HomeStyles Express: Telephone Counseling and a Fuss Free Eating Guide to Promote Positive Feeding Practices

HomeStyles Express uses evidence‐based, pediatric weight management nutrition guidelines to improve lifestyle practices in families with preschool children. Parents (n=50) took the pretest, then each week received via email 1 of 8 4‐page mini‐magazine instructional guides focusing on weight‐related topics and participated in a brief telephone counseling session after reading the guide, then took the posttest. Participants were mostly female (96%), white (84%), and had at least a bachelor's degree (82%). At the pretest, 42% reported, at least sometimes, they encouraged their preschool kids to eat by using food as a reward and 56% used non‐food rewards to get kids to eat certain food. Parents were more likely to pressure children to eat than restrict their food choices (means 2.17±0.82SD and 3.86±0.97SD, on 5‐point scale). Content analysis of individual counseling sessions with parents on the Fuss Free Eating guide, which focuses on positive feeding practices for young children, indicated many had a child who was a “picky eater,” and some bribed children to eat certain foods (e.g., vegetables), offered sweets as rewards, felt children should finish their plates, and/or felt spousal support was requisite to achieving their feeding practices goals. After reading the guide, many parents reported they planned to stop bribing kids to eat and would use non‐food rewards (e.g., reading an extra story before bed) to encourage good behavior. Some reported they planned to offer children a greater variety of foods and/would stop forcing children to finish their plates. When asked why they thought positive feeding practices were important, parents frequently cited health benefits, weight management, and development of good habits. Parents rated the importance of using positive feeding practices highly; mean=9.6±0.79SD on 10‐point scale. Goals set by many parents after reading the guide were to introduce new fruits and vegetables to their kids, eat more meals as a family, communicate more about positive feeding practices with their partners, and avoid bribing kids to eat, and stop using food as rewards. Parents were very confident in their ability to meet these goals, average score=8.9±1.32SD on 10‐point scale. At a subsequent counseling session, most parents reported that they successfully met the positive feeding practices goals they had set. The Fuss Free Eating guide, along with a brief telephone counseling session, has the potential to successfully aid parents in applying positive feeding practices. Support or Funding Information USDA NIFA #2011‐68001‐30170 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation Ann Hertzler Research Grant