Food avoidance in children. The influence of maternal feeding practices and behaviours

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the contribution of a broad range of maternal feeding practices in predicting parental reports of food avoidance eating behaviours in young children, after controlling for child temperament, and maternal dietary restraint which have previously been associated with feeding problems. One hundred and four mothers of children aged between 3 and 6 years completed self report measures of their child's eating behaviour and temperament, maternal dietary restraint and child feeding practices. Maternal reports of food avoidance eating behaviours were associated with an emotional child temperament, high levels of maternal feeding control, using food for behaviour regulation and low encouragement of a balanced and varied food intake. Maternal feeding practices, predominantly pressure to eat, significantly predicted food avoidance eating behaviours after controlling for child emotionality and maternal dietary restraint. The significant contribution of maternal feeding practices, which are potentially modifiable behaviours, suggests that the feeding interactions of parents and their children should be targeted for intervention and the prevention of feeding difficulties during early childhood. Future research should continue to explore how a broader range of feeding practices, particular those that may be more adaptive, might influence child eating behaviour.

Fat brains, greedy genes, and parent power: A biobehavioural risk model of child and adult obesity

“…In support of these rather pessimistic hypotheses, higher pressure shows associations with parent reports of lower child enjoyment of food, and higher satiety sensitivity, slowness in eating and food fussiness (Gregory et al, 2010b;McPhie et al, 2011;Webber et al, 2010a), greater child dietary restraint, disinhibited eating, and emotional eating (Carper et al, 2000), greater food avoidance behaviours (Powell et al, 2011), greater neophobia (fear of new foods) and intake of unhealthy snack foods (Brown et al, 2008), and lower fruit and vegetable intake Wardle et al, 2005;Wyse et al, 2011). Johnson & Birch (1994) additionally found that high scores on a general scale of parental control over feeding (e.g. '…”

Saudi Arabian Mothers’ Child Feeding Practices, Autonomy, and Concern about Child Weight

“…Higher levels of pressure are associated with decreased intake of fruit and vegetable, and increased consumption of low energy-dense foods (fast foods and junk foods during early childhood for both genders) [40]. Furthermore, children who ate unwillingly were more likely to develop avoidant eating behaviors [9,13]. Saudi mothers using such practices could have future implications on children's weight.…”

“…Improper feeding practices may impact children's weight status and cause childhood obesity [9][10][11]. Improper feeding practices may endanger children for eating disorders or may lead to overfeeding or underfeeding [12][13][14][15]. For example, preventing children from eating a restricted food can make them consume more of that food, and forcing them to eat can foster a distaste of that food [14,16,17].…”

Parental influences on children’s eating behaviour and characteristics of successful parent-focussed interventions

“…Pressure to eat has been associated with increased neophobia (Fisher, Mitchell, Smiciklas-Wright, & Birch, 2002;Wardle et al, 2005; but see Bourcier, Bowen, Meischke, & Moinpour, 2003, for contrary evidence), food avoidance (Powell, Farrow, & Meyer, 2011), decreased liking for and consumption of the to-beeaten food (Galloway et al, 2005;Galloway, Fiorito, Francis, & Birch, 2006) and lower child BMI (in 6-8 year olds, Lee & Keller, 2012;at age 2, Farrow & Blissett, 2008). Indeed, retrospective reports have found that adults' food dislikes can be traced back to negative experiences involving pressure to eat (Batsell, Brown, Ansfield, & Paschall, 2002) and enjoyment of eating is predicted by less pressure to eat (Webber, Cooke, Hill, & Wardle, 2010).…”