Examining Correlates of Feeding Practices among Parents of Preschoolers

Authors

Deepa Srivastava, University of California Cooperative Extension, Tulare, CaliforniaFollow
Lucy R. Zheng, University of California, Davis
Dipti Dev, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

ORCID IDs

Srivastava https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7447-2540

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

8-2021

Citation

Nutrition and Health (2021)

doi: 10.1177/02601060211032886

PMID: 34424083

Published by Sage

Comments

Copyright © 2021, Srivastava, Zheng, and Dev. Used by permission

Abstract

Background: Parent feeding practices play a critical role in children’s eating behaviors. Limited research has explored child-level correlates of parent feeding practices.

Aim: To identify correlates of feeding practices (responsive and controlling) among parents of preschoolers in the United States.

Methods: Participants included parents (n = 273) of preschoolers (3–5 years), recruited from early care and education settings (n = 24) located in a metropolitan city in the US. Analysis included descriptives, correlations, and multiple regression.

Results: For responsive feeding practices, positive associations included child’s weight with unintentional modeling (β = .17, 95% CI [0.12, 0.53]), child vegetable consumption with behavioral role modeling (β = 0.22, 95% CI [0.17, 0.44]), and parent monitoring with verbal modeling (β = 0.21, 95% CI [0.12, 0.34]). For controlling feeding practices, parent restriction was positively associated with child weight concern (β = 0.22, 95% CI [0.13, 0.39]) and parent monitoring (β = 0.13, 95% CI [0.01, 0.19]), whereas child vegetable consumption was negatively associated (β = −0.16, 95% CI [−0.27, −0.05]). Pressure to eat was negatively associated with child weight concern (β = −0.18, 95% CI [−0.45, −0.09]), child fruit consumption (β = −0.12, 95% CI [−0.37, −0.01]), household income (β = −0.13, 95% CI [−0.30, −0.02]), and parent weight (β = −0.14, 95% CI [−0.60, −0.05]),

Conclusions: Findings highlight the importance of child characteristics when examining correlates of parent feeding practices, demonstrating bidirectional interactions between parent feeding practices and children’s eating behaviors. Considering child-level correlates may improve the implementation of responsive feeding practices and reduce controlling feeding practices.