Associations Among Parents’ Eating Behaviors, Feeding Practices, and Children’s Eating Behaviors

Parental feeding practices influence children’s eating behaviors, yet it is not well-understood whether parents’ own eating behaviors are associated with their feeding practices. The purpose of this study was to examine associations among parents’ eating behaviors, parental feeding practices, and children’s eating behaviors. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 76 parents of children from an elementary school in Tampa, FL. Parents completed three questionnaires with topics related to parent eating behaviors, parental feeding practices, and children’s eating behaviors. Multiple regression analysis was performed, controlling for demographic covariates. Parents who reported to eat more fruits per day ( β = 0.15), eat more than one kind of fruit each day ( β = 0.33), eat more than one kind of vegetable each day ( β = 0.29), eat 2 or more vegetables at the main meal ( β = 0.36), plan meals ( β = 0.19), and keep vegetables ready for the child to eat ( β = 0.25) indicated that they use more positive reinforcement feeding practices (all p ≤ 0.001). There were significantly positive associations between positive reinforcement and children’s eating fruits or vegetables like apples, bananas or carrots as snacks ( β = 1.03) and eating more than one kind of vegetable a day ( β = 1.03; all p < 0.001). No other variables had any significant associations. Findings of this study indicate that there are potential associations among parent’s own eating behaviors, feeding practices, and children’s eating behaviors. Further research is needed to determine the mechanism of these relationships. Targeting these parental factors may be an effective way to maximize the impact of nutrition interventions on children’s dietary behavior changes.