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Behavioral and Predictive Validation of a Self‐Assessment of Parental Feeding Style in Low‐Income Parents of Young Children
Author(s) -
Ontai Lenna,
Sutter Carolyn,
Shilts Mical,
Townsend Marilyn
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.29.1_supplement.731.1
Subject(s) - percentile , predictive validity , psychology , developmental psychology , parenting styles , obesity , child obesity , head start , medicine , childhood obesity , overweight , statistics , mathematics
To improve the capacity of researchers and practitioners to work toward integrating parenting styles into their work on child obesity, valid assessment tools aimed at measuring these dimensions of parenting are needed. Behavioral and predictive validation of My Child at Mealtime (MCMT), a visually enhanced self‐assessment tool designed to measure parent feeding style in low‐income parents of young children. Parents (n=103) from Head Start and WIC provided data about themselves and their young children. Longitudinal data collection included the parent self‐administered MCMT and child height and weight for BMI percentile, a continuous variable. MCMT is scored for child and parent centered feeding (CCF, PCF). A subsample of 60 parents and children were videotaped during a family mealtime at the start of the study. Coded parent behaviors were grouped based on MCMT scoring to create “parent focused feeding” (PFF) and “child focused feeding (CFF) scores. Significant correlations were found between PFF and MCMT CCF ( r = .36, p < .01) and PCF ( r = .22, p < .10). Assessment of predictive validity (n=48) found that MCMT PCF was significantly associated with BMI percentile two years later ( r = ‐.32, p<.05). MCMT is a valid parent self‐assessment tool to measure parent‐centered feeding behaviors in low‐income parents of young children. Further analyses will assess the validity of MCMT in assessing child‐centered feeding behaviors. Supported by National Research Initiative #2009‐55215‐05019 & Agriculture and food Research Initiative #2010‐85215‐20658 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Human Nutrition and Obesity 93330.