Eating Behaviours of Preadolescent Children over Time: Stability, Continuity and the Moderating Role of Perceived Parental Feeding Practices

Abstract

The links between childhood eating behaviours and parental feeding practices are well-established in younger children, but there is a lack of research examining these variables in a preadolescent age group, particularly from the child’s perspective, and longitudinally. This study firstly aimed to examine the continuity and stability of preadolescent perceptions of their parents’ controlling feeding practices (pressure to eat and restriction) over a 12 month period. The second aim was to explore if perceptions of parental feeding practices moderated the relationship between preadolescents’ eating behaviours longitudinally. Two hundred and twenty nine preadolescents (mean age at recruitment 8.73 years) completed questionnaires assessing their eating behaviours and their perceptions of parental feeding practices at two time points, 12 months apart (T1 and T2). Preadolescents’ perceptions of their parental feeding practices remained stable. Perceptions of restriction and pressure to eat were continuous. Perceptions of parental pressure to eat and restriction significantly moderated the relationships between eating behaviours at T1 and T2. The findings from this study suggest that in a preadolescent population, perceptions of parental pressure to eat and restriction of food may exacerbate the development of problematic eating behaviours.

Parental body dissatisfaction and controlling child feeding practices: A prospective study of Australian parent-child dyads

“…Drawing on evidence of stability among parents of children in early childhood (Farrow & Blissett, 2012) and later childhood (Webber et al, 2010), in conjunction with the present results suggesting stability in middle childhood, we conclude that parents tend to report stability in their use of restrictive feeding and pressure to eat across the childhood years. This is corroborated by another study focused on middle childhood (Mage = 8.7 years), which showed that children also reported stability in their perceptions of their parents' use of pressure to eat and restrictive feeding over 12 months (Houldcroft, Farrow, & Haycraft, 2016). Taken together, this evidence of inter-individual stability suggests that a parent who scores higher than their peers on pressure to eat and restrictive feeding practices will tend to remain higher as their child grows, and a parent who scores lower will tend to remain lower.…”

What Do Polish Parents and Caregivers Think of Dietary Supplements for Children Aged 3–12?

“…It creates a threat of exceeding the upper level intake (UL) of this ingredient, which in the case of children, may lead to hypercalcaemia, hypercalciuria and kidney problems [ 25 , 26 ]. Children are a special group of potential recipients of supplements due to the fact that: They do not make their own purchasing decisions; They do not make their own decisions concerning diet [ 27 , 28 , 29 ]; They fall victim to unfair marketing practices [ 30 , 31 ]; They have different metabolic processes, which are responsible for biotransformation of active substances (metabolism and elimination), or various ways of the organism reacting to the used preparation [ 32 , 33 , 34 ]; They have very varied dietary requirements [ 35 ]. …”

Role of food preoccupation and current dieting in the associations of parental feeding practices to emotional eating in young adults: A moderated mediation study

“…Cross-sectional and experimental studies have established associations between these feeding practices and increased child preference for restricted foods, heightened responsiveness to the presence of palatable foods, and eating beyond satiety when restricted foods are made available (Galloway, Fiorito, Francis, & Birch, 2006;Jansen et al, 2012). In longitudinal investigations, coercive control feeding practices have been shown to contribute to excessive weight gain (for restriction only) and problematic eating behaviors during childhood and adolescence (Birch, Fisher, & Davison, 2003;Houldcroft, Farrow, & Haycraft, 2016;Hughes, Power, O'Connor, Orlet Fisher, & Chen, 2016;Rodgers et al, 2013). Available evidence suggests that childhood feeding experiences continue to adversely affect individuals' food preferences, dietary habits, and eating behaviors into adulthood (Batsell, Brown, Ansfield, & Paschall, 2002;Brunstrom, Mitchell, & Baguley, 2005;Wadhera, Capaldi Phillips, Wilkie, & Boggess, 2015).…”