Assessment of infant feeding styles among low-income African-American mothers: Comparing reported and observed behaviors

Abstract

This study's goal was to provide a detailed description of feeding styles adopted by a sample of African-American women in feeding their infants in North Carolina, and to examine the correspondence between reported and observed feeding styles. Cross-sectional semi-structured interview and videotaped data were gathered in the homes of 20 participating low-income mothers of infants aged 3-20 months. Feeding styles were characterized through a tailored coding scheme (the Infant Feeding Styles Video Coding Scheme, IFSVCS) applied to both interview and videotaped data. We found that the most frequent feeding styles identified for both interviews and videotaped observations was restrictive, but that mothers were roughly equally divided among predominantly controlling (pressuring or restrictive) and less controlling (laissez-faire or indulgent) styles across methods. However, for over 2/3 of the sample, there was a lack of correspondence between interview and video-taped feeding styles. This unique characterization and comparison of observed and reported infant feeding styles provides additional insights into parental feeding approaches among mothers of infants at high risk of obesity, and highlights the need for further study of feeding style assessment and potential impact on infant weight outcomes.

The Associations of Psychosocial Factors and Infant Feeding Beliefs and Practices of Young, First Time, Low Income Mothers

“…Unlike previous studies (Dennis, 2002;Fein et al, 2008;Sacco et al, 2007;Taveras et al, 2004), our sample included a fairly homogeneous group of mothers: young, first-time, and predominantly lowincome. Most of our study participants were African-American, single or dating, and had public health insurance.…”

“…Understanding how maternal beliefs influence the implementation of complementary feeding (i.e., starting solid foods, transitioning to table food) in infants less than 1 year of age remains unclear. The few studies that have examined this phenomenon are limited by small samples and fail to identify personal maternal factors that may influence infant feeding practices (Bentley, Gavin, Black, & Teti, 1999;Sacco, Bentley, Carby-Shields, Borja, & Goldman, 2007).…”

Systematic research review of observational approaches used to evaluate mother-child mealtime interactions during preschool years

“…The studies of Farrow et al (16) and Haycraft and Blissett (18) used the Family Mealtime Coding System to code the observed maternal pressure to eat (using verbal or physical prompts) and restriction (verbally disallowing or limiting food or physically moving food out of reach) as well as maternal selfreported practices by using Child Feeding Questionnaire's (CFQ) pressure to eat and restriction subscales (35). (30,35,36) to measure verbal and physical controlling feeding practices. Observed behaviors were classified under 4 categories as follows: verbal restriction, physical restriction, verbal pressure, and physical pressure.…”

The dynamics of parenting and early feeding – constructs and controversies: a viewpoint

“…Assessment of parenting and feeding in the public health context requires the use of self-report questionnaires which raises the potential for acquiescence bias. The alternative approach of observing parent-child feeding interactions generally shows poor agreement with self-reported feeding practices (Klesges et al, 1983;Klesges, Malott, Boschee, & Weber, 1986;Sacco, Bentley, Carby-Shields, Borja, & Goldman, 2007). However, observational methods capture a snapshot of the feeding interaction during a single meal and may not accurately assess typical parent-child (feeding) interactions, while self-report questionnaires aim to assess ongoing, steady-state feeding interactions (Faith, Scanlon, Birch, Francis, & Sherry, 2004).…”