–Americans. Furthermore, the relationship between children's weight status and parental feeding strategies varied by the two ethnic groups and child gender. Implications of these results for understanding the role of parental socialization in the development of child obesity are discussed.