Parental Feeding Practices and Children’s Eating Behaviours: An Overview of Their Complex Relationship

Abstract

Several studies have found an association between eating behaviours and weight status and obesity risk in childhood. Children’s eating behaviours arise from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Parents appear to play a central role in their development as the main responsible for shaping children’s feeding environment and eating experiences. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on parental influences on eating behaviours across childhood, mainly focusing on parental feeding practices. The associations between parental feeding practices and children’s eating behaviours have been extensively studied. However, most of the findings come from cross-sectional studies, so the possibility of reverse causality cannot be ruled out (i.e., children’s behaviours influencing parents). Most recently, a few longitudinal studies with a cross-lagged design have shown that the relationship between children’s eating behaviours and parental feeding practices seems to be bidirectional, where it is not straightforward whether parental feeding practices are a predictor or a consequence of children’s eating behaviours. Children’s eating behaviours influence parents to adopt certain feeding practices, but these practices also influence children’s behaviours over time. Parental feeding practices may have the potential to shape children’s eating behaviours and should be targeted to promote the development of non-obesogenic traits. However, parent–child interactions are complex and therefore both parent and child characteristics and the family dynamics should be considered.

Food Behaviour and Metabolic Characteristics of Children and Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes: Relationship to Glycaemic Control

“…We also found a relationship between parental feeding practices and BMI among subjects with T1D, confirming results in the general population showing that "Pressure to eat" was associated with a lower BMI. In comparation, "Restriction" and "Concern about child weight" were related to a higher BMI [41][42][43]. Consistent with previous findings in healthy children, no association of the BMI with food neophobia emerged in this work [44][45][46].…”

Comparing the use of food and physical activity parenting practices: Parents of children with overweight and obesity versus parents of children with a healthy weight

“…There are indications that the effect of the use of energy balance-related parenting practices on the child's behaviour is (also) influenced by the child's BMI z-score, indicating that energy balance-related parenting practices are a reaction to children's weight status (rather than vice versa) [ 16 , 49 , 50 ]. Also, other child's biological foundations influencing eating behaviour of the child (such as hunger, self-regulation, and satiety) could possibly lead to a different use of parental feeding practices, although research on this topic is mainly performed in younger children, and results in relation to controlling feeding practices are still inconclusive [ [51] , [52] , [53] , [54] , [55] ]. As such, future longitudinal research should focus on the bi-directional links between physical activity, eating behaviour, and energy balance-related parenting practices and child-weight outcomes, especially for the control over eating parenting practices.…”

A design thinking‐led approach to develop a responsive feeding intervention for Australian families vulnerable to food insecurity: Eat, Learn, Grow

“…Parents play a crucial role in shaping their children's eating experiences 12 ; interventions targeting parental feeding practices can support parents in this role. 13 Parents experiencing economic hardship and food insecurity (FI) face additional child-feeding challenges. FI is associated with poor health and is of particular concern in children.…”

“…Adults may ignore, misinterpret, or not notice child cues. Parents play a crucial role in shaping their children's eating experiences 12 ; interventions targeting parental feeding practices can support parents in this role 13 …”