Associations of Early Parental Concerns and Feeding Behaviors with Child’s Diet Quality through Mid-Childhood

• Main Authors: Véronique Gingras, Karen M. Switkowski, Sheryl L. Rifas-Shiman, Sabrina Faleschini, Emily Oken, Marie-France Hivert
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-10-01
• Series: Nutrients
• Subjects: parental practices; weight concerns; restrictive feeding; pressure to eat; diet quality; child
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/11/3231

Parental feeding practices have been associated with children’s dietary intakes, yet the directionality of these associations remains unclear. Among 1172 mother-child pairs from Project Viva, we aimed to examine associations of parental concerns and feeding behaviors at 2 years (behaviors dichotomized as yes vs. no), with diet quality (Youth Healthy Eating Index; YHEI) in early (mean 3.2, SD 0.3 years; <i>n</i> = 1076) and mid-childhood (mean 7.8, SD 0.7 years; <i>n</i> = 993). We used multivariable linear regression models adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, parental body mass index (BMI), maternal diet quality in pregnancy, and child’s BMI z-score and diet quality at 2 years. Early parental concerns about their child becoming overweight (15%) was associated with lower YHEI (<i>β</i> −1.54 points; 95%CI −2.75, −0.33; fully adjusted model) in early childhood. Early parental concerns about their child becoming underweight (7%) was associated with lower YHEI (−2.19 points; −4.31, −0.07) in early childhood, but the association was attenuated after adjustment for child’s BMI z-score and diet quality at 2 years. We did not find associations of parental restrictive feeding (8%) and parental pressure to eat (47%) with child’s YHEI through mid-childhood. In conclusion, we found no evidence that early parental concerns and feeding behaviors independently contribute to child’s diet quality through childhood.