Parental phone use during mealtimes with toddlers and the associations with feeding practices and shared family meals: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Positive parental feeding practices and a higher frequency of family meals are related to healthier child dietary habits. Parents play an essential role when it comes to the development of their child’s eating habits. However, parents are increasingly distracted by their mobile phone during mealtimes. The aim of this study was to describe the feeding practices and daily shared family meals among parents who use and do not use a mobile phone during mealtimes, and further to explore the associations between the use of a mobile phone during mealtimes and feeding practices and daily shared family meals, respectively. Methods Cross-sectional data from the Food4toddler study were used to explore the association between mobile use during meals and parental feeding practices including family meals. In 2017/2018 parents of toddlers were recruited through social media to participate in the study. In total 298 out of 404 who volunteered to participate, filled in a baseline questionnaire, including questions from the comprehensive feeding practices questionnaire (CFPQ), questions of frequency of family meals and use of mobile phone during meals. Results Herein, 4 out of 10 parents reported various levels of phone use (meal distraction) during mealtimes. Parental phone use was associated with lower use of positive parental feeding practices like modelling (B = − 1.05 (95% CI -1.69; − 0.41)) and family food environment (B = − 0.77 (95% CI -1.51; − 0.03)), and more use of negative parental feeding practices like emotional regulation (B = 0.73 (95% CI 0.32; 1.14)) and the use of pressure to eat (B = 1.22 (95% CI 0.41; 2.03)). Furthermore, parental phone use was associated with a lower frequency of daily family breakfast (OR = 0.50 (95% CI 0.31; 0.82)) and dinner (OR = 0.57 (95% CI 0.35; 0.93)). Conclusions Mobile phone use is common among parents during mealtimes, and findings indicate that parental phone use is associated with less healthy feeding practices and shared family meals. These findings highlight the importance of making parents aware of potential impacts of meal distractions. Trial registration ISRCTN92980420. Registered 13 September 2017. Retrospectively registered.

Family Nutrition: Methodological Bases For The Practice Of Nutrionists

“…Remembering that the baby grows... Maybe it's not even the crying itself, but the fact that he can't watch TV. And television can take the focus away from what needs to be seen (Marinaci et al, 2021;Shimshoni et al, 2019;Vik et al, 2021).…”

“…Wouldn't the search for the on-call pharmacy be to watch television? (Marinaci et al, 2021;Shimshoni et al, 2019;Vik et al, 2021) Family Nutrition: Methodological Bases For The Practice Of Nutrionists Following in the search for solutions, Minuchin created the Maudsley model, called Family-Based Therapy (TBF). (Anastasiadou et al, 2014;Treasure et al, 2015).…”

Association between parental feeding practices and children’s dietary intake: a cross-sectional study in the Gardermoen Region, Norway

“…There are several papers on feeding practices in Norway. However, the studies are limited to toddlers <1 years, and to the intake of fruits and vegetables ( 20 – 22 ). Moreover, some studies conducted in Norway have explored feeding practices in relation to other endpoints than food intake, like shared family meals ( 21 , 22 ).…”

“…However, the studies are limited to toddlers <1 years, and to the intake of fruits and vegetables ( 20 – 22 ). Moreover, some studies conducted in Norway have explored feeding practices in relation to other endpoints than food intake, like shared family meals ( 21 , 22 ). The main aim of this study was to explore the possible association between parental feeding practices and the intake of vegetables, fruits/berries, fish, foods with added sugars, and SSB in Norwegian preschoolers.…”

Children’s perception of food parenting practices: adaptation and validation of the comprehensive feeding practices questionnaire in Chilean adolescents

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