Relationship between Parental Feeding and Child Eating Styles in Low‐income Families with Preschool Age Children

While parental feeding styles have been associated with children's dietary intake and weight status, the objective of this study was to determine how a child's eating style is related to their parent's feeding style. Parents of preschool children (n=43) completed the Caregiver Feeding Style Questionnaire to determine parental feeding style and the Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ) to determine their child's eating style. Authoritarian (35%) and indulgent (30%) feeding styles were most common, and the authoritative (14%) feeding style was least common among parents. Children of indulgent parents had higher CEBQ scores for enjoyment of food (r=.453, p= 0.01) and lower scores for slowness in eating subscales (r=‐.430, p=0.01), which have both been linked to higher child BMI. Children of authoritarian parents had higher CEBQ scores for satiety responsiveness (r=.673, p=0.01) and slowness in eating (r=.600, p=0.01), and lower scores for enjoyment of food (r=‐.477, p=0.01), which have been associated with desirable child weight status. Interestingly, children of authoritarian parents scored higher on emotional over eating (r=.522, p=0.01), emotional under eating (r=.343, p=0.05), and food fussiness (r=.481, p=0.01), which may be why these parents use a controlling feeding style. Further research should determine the direction of the relationship between parent feeding and child eating styles. Grant Funding Source : Subcontract to USDA/AFRI Grant 2010–85215‐20662