The Forbidden Reward. The Emergence of Parent-Child Conflicts About Food Over Time and the Influence of Parents' Communication Strategies and Feeding Practices

Abstract

One of the most critical arenas for conflicts between parents and their children relates to food. Although parent-child conflicts about food are a real occurrence, this form of parent-child interaction has been rarely examined. Given the special role of parents in shaping children's diet, we especially focus on the impact of parental measures. This study investigates how parental communication strategies (i.e., active vs. restrictive) and feeding practices (i.e., overt control vs. covert control) affect the emergence of parent-child conflicts about food over time. Based on previous research, we assessed overt control through parents' use of food as a reward and restriction of their children's access to specific food types. We explored the impact of our predictors on both conflicts about unhealthy and healthy food with a two-wave panel study including parents and their children (N = 541; children aged between 5 and 11) in Austria between fall 2018 and spring 2019. Results of two multiple linear regressions indicated that predominantly parents' use of unhealthy food as a reward is connected to both healthy and unhealthy food conflicts. Furthermore, inconsistent parental educational styles increased the respective conflict potential. Active food-related mediation and covert control did not relate to food-related conflicts about unhealthy and healthy food. Parents' increased use of overtly controlling and restrictive feeding practices might not be only counterproductive for children's diet but also for food-related parent-child interactions. Instead, a “health discourse” (i.e., active food-related mediation) might prevent food-related conflicts and foster a healthy growth in the future.

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

“…A previous Dutch study, which did not differentiate between parents (father or mother), also found that parents of children from Dutch backgrounds reported the highest scores for control over eating [ 45 ]. In line with previous literature, our study found that mothers with a higher educational level reported more use of covert control [ 18 , 42 , 46 ]. To gain further insights into the relationship between economic differences and the use of parenting practices, it is recommended to repeat this study across diverse communities.…”

Factors that influence feeding practices among parents in Puncak Alam, Selangor

“…According to the findings from another study, parents who had less education used food as a reward slightly more frequently than parents who had more education (Jansen et al, 2020). Additionally, a study found that parents' use of unhealthy food as a reward triggered food conflicts with children (Spielvogel et al, 2020). On top of that, mothers with lower education levels may be more concerned about their children's weight status.…”

What can stop the ‘pester power’? A longitudinal study on the impact of children's audiovisual media consumption on media‐motivated food purchase requests

“…This study was part of a larger project; 49,50 in this section we report only variables relevant to our analysis.…”