Impact of Dietary Coparenting and Parenting Strategies on Picky Eating Behaviors in Young Children

Abstract

Many studies have demonstrated that coparenting and parenting behaviors have a substantial effect on the behaviors of young children. Research has indicated that young children may exhibit picky eating behaviors, which pose challenges for parents in terms of coparenting and parenting. This study examined how dietary coparenting and parenting strategies directly affect young children’s picky eating behaviors and explored the mediating role of parenting strategies in the relations between parental dietary coparenting and young children’s picky eating behaviors. More specifically, this study focused on parents of three- to six-year-old children in northern Taiwan. A total of 408 valid completed questionnaires were collected, and the research tools included scales measuring dietary coparenting, parenting strategies, and young children’s picky eating behaviors. The results revealed that supportive and undermining dietary coparenting and parenting strategies had a significant direct effect on young children’s picky eating behaviors. Furthermore, supportive and undermining dietary coparenting partially mediated young children’s picky eating behaviors through parenting strategies. Specifically, among parenting strategies, both “encouraging and facilitating the trying of new foods” and “guiding and modeling” proper eating behaviors had significant indirect effects on reducing young children’s picky eating behaviors.