Though parental modeling is thought to play a critical role in promoting children's healthy eating, little research has examined maternal food intake and maternal food talk as independent predictors of children's food intake. The present study examines maternal food talk during a structured eating protocol, in which mothers and their children had the opportunity to eat a series of familiar and unfamiliar vegetables and desserts. Several aspects of maternal talk during the protocol were coded, including overall food talk, directives, pronoun use, and questions. This study analyzed the predictors of maternal food talk and whether maternal food talk and maternal food intake predicted children's food intake during the protocol. Higher maternal body mass index (BMI) predicted lower amounts of food talk, pronoun use, and questions. Higher child BMI z-scores predicted more first person pronouns and more wh-questions within maternal food talk. Mothers of older children used fewer directives, fewer second person pronouns, and fewer yes/no questions. However, maternal food talk (overall and specific types of food talk) did not predict children's food intake. Instead, the most robust predictor of children's food intake during this protocol was the amount of food that mothers ate while sitting with their children. These findings emphasize the importance of modeling healthy eating through action and have implications for designing interventions to provide parents with more effective tools to promote their children's healthy eating.

Families discuss food and eating in many ways that may shape child eating habits. Researchers studying how families talk about food have examined this process during meals. Little work has examined parent-child food-related interactions outside of mealtime. We assessed family food talk at home outside of mealtime and tested whether food talk was associated with obesogenic child eating behaviors, maternal feeding practices, or child weight. Preschool and school-aged mother-child dyads (n=61) participated in naturalistic voice recording using a LENA (Language ENvironment Analysis) recorder. A coding scheme was developed to reliably characterize different types of food talk from LENA transcripts. Mothers completed the Children’s Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) and Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ) to assess child eating behaviors and maternal feeding practices. Child weight and height were measured and body mass index z-score (BMIz) calculated. Bivariate associations among food talk types, as a proportion of total speech, were examined and multivariate regression models used to test associations between food talk and child eating behaviors, maternal feeding practices, and child BMIz. Proportion of child Overall Food Talk and Food Explanations were positively associated with CEBQ Food Responsiveness and Enjoyment of Food (p’s<.05). Child food Desire/Need and child Prep/Planning talk were positively associated with CEBQ Enjoyment of Food (p<.05). Child Food Enjoyment talk and mother Overt Restriction talk were positively associated with CEBQ Emotional Over-Eating (p<.05). Mother Monitoring talk was positively associated with CFQ Restriction (p<.05). Mother Prep/Planning talk was negatively associated with child BMIz. Food talk outside of mealtimes related to child obesogenic eating behaviors and feeding practices in expected ways; examining food talk outside of meals is a novel way to consider feeding practices and child eating behavior.

Summary Background Little is known about how mothers respond to their child eating palatable foods. Objectives The objectives of the study are to examine maternal behaviours when children are presented with a large portion of energy‐dense palatable food in an experimental setting and to examine differences by child weight status. Methods Mother–child dyads (N = 37) (mean child age 70.8 months) participated in a videotaped eating protocol with cupcakes. Anthropometrics were measured. Videos were analysed using discourse analysis and were reliably coded for the presence or absence of the most salient theme. Analysis of variance examined theme presence by child and mother weight status. Results Mothers disavowed responsibility for their child's eating. Mothers were observed to roll their eyes at the child, throw their hands up in exasperation and distance themselves both physically and emotionally when the child ate the cupcakes voraciously or with high enjoyment. Mothers of children with obesity (vs recommended weight) engaged in more counts of disavowal (p = 0.01). Conclusions Mothers of children with obesity distanced themselves from their child, seeming to disavow responsibility for the child's eating of ‘junk food’. Mothers may respond to their child's seemingly gluttonous eating by disavowing responsibility due to the stigma of being a parent of a child with obesity.